Yo Majesty @ Barfly, November 17 2008

Why?
Yo Majesty are a duo of black lesbian crunking Christian rappers from Florida, who sometimes perform topless. And tonight, Matthew, they will be playing at a venue most accustomed to head-nodding indie chin-strokers. Their lyrical repertoire includes such gems as “put your hands between your thighs and rub on your monkey”. My buddy has a spare ticket. No-brainer.

The Venue
Ah, the wonderful Camden Barfly. As, erm, regular readers might have deduced, this is not my favourite venue. With a small-to-medium sized gig space in a dark, musty Camden backroom, it promises oh so much. But usually they screw up the levels, and rarely deliver. Tonight, however, everything works. Perhaps this is because it was essentially a PA set...a piece of piss compared to setting up for a band. Either way, in this instance the Barfly was an excellent venue for a small, rowdy gig.

What they look like
Shunda K is the rapper. She wears a Dickies jumpsuit, which makes her look like a hospital custodian, with the prison-esque arm tattoos to match. She has a face that can look really endearing and loveable and happy, and then very scary and crazed and like it’s going to kick the shit out of you. She’s really very funny, bantering with the crowd in between songs, japesing like a comedian. She’s a very theatrical rapper as well, with each line matched with a facial expression. This, I feel, is something we can learn from the Americans...there’s nothing wrong with a bit of theatre...you don’t always have to look cool. Jwl B is the everything else. She is bonkers. She is quite a big girl, and is known for stripping off. Tonight she looks like a fat kid who has been dragged on a skiing holiday against her will, but has placated herself by buying a big baggy garish yellow sweatshirt and silly sunglasses. She flashes her right nipple from time to time, whips her top off to reveal a skin-tight sports bra, and ends the gig smoking a joint on stage. Great shift.

What they sound like
Be-jesus. There is quite a lot going on here. Shunda K is a rapid rapper, cramming a barrage of lyrics into extremely tight lines- the effect is more rhythmic than lyrical. Imagine the vocal flexibility of Busta Rhymes or Twista with Andre 3000’s southern Twang, with the rhythm-focussed edge of Ludacris, all sung by an angry lady, and you’re somewhere near. Jwl B is probably quite an excellent singer, but her role here is to growl and scream and squeal and yell like a female Fatman Scoop with a much better vocal range. She buffers the music, and doubles it, and adds flourishes. As previously mentioned, she is a fruit-loop- at one stage she announces to the crowd that her “pussy is real sweaty”. The music is a heavy mix of squelchy electro, supped-up crunk, and bouncing off-beat hip-hop. I say this with very little authority.

Conclusion
Perhaps the most entertaining gig I have been to this year. The tempo of the music is superbly matched by Yo Majesty’s on-stage hyperactivity. Shunda K leaps around the stage in a flurry of animation, acting out every word. Jwl B is, I repeat, a few Tracker bars short of a packed lunch, and throws herself from side to side, convulses in ecstasy, lapses into dance spasms, and occasionally flashes a nipple. But beyond all this, they are both excellent lyricists...Shunda K is one of the best rappers I have ever seen. And there is something political here, too: if the boys can be filthy mutherfuckers peeling their tops off and rapping about banging bitches, why not the ladies? The music I could give or take, and I can’t see myself buying their album. But as a performance...yes, yes and more yes. At the end of the gig, Jwl B is puffing on a joint, praising God, telling the crowd that she loves them, simultaneously inducing cries of “Fuck that shit!” And then there is a shambolic stage invasion and they play two more songs. Bravo.

Pics: Simon Clayson, fabbio, gretchen robinette, nudevinyl

Tags: yo majesty Shunda K jwl b tampa florida crunk rap camden barlfy lesbian busta rhymes ludacris