Nile Rodgers has role for RuPaul

24 January 2019

Nile Rodgers has appointed RuPaul co-creative director of Chic's new album.

Nile Rodgers

The 66-year-old musician discussed the title of the record, 'Executive Realness' - a term popularised in 1990 documentary 'Paris Is Burning' - with his friend and explained his pal really helped with the concept.

Branding the 'Drag Race' star co-creative director of the album, he admitted: "That's me just making up that title right now."

And of their discussion, he added: "The first words out of his mouth almost brought me to tears. He said, 'You know what, Nile? That concept is brilliant. I've always had to be the beauty and the beast my whole life.

"'As Black people' - and in his particular case as a gay man - 'we have to play these different roles.'

"Sometimes people who are not seen as equals have to play the part they may not naturally fit. All my life I've had to work so hard, and it's cool because I have a strong work ethic. But I always said, 'Man, I work twice as hard for half as much.' That's just the truth."

Nile came from a jazz, classical and punk background and though Chic became synonymous with the disco scene, he insists that wasn't what they set out to do, but he thinks they did a convincing job of fitting in.

He told TorontoNow.com: "The disco thing was so alluring and so accepting - especially to us people who were snobs. We thought we were into the highest musical art form and everything else was beneath us.

"We were not disco artists - we only claimed that after the Disco Sucks movement said to the world, 'These guys were disco and they're now personae non grata.'

"We pretended to be something that we're not. Bernard [Edwards] and I were not anything. But when it was time to play the part, we rose to the occasion.

"Give me the job and let me have on-the-job training."

And the 'Le Freak' hitmaker is thankful for the opportunities it brought him.

He added: "The very first star I ever wrote songs for was Diana Ross - 'I'm Coming Out' and 'Upside Down'. I got to do that at 20-something years old."