Amrull was born in Baldwin Park, California, United States. His late father, Abdul Wadud Karim Amrullah, was the younger brother of Indonesian ulama and philosopher Hamka. At the age of three his family moved to Indonesia and stayed there for six years before returning to the U.S.
Career
Career beginnings
When he was sixteen, Amrull got into the drag scene by attending L.A. nightclubs with his friends. He was part of a sector of drag that was inspired by the goth and punksubcultures. The first few years of his drag career in the early '90s were spent as a club kid named Crayola. He attended California State University, Fullerton as an art student, focusing on art direction and illustration, for two years, then decided to pursue a career in makeup artistry and female impersonation.
''RuPaul's Drag Race''
He was a contestant on the third season of RuPaul's Drag Race as Raja. He was a member of the "Heathers" clique, which took its name from the popular cult filmHeathers. In the final episode, after a lip-sync battle with Manila Luzon, Raja was declared the winner of the show's third season and crowned America's Next Drag Superstar. As part of his duties as the third-season winner of Drag Race, Amrull toured the U.S. and Canada on Logo's Drag Race Tour in 2011. Raja is the first and only Asian American winner of the Drag Race series. In 2014 Raja joined the Drag Race Battle of the Seasons tour where she performed a lip-sync duet with Manila Luzon to the Babymetal song "Gimme Chocolate!!"
Other ventures
He was a make up artist on America’s Next Top Model from 2005 until 2009.. In May 2011, Amrull released his first single as Raja, titled "Diamond Crowned Queen." The single debuted at number fifty on the BillboardHot Dance Club Songs, before peaking at number thirty-five. On August 21, 2012, his second single "Sublime" was released. His third single, "Zubi Zubi Zubi", was released June 1, 2013. Since 2014, he has presented the weekly WOWPresents YouTube series RuPaul's Drag Race Fashion Photo RuView with fellow Drag Race alumna Raven. In February 2017, he starred as an intergalactic creature in the music video for Blondie's single "Fun." He also appeared in the "Make Love Not Walls" Diesel campaign directed by David LaChapelle and in a campaign for Urban Decay alongside fellow Drag Race alumni Alaska, Jiggly Caliente, and Katya. He guest stars as himself in The Simpsons episode "Werking Mom," which aired on November 18, 2018. In June 2019, he was one of 37 queens to be featured on the cover of New York Magazine.
