Yo Majesty

by Cyril Cordor 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.