Jwl B, what’s one thing people need to know before they start to listen to your music?

Yo! Majesty is a very strong group, I feel, and it’s time for women in the industry to have equal opportunity. So that’s what I want to portray, and [what] I want people to see through Yo! Majesty.

How would you describe your music?

‘Diverse’. Period.

A lot of people have been describing you as a lesbian, Christian hip-hop act...

That’s a lie! I ain’t been putting God’s name on something that was a collage of songs picked by the label that became an album. I love God because I was raised in a religious household, but I can’t say that our album is of God because I happen to believe in Him. As far as us being Christian, I’m not a Christian. I’m a believer! I do not practise religion at all. I just believe there is a God, and I keep Him in my heart.

Shunda K, she has this whole other theory of Yo! Majesty, and that’s her opinion. I’m just making good music and having fun. And all this Christian talk – I’m not with that, because I respect the name of God and I honour Him very much. I really felt that God has no particular preference who He may use, or who He loves. He has no boundaries about that. I can’t say ‘Yo! Majesty is missionaries and preachers’, I’m not that! I’m an artist who happens to believe in God. And I also happen to be gay. And let me tell you, I believed in God before I kissed any woman.

What do you think of your less-accepting rapping male counterparts?

Every artist has their own style, and they have their own things that they think can make some money. I dunno what’s on these people’s mind when they’re saying, ‘I’m dominant,’ or whatever; I got nothing against them. If that’s what they wanted to say, then my God, let them say it. Because they’re shit! I have my own music and they have their own music. I respect them as artists in whatever they’re doing.

What’s the craziest thing you’ve ever done on stage?

Prior to Yo! Majesty making it, me and Shunda used to practise at my cousin’s house topless, saying, ‘One day we’re gonna do it’. Well, I guess one day I had enough nerve to do it at a party, and when I took off my shirt I felt so free! Because, first of all, it was hot, and I wanted to do it. I wanted to break the boundaries of male and female. A male can do it. Why can’t I feel the same momentum on stage? I want to rip my shirt off and do the damn thing! So I do, because it’s my show, it’s my territory, and I don’t give a damn who don’t like it. Do whatever you got to do. Because I’m gonna be me. I grew up in a very religious home, very controlled, so this was the opportunity to extend myself and feel free, show my craft off and extend myself on stage. ’Cos that’s where it’s at.

What are your plans for Australia?

To do a damn good show! Have a good time, check out what’s doing over there and enjoy the environment and the people over there. Hopefully, in good faith, they will receive Yo! Majesty and come to our show.
 
Yo! Majesty at the Pyramid Rock Festival, December 31 www.thepyramidrockfestival.com; and January 3 at Miss Libertine, tickets thru Moshtix: www.moshtix.com.au

Futuristically Speaking… Never Be Afraid available now in stores and on iTunes.

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