Yo! Majesty

A couple of weeks ago, we wrapped up the first part of lesbian and bisexual female singers of the 20th century. The lesbian and bisexual female singers of the 21th century, however, as well as the contemporary black gay artists, will be presented along with everybody else. Call it wishful thinking on my part, that this will be the century that gender, race and sexual orientation differences will not matter anymore, except to a handful of unrepenting bigots, who will be more of a curiosity than a threat. We're hardly there yet, but things are much better than they used to be in the past, so here's hoping humanity won't u-turn into darkness.

Back to the present: today's act is Yo! Majesty.

Yo! Majesty's current members are Windy Baynham, who goes by Jwl B, Shon Burt, stage name Shon B, and LaShunda Flowers, known as Shunda K. The group members are openly lesbian and self-identify as Christian. Their sound is a hybrid of crunk, Baltimore club music, and electro, and they have garnered comparisons to punk for their defiance of labels and creation of new sounds.

Rappers Shunda K and Shon B started out as a duo named Yeah Majesty before they were rounded out circa 2001 by gospel-raised vocalist Jwl B. They started collaborating with London-based electronica duo HardfeelingsUK (David Alexander and Richard Winstanley), who supplied Yo! Majesty with their electro-rap club beats, in 2002. After a hiatus during Shunda K's marriage, Yo! Majesty regrouped. Once they established a name for themselves on the underground club circuit, both in the U.S. and the UK, Yo! Majesty self-released their first official release, the Yo EP, in 2006. The song that stood out was Club Action:

They "made a splash" at SXSW in 2007 and that year toured alongside CSS and Gossip. Yo! Majesty has also toured with Peaches and was featured in her parody video of The Black Eyed Peas' My Humps called My Dumps. The group signed with Domino Records in 2007, and the label released a Yo! Majesty EP (Kryptonite Pussy) and a full-length record (Futuristically Speaking... Never Be Afraid) in 2008.

From Kryptonite Pussy, here's Hey There Girl:

From Futuristically Speaking... Never Be Afraid, here's their single Don’t Let Go:

Also a single, Booty Klap:

Also in this album, Leather Jacket:

... As well as Party Hardy:

In 2009, Yo! Majesty were featured in a Basement Jaxx track called Twerk:

Since then, Yo! Majesty, while still being active on the touring circuit, haven't released another record. In early 2016, a documentary called Das Wassup (directed by Johannes Schaff) was completed, which follows Yo Majesty through their trials and tribulations as they are making it in the music industry and not. As far as I know, the film hasn't been released yet.