YO MAJESTY BIO
“They’ve coined a female equivalent of macho...” - Time Out London
From the moment that YO MAJESTY’s self-promoted Yo EP confronted us in 2006, we were enamored. Before we knew a lick of the story, we were absorbing the message. “Fuck dat shit” insisted the chorus of “Club Action” - the anthem that has been the group’s most enduring hit to date. When your existence is touched by the forces that try to keep you down, you know what to do: fuck dat shit. As the deeper intention behind those words was revealed, we fell under YO MAJESTY’s spell.
Come to learn, YO MAJESTY’s music encompasses one of the most time honored messages in modern art -- the one about freeing ourselves from mental slavery. In the guise of what The Onion AV Club called “party ladies from Florida,” YO MAJESTY is hip hop, hard rock, gospel, electronic and at times whatever the hell Parliament was. And how can a sound that has been quickly described as “punk-funk-crunk rap” (Mixmag) actually embody conceptual songwriting with messages of harmony, acceptance, love, faith and unbridled sexual liberation?
The two ladies keeping it straight are Shunda K and Jwl. B, forcing their listeners to confront their own concept of reality from festival stages to Brooklyn loft parties. As the group’s outspoken Shunda K states in an impromptu interaction with a fan on YouTube “Ain’t nobody doing it like YO MAJESTY. There’s no competition.”
It’s 2008 and YO MAJESTY’s Shunda K, known by her birth name LaShunda Flowers around home in Tampa, displays a hyperkinetic version of ease as she vigorously irons her show pants moments before commanding a NYC private party “dripping with billionaires” to squirm on the floor in front of her. The John Malkovich looking guy who ran in place with such abandon as to seem Martian definitely embraced the philosophy: fuck dat shit. The New York Times surmised that the YO MAJESTY edict is to “dance your way to being stress-free.” It’s this freedom -- to screw who you like, to worship who you feel, and to “get yo ass on the floor” that renders YO MAJESTY so much more than “Gangsta Boo over JJ Fad tracks” (Vice). Time to recognize.
Shunda K’s band mate Jwl B (Jewel Baynham) is a woman whose talents and courage are to be treated with the utmost respect. With a ferocious delivery that is also controlled and melodic, Jwl. B raises a motherfucking ruckus with her unforgettable hooks. Jwl. B recently stated in the ahead-of-its-time pop culture pub URB Magazine, “...I’ll date your lady just to make her free. It’s not about sucking her pussy, G. It’s about respect now in my eye. Consideration, motherfucking respect and saving lives.” Essentially, Jwl. B will be ready when yo lady comes -- not just to fuck her, but to make her free. To open up her mind to the concept of ultimate liberation all the while respecting and encouraging her uniqueness. Basically, saving her life.
Jwl. B’s unrestrained sexuality is matched by Shunda K every step of the way as she exclaims “Ride like ah pony, so smooth, jus groove, jook wit me, shook wit me, baby throw the line put da hook in me!” on the band’s “Take It Away” from its forthcoming debut album for Domino Records. Really -- it’s the exact moment that any lady who just might fall in love or lust with Shunda K is going to. To all the women and men that wrestle with any manner of suppressed feeling -- YO MAJESTY is looking for you.
The strands of addictive, aerobic beats and rhymes that underscore restless sexuality, faith and philosophy come together at a YO MAJESTY show where the swampy, humid air of their hometown of Tampa seems to follow them. Each YO MAJESTY performance is a happening. Never to be duplicated or repeated. Much was made of the band’s 2007 shows at Austin’s yearly South by Southwest music conference where Jwl. B went topless during most of her performances. Jwl. B explained in the pages of the New York Times “...your boy 50 Cent does his show with his shirt off. Why can’t I? God made me who I am, and I’m comfortable in it. I want people to know you don’t have to look glamorous to be an inspiration.”
“Fuck him,” Shunda K defiantly responded to a similar comment about 50 in URB. “This ain’t no fairytale shit.”
Word -- this isn’t music about relaxing in a mansion. It’s about relaxing your soul and conquering the demons that wrestle with it. And when they try to? Fuck dat shit.
For Shunda K and Jwl. B, 2008 stands to be a year of great responsibility as they bring their act to the world. With tour dates planned throughout the nation, including an appearance before their biggest audience ever at the yearly Coachella festival in Indio, California, it’ll be time to take the tablecloths off the tables as these ladies won’t be coming to town all polite. The release of their debut album is surely poised to suspend the band in mid air, choosing targets at random to free and freak.
And if you think your concept of what is and isn’t music of faith has been settled, Shunda K reminds us via the paper of record, “Whatever we do, we ask people, ‘Do you know who the Lord is?’” It’s just another contradiction to be confronted and contemplated in the world of YO MAJESTY. Shunda K further clarifies in the URB article stating, “This is about being real. Straight up. We believe in what’s just, what’s right, what’s real, telling people we love you...”
We’re feeling it. Take it away, I’ll do what you say. YO MAJESTY!
– Joshua Bloom, 2008
Yo Majesty contact info:
Yo Majesty : Shunda K & Jwl. B: [email protected]
Attorney : Roger Cramer: [email protected]
Booking (US) : Christian Bernhardt: [email protected]
Booking (UK) : James Rubin: [email protected]
U.S. Publicist : Kathryn Frazier : [email protected]
U.K. Publicist : Colleen Maloney : [email protected]
US College Radio: Dan Yocom : [email protected]
Press:
"Absolutely timeless... they sound like Gangsta Boo over JJ Fad tracks... Brilliant. You need this." - Vice Magazine
"First amazing surprise of SXSW07: The glorious electro-rap of Yo Majesty, three party ladies from Florida... Think ESG meets The Geto Boys. Or something. Beautiful." - The Onion AV Club
"Our current get-up-and-go-out soundtrack. 'Fuck that shit' is as much as we can memorize on our favorite cut 'Club Action,' but we're alright with that. Your DJ nights need this track: - Stereogum
"Yo Majesty take their cue from ESG and bang out hip hop infused new wave disco jams." - DJ Magazine
"At last punk-funk-crunk rap!" - Mixmag
"They've coined a female equivalent of macho that is far removed from the hypersexualized come 'n' get it attitude." - Time Out London
"Regular rhythmic shifts, an abundance of pop smarts and a soulful aggro." - Plan B Magazine
"'Daaaamn!' That's all we can say when we listen to the rap riot that is Yo Majesty, three freaky Florida femmes with rhymes spicier than Salt -N-Pepa and bombastic beats that'd make J.J. Fad proud (eat your humps out, Fergie). This old-school girl trio may be naughty — check out the choppy synth bobs and bossy braggadocio of "Kryptonite Pussy" and "Hustle Mode" — but the fierce delivery makes it come off fresh, never forced." - LA Weekly
From XLR8R TV, Episode 7, Yo Majesty interviewed by Beth Ditto from the Gossip.
"All She Wanna Hear" (live)
"Never Be Afraid" (live)
""Blame It On The Change" (live)
My Yo Majesty Movie

Yo Majesty is featured in URB Magazine's 150th Issue!

CLICK HERE TO READ THE STORY