Supermodel (You Better Work)

"Supermodel (You Better Work)"
Single by RuPaul
from the album Supermodel of the World
A-side"House of Love"
ReleasedNovember 17, 1992
Genre
Length3:59
LabelTommy Boy
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Eric Kupper
RuPaul singles chronology
"I've Got That Feelin'"
(1991)
"Supermodel (You Better Work)"
(1992)
"Little Drummer Boy"
(1993)
Music video
"Supermodel (You Better Work)" on YouTube

"Supermodel (You Better Work)" is a song by American dance music singer and drag queen RuPaul. It was released as a double A-sided single alongside "House of Love" on November 17, 1992 by Tommy Boy Records. The song served as the lead single from his debut major label album, Supermodel of the World (1993). The song became a dance club anthem that, though particularly popular within the gay handbag house scene, found mainstream success. The song consists of RuPaul giving advice to a young black supermodel, and briefly several other models, largely consisting of "sashay, shantay!", "work, turn to the left", "work, now turn to the right", and "you better work". The music video for the song, directed by Randy Barbato and featuring RuPaul in various outfits cavorting around New York, became a staple on MTV. Singer Kurt Cobain of Nirvana cited the song as one of his favorites of 1993, and the two were photographed together at the MTV Video Music Awards that year.

"Supermodel" was a modest hit on the pop charts in both the US (number 45) and the UK (number 39). It also reached number two on the US dance chart. This song is RuPaul's highest charting pop hit in the US to date. The song features spoken words by actress LaWanda Page, who went on to appear in several music videos by RuPaul. The single is most commonly found on compact disc coupled with "House of Love", which would go on to become a single itself in some markets. Various 12-inch vinyl releases were also pressed, including a limited edition picture disc in the United Kingdom. It was also covered by Taylor Dayne for The Lizzie McGuire Movie soundtrack.

BuzzFeed ranked "Supermodel (You Better Work)" number 42 in their list of "The 101 Greatest Dance Songs Of the '90s" in 2017.[1] Pitchfork featured it in their lists of "50 Songs That Define the Last 50 Years of LGBTQ+ Pride" in 2018[2] and "The 250 Best Songs of the 1990s" in 2022.[3]

  1. ^ Stopera, Matt; Galindo, Brian (2017-03-11). "The 101 Greatest Dance Songs of the '90s". BuzzFeed. Retrieved 2020-03-31.
  2. ^ "50 Songs That Define the Last 50 Years of LGBTQ+ Pride". Pitchfork. 2018-06-18. Retrieved 2020-07-28.
  3. ^ "The 250 Best Songs of the 1990s". Pitchfork. 2022-09-27. Retrieved 2022-10-29.