Towards the end of 2006, the infectious shout of “fuck that shit” in Club Action and their banging party delivery saw Yo Majesty tear it up across the net in dozens of re-versionings aimed at getting asses on the floor. Trust me, butch and queer positive as hell, this female 2 Live Crew are one of the most explosive live acts you can expect to see.
A riotous response to scene misogony in the more sexually charged corners of modern hip hop, they bounce around the stage semi-naked, screaming about kryptonite pussies that make niggers want to cry and roaring about masturbation with a crunk fury that’s wholly life affirmative.
With their first album soon due out on Domino, they’ve lent vocals and orgasmic yelps to the track Sweatshop by Gruff Rhys’ new project Neon Neon. So yes, streams of religious ranting were the last thing I’d expected to get in an interview with Shunda K. Whatever, just get ready to bounce on that monkey boy.
Club Action was something of a crazed dancefloor smash, it underwent dozens of remixes – I remember being at a festival last summer and hearing something like five different versions of it over the course of a night – what’s your own fave version of it?
Honestly, my favourite version of it is the original version that was done by our producers HardFeelings UK. Also, let’s not forget the fact that my artist Blaque Pop wrote the hook to the song when I was jus Ya Majesty in 1998 and me, him, and his cousin had a lil group. When I met Shon B (who is no longer wit the group) in 2000 I asked his permission to use the hook and we ran wit da shit!
I heard you saying in an interview that Club Action is like five years old or something, do you ever get sick of playing it out?
Hell yeah, I get so sick of that shit… but it’s all about the people right? Naw on the real, its ah hot track and I’ll play it as much as I need to so everybody gets ah chance to hear it! Its ah powerful song.
I caught Neon Neon over at the Dour festival, Gruff was saying before playing Sweatshop that it was a song about sweatshop conditions in 1820’s Detroit, can you tell us something about what that song is about and if there is much of a political purpose behind the Yo Majesty project?
Well, as far as my contribution to the song through Yo Majesty I did a little research on sweatshops and that’s how I came up with my lyrics, keeping it sexy and stimulating because that’s where the music took me. Yo Majesty is political! Hell, the truth is political and that’s what YM and Shunda K is all about. It’s a revolution goin’ down in the earth man and after a while everybody gonna feel da shakening!
Actually, where’s the name Yo Majesty come from actually and can you give us a little bit of detail about how you got together?
I created the name Ya Majesty back in 1998 as a solo artist, where a few years later (2002) I met Shon B and another year later (2003) we met Jwl.B. We were all pretty much introduced by a mutual friend and jus came under the Ya Majesty umbrella cause it fit who we all were: the best, fearing God, and willing to die for the cause! The name change came due to bullshit we went through with fake industry exes where we kinda got caught up in some legal shit and dropped the Ya. When we reunited in 2005, we picked up the Yo!
I understand from one or two interviews online, that some of you want to head off and start doing some solo material – what can we expect from these projects and please, don’t tell me – are we only going to have Yo Majesty around for a little bit more?
Yo Majesty will last as long as life itself! Me personally, I am working on many side projects, one very special one – a mixtape. It gonna be called ‘The Best Eva Written…Outcased!’ where I will be using all Outkast instrumentals coming from a perspective of being the outcast (black, gay, female) and how I overcame. On this project I’m featuring one of my artists – JERZY – who is a prophet of the Lord as well. So, things are very serious when it comes to Shunda K as a solo artist and so forth.
I remember catching you guys doing a blast of a show last year, at some stage near the end one of you broke into a speech about God. Religion is probably the last thing people might expect Yo Majesty members to be into, so where does God fit into your work?
I am not an entertainer but minister of the Truth of God. God is… He’s everywhere I am. I carry Him with me everywhere I go. I can’t depend on ah damn bodyguard to protect me, but, oh give me Jesus, and I’m good, I’m safe, untouchable even!
But how do you feel about how the American right, homophobia, neo-conservative movement are harnessing faith in Jesus and religion to their own less than Christian purposes?
You said it, ‘to their own less than Christian purposes’. See that’s the thing, everybody has used and abused the truth of the Word to justify their own mess. That will all be ceased though and so that’s why when you turn your television on every morning you’re finding out things about people that damn near takes your breath away; wha they doin’ in the dark coming into the light! Everything, and I mean everything, we do in the dark will come to the light. One of the song titles on the projects I’m working on is entitled The Eyes of The Lord Are On The Sinful Kingdom. Stay tuned for the truth…
There’s hints of Miami Bass and Baltimore and a lot more in your music, often those genres are misogynist, with the female being on the receiving end of the male’s demands. you guys seem to be a very strong female response to that. How are people reacting to it?
Sometimes niggas hate, but very seldom. Most of the time we get respect for who we are because no matter what we’re keeping it real and that’s what so FEW are doing these days!
You hooked up with Tax Lo resident Chris O last year, who’s on tour with you at the moment? Chris O was seriously good, what other club DJ’s have you worked with and how do you go about sorting a hook up with the people you want to bring on tour with you?
At the moment we don’t have a dj… shout outs to my dj – DJ Orion! Y’all check ’em out on Shunda K top friends. On the other hand, I’m rooting for our producers HFUK to tour with us and play da shit live while we kill it on the mic. It’ll be our first time doin’ it like dat on dis level, but we all ready for dis shit!
Yo Majesty support Neon Neon at Tripod on November 4th.
