Six legendary queens from RuPaul’s Drag Race have announced a new show – NUBIA – to celebrate black excellence.

Of the six racers, two former winners will be taking part: Bebe Zahara Benet and Bob the Drag Queen. Alongside them will be two season nine queens: Peppermint (who came second) and Shea Couleé, who was in the top four.

To top it off, they’ll been joined by two season 10 girls. Subject of many gifs, Monique Heart will be taking part, as will be The Vixen – who previously hosted a show titled Black Girl Magic.

The tour was announced with an Instagram post that declared that “Black queens are here to slay”. And they couldn’t be more right.

In the teaser video, Peppermint says, “Black queens matter because now that we are in a time where people are starting to recognise drag as more than something frivolous.” The Instagram post promoted itself with the hashtag #BlackQueensMatter.

Peppermint went on to say that: “As an industry, as an economy, as an enterprise, it’s time for people to realise the value that these black queens — that the Nubian queens — bring and can contribute to the art of drag. There’s a lot of people that are just unaware. So now it’s time to learn and we’re your teachers.”

Bob also mentions a serious issue often faced by black queens: “Black queens, no matter how popular you are or how well you did in the show, sometimes you don’t receive the same love or the same adulation that white queens get.”

Despite often feeling ignored on Drag Race and beyond, The Vixen points out how influential black queens have been. “Black queens are the root of so many things, in fashion, in music, in style, in our culture. And I think black queens don’t get enough credit for how influential and how special we are to the world,” she shares.