Nylon - October 2008 - (Page 108) all hail the queens In a sea of bands trying to be different, Yo Majesty couldn’t blend in if they tried. Rappers Shunda K and Jwl B are hard to ignore, with a raunchy but infectiously uplifting sound that includes bangers such as “Kryptonite Pussy” and “Club Action.” During live shows, Jwl often raps topless, leading the crowd in chants of “Fuck dat shit,” even though, in addition to being proud lesbians, Shunda and Jwl are both devout Christians. What is most incongruous, though, is that their first full-length album Futuristically Speaking… Never Be Afraid is being released on Domino, home of the stripped-down sound of the Kills and the Last Shadow Puppets, and that the indie-rock loving hipster demographic has emerged as some of Yo Majesty’s loudest and proudest supporters (they recently made NME ’s list of “25 Bands Making America Cool Again”). “At a show, I was like, ‘We gonna get it crunk. How many of ya’ll believe in Jesus Christ?’ and it was like, YO MAJESTY IS WIDELY REGARDED AS ONE OF THE MOST GROUNDBREAKING ACTS AROUND— IF ONLY THEY CAN STICK IT OUT. BY KATE WILLIAMS. PHOTOGRAPHED BY TIM SACIENTTI ‘Booooooo!!!!’” Shunda recalls. “And so I said, ‘Well, we believe in Jesus Christ, and if you believe in Yo Majesty, then you believe in Jesus Christ.’” Yo Majesty’s trajectory began when Shunda and Jwl met at a gay club in Tampa, Florida, in the early part of the decade. Shunda had been rapping under the name Yo Majesty for a while when Jwl, who had a gospel background, joined up as a singer. “At first when we were performing, we were like, ‘We’re gay, dominant women and we’re gonna represent,’” Jwl says, “But as the years went by, we started accumulating other fans because we were learning about other aspects of life. Being gay is not my lifestyle,” she clarifies. “It is a part of my life. Music is my lifestyle.” The group went on hiatus for a while when Shunda, rejecting her homosexuality, married a pastor in her church and worked as a traveling preacher. Yo Majesty split up when she got married in 2003, but reformed when she divorced two years later. Shunda is now engaged again—this time to a woman, someone she met after diligently praying for a wife. “That right there let me know that God loves me for real. Where in the Bible does it say ‘Before you come to God, make sure you’re perfect?’ No, it says ‘Come as you are!’” she says, with all the zeal of someone who is used to preaching in front of crowds. “I love pussy! That’s what I tell God! I said, ‘I love it!’ And some may call it unnatural, but I’m very in touch with nature.” Futuristically Speaking has been a long time coming, and is full of electro-rap gems like “Night Rider,” which has strains of mid-90s 8Ball and MJG, and “Buy Love,” which spotlights Jwl’s sweet vocals. It’s an unusual and polished album, which makes it all the more sad that, on the cusp of its release, Shunda and Jwl are at odds and the group is at a standstill. “Yo Majesty is going through a transition right now,” Shunda says. “We have some differences. The one member who’s keeping it moving refuses to do anything with the other. Straight up. I just can’t do anything else, because it’s just gotten kinda ridiculous with the things I have to deal with from her.” Jwl is more demure about it. “I’d rather not discuss that, because I don’t entertain negativity,” she says. “I just want people to know that you don’t have to be what somebody wants you to be; you be what you wanna be. That’s what I want to focus on,” she says. “There’s no focus for gay little girls now. They’re coming out of the closet real early, and they have no role models. I want it to be like, ‘Look at Jwl B: she ain’t scared; she ain’t afraid.’ OK?” OK, and here’s hoping Yo Majesty gets their act together soon—for their sake, and for ours. 108
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