Yo Majesty

Tampa, FL-based group Yo Majesty — Shunda K., Shon B., and Jwl B. — turns upside down the male chauvinist standard in hip-hop music with a hardcore female bravado. Adopting an almost punk approach to a hybrid of Southern crunk and ’80s-styled electro, the openly, and defiantly, gay trio gained notoriety in the 2000s for their sex-filled rhymes and boisterous and unbridled live shows. Rappers Shunda K. and Shon B. started out as a duo named Yeah Majesty before they were rounded out in 2000 by gospel-raised vocalist Jwl B., who ran in the same circles as the other two at a local nightspot in Tampa called the Harbor Club. Initially, they sounded a lot more like their Southern rap influences of Eightball & MJG and OutKast until they met London-based electronica duo Hard Feelings UK (David Alexander and Richard Winstanley) in 2002. They supplied Yo Majesty with their booty-shaking electro-rap club beats. Once they established a name for themselves on the underground club circuit, both in the U.S. and the U.K., Yo Majesty pressed their first official release, the Yo EP, in 2006. As hype around the band continued to escalate due to scandalous performances, the duo’s long awaited full-length Futuristically Speaking: Never Be Afraid was released in October of 2008. ~ Cyril Cordor