Yo! Majesty is LaShunda Flowers AKA Shunda K and Jewel Baynham AKA Jwl B. The Tampa natives rose to digital hip hop fame during the MySpace era with their 2008 debut Futuristically Speaking…Never Be Afraid.

They performed all over the world including Coachella and South by Southwest and were profiled in publications like Spin and The New York Times. Somewhere along the wild ride Yo! Majesty decided they needed a break from each other and the industry as they evolved into women.

It’s been a long time coming but the ladies are back with a more mature sound for their sophomore independent release, Return of the Matriarch.

Q&A with Yo! Majesty

What have you each been doing professionally since your musical hiatus?

Shunda K: I own a lawn service in Florida and have been tending to that in addition to creating my music collective with the GMEQCA / Matriarch Records brand, which is pushing the new Yo! Majesty projects.

Jwl B: I’ve been down in South Florida preparing for the Yo! Majesty takeover.

When is “Return of The Matriarch” dropping and is there a tour planned to support it?

We are planning to drop the album this Spring 2021 and have a tour in the works both virtually and physically, worldwide, in the areas we can tour, considering the pandemic. Stay tuned!

**Describe the sound of Return of The Matriarch?**

We have coined a sound we call Sonic Hip Hop where we collaborate with various genres of music, usually high energy production to keep the dance floor moving.

Will sex, God, and titties continue to be a part of the Yo! Majesty brand?

Anything less is uncivilized. It’s time to be free.

You rose to digital fame during the MySpace era. Do you find the Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram era to be challenging?

The current crisis has allowed us to move at our own pace because things have slowed down quite drastically. With these social media platforms we have been able to engage our audiences and keep them in the loop on what’s going on with Y!M.

We are available for collaborations and live performances this Spring 2021. Hit us up for requests at booking@gmeqca.com.

What are your least favorite and most favorite things about working in the music industry?

This industry is a job. The saying faith without works is dead is definitely true in this business. We have learned that you must invest into yourself if you want maximum success because indeed you will only get out of this what you put into it.

Since we are doing everything ourselves, without the backing of a major label, it has proven a big task to keep up with everything but it is worth it when you talk about being your own boss.

Waiting to blow up when your shit is the hottest on the block has to be the least favorite. (lol)