The Thousands

Patrick: Hey Shunda!
Shunda: Hey, how are you?
P: I’m good! It’s like 10:30 in the morning down here and I just got in.
S: Man, you all are like… a lotta hours ahead
P: Yeah it’s crazy, we’re in the future down here. It’s Wednesday already.
S: Oh damn, that’s some gangsta shit right there. That’s gangsta. And I can’t wait to bring my black ass over to Australia. I’m telling you.
P: Well have you ever been here before?
S: Hell to the no! (laughs)
P: Well I hope you like it (laughs)

P: I know this question always comes up, but what’s your relationship with Christ and the Lord… and how does that play into songs like ‘Kryptonite Pussy’?
S: Well Jesus Christ was my lord and my personal saviour ya know? My understanding is that JC is the mediator between me and the lord. I mean when you’re runnin’ a business, you ain’t got time to deal with everyone, so gotta get somebody to allocate those powers to.

P: Yeah, yeah.
S: And I think sometimes, is God even perfect? I mean, he created this world and we got so called, ‘sin’ and death and all this. When before, in the beginning there was really none of that, it was like…niggas were livin’ to be a thousand years old and shit. (laughs) I mean imagine that shit, right?
P: Yeah (laughs)

P: When did you come upon these ideas in your faith?
S: I mean, I’ve know this ever since I was a little girl I guess, it’s just manifesting itself now. Ya know that’s how we’re operating in this life, it’s spiritual.

P: So how does that all play into the music of Yo! Majesty?
S: Well with Yo! Majesty, it’s what I believe man. I was just telling Josh today, if I drink anything or smoke any weed before the show… I fuck up. I mean, it’s like God knows that my heart desires the truth, and if I’m not walkin’ into it, then You lead me into the truth, even if it means changin’ my ways. I mean, it is how my life is, I want God to be in control even if it means I have to change.

P: Yeah, I hear that.
S: I’m changin’ though. I’m in a relationship, I’m engaged, and I even call her my wife and people are like ‘Oh congratulations, when did it ha…’ and I have to tell them, you know, it hasn’t yet, but it will because I believe. And if that’s not the case then I might have to go into some politics and shit.

P: Well speaking of your politics, what do you define yourselves as? Are you a political group or are you an entertainment group? It seems to never come from you what you two consider yourselves, only the people reviewing your records.
S: You can’t put a label Yo! Majesty. Yo! Majesty talks about everything from the church to the club, and everything in between. You know what I’m sayin’? From the time you go to the club that night, so much is going to happen to you until you have to go to church in the morning. And sometimes you don’t even make it to church. I mean that’s why churches started havin’ evening services, they were like ‘Oh shit, we gotta get this money, and they gonna be out till 3 or 4 in the mornin’, so we gotta start at 7 at night’. When it comes to what we’re talkin’ about though, damn right we’re political. What we’re doing through Yo! Majesty is definitely making a statement. This is how it’s going to be, and this is why it’s going to be like that. We have to keep on movin’ brotha.

P: Since hip hop has been flooded with misogyny, hyper masculinity, and homophobia, and you are doing exactly the opposite of that…was it a reaction to all of that or just who you are?
S: Oh yeah, that’s who we is, we don’t have any time to worry about what a motherfuckers sayin’…hell to the naw, it’s just how we’ve been raised. It’s about keepin’ it real no matter what, and doin’ the right thing with whatever tools you have.