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Yo Majesty/Futuristically Speaking: Never Be Afraid…album review!!!

Submitted by on Tuesday, 28 October 2008No Comment

It only took about three decades, but finally some hip-hop artists are keeping it real and coming out of the closet. Floridians Shunda K and Jwl B, aka Yo Majesty, have been on the underground scene for the last 10 years. After releasing a grass roots, sex-filled rhyme EP in 2006 with potty mouth dance floor hit Club Action that moved them into the same league as M.I.A., Santogold, and Amanda Blank, the lesbian kings of strip-down stage antics are back with ballsy debut album Futuristically Speaking: Never Be Afraid, and it’s the most talked about party cd of the year.

Produced by UK electro duo Hard Feelings
, YM’s royal sound is a manic mix of hip-hop, party rap and electro. But unlike many of their contemporaries, this girl group is not all about selling tricks T&A. While not overtly political, YM maintains a kryptonite stance against the male chauvinistic Bones, Thugs N Harmony standard in hip-hop. Usually this entails Shunda and Jwl getting topless onstage, sending a message more about equality than sexuality. “I got stretch marks, and I’m fat, and I’m wildin’, says Jwl B. “But your boy 50 Cent does his show with his shirt off. Why can’t I?” It’s this in-your-face bravado that makes Ym heroes for the disenfranchised that have lost their coochie crunk leaders in the rap game. Ever since the demise of MCs like Foxy Brown, Remy Ma, and Lil’ Kim, the female rap scene has given way to more commercial pop acts like The Pussycat Dolls, Beyoncé, and Fergie. YM is rearranging the game with bass driven beats and jaw-dropping’ lyrics that make the current pretty girl groups seem a bit pointless.

Futuristically Speaking: Never Be Afraid opens up with scream song Fucked Up, initially sounding like a contrived mad Black woman anthem about hating on the men who leave them. Halfway through we realize it’s about being in a relationship that you want to get out of, but can’t. YM puts it simply, “I can’t stand the way you look, but I like the way you fuck me!”– a realization we all can relate to when the one you’re with ain’t the perfect situation, but he/she is good enough in the between time.

On Don’t Let Go, one of the few chilled jams on the album, singer Jwl B’s vocal range shines brilliantly. The lo-fi two-step tune is all about demanding respect…“Every time you turn around, a nigga callin’ you a hoe…You never too young to demand respect. He’ll treat you betta.” If you’re going to put yourself out there in a sexual context, it doesn’t mean you deserve to be treated like crap. It’s this message of self-empowerment that is firmly implanted in YM’s lyrical content.

In addition to the new version of Club Action, YM’s first hit single back in 2006, the best floor-filler tracks here are Basement Jaxx’s-produced Booty Klap– a sonic speed, bass thumping burner that makes you want to follow along with the dance routine prompts (makes The Cha Cha Song seem best-fitted for an old-folks home), and Party Hardy– which is reminiscent of an Alpha Kappa Alpha at MSU step routine song…heavy, fun, and definitely no joke! “Yo Majesty is a new era of hip hop…instead of talking about negative stuff, we’d rather talk about positive stuff. We’d rather listen to a dance band than music that makes people want to kill themselves.”

Yo Majesty’s sexual identity is just one part of the hype that put the slick southern charmers in the spotlight, but it’s Shunda K’s strong rhythmic skills, Jwl B’s smooth vox, and their unyielding spirituality that will keep them around. This album is full of dirty raw emotion and lots of personal issues that are clearly still being worked through. And while they start their benevolent healing process, we’ll be right there on the dance floor workin’ it out with them!

album out now!!!

www.myspace.com/yomajesty4life

Paisley Dalton

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