Interview: JunglePussy Goes From Shop Girl To Underground Sensation

It’s difficult these days to find a musician who embraces their own individual euphoria, but for the past few years, JunglePussy has intentionally avoided the factionalism that characterizes the industry. While some rappers are groomed and packaged for the mainstream – by either a label or themselves – she is ultimately on a completely different path. She doesn’t fit the image of a commercial act; her unflinching sense of humor, eccentricity, bluntness and rawness tend to collide on most of her tracks. Consequently,ever since the release of her record, “Cream Team,” a year ago, she has been at the center of huge underground buzz.

Although the Brooklyn-born rapper’s trajectory was foreseeable – people tend to support up and coming women rappers – making music is less about following those before her as much as it is about remaining durably true to herself. She gives it to you straight: “I don’t care if you’re a queen because I’m a goddess. You can get your crown taken, but being a goddess is something no one can take away from you,” citing her place in hip hop. The Lil’ Kim comparisons are building, but she’s standing firm on her 8-inch heels, letting it all come to her in stride. Here, RESPECT speaks exclusively with the “sharpshooter” about her uncensored sound, artistic upbringing, misconceptions, women in rap, where she sees it all headed in the future and how she opens doors.

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RESPECT: Here’s what I have to ask, because right now a lot of people are scratching their heads, saying, “Who is this young lady, JunglePussy? We haven’t seen her before, but she’s so divisive. Who is she?”

I’m just a young woman growing up in Brooklyn. New York City is a concrete jungle, so I don’t know why people are so surprised that I call myself JunglePussy. I’m a female. I have a pussy, and I like to talk about it.

Where does the name JunglePussy come from?

It really is an innocent name. I came up with it almost four years ago. I had a lot of animal prints, and felt like a little jungle cat, like being surrounded by all these animal prints. I made it my Twitter name and it took off from there. Everybody on Twitter was like, ‘What the hell. Are you a porn star?’ I couldn’t understand the surprise, because I could’ve sworn there was the Pussycat Dolls and Josie and the Pussycats, but nobody objected to their names. I mean, Dick is the name of many men across the world, and it’s also slang for penis. Pussy is the same thing. I don’t understand the problem, it’s not like I’m calling myself motherfucker. It’s just a word.

The argument against your music and what you’re doing is that you’re provocative. What do you think the opinion of the world is of you?

Not even one per cent of the world knows about me yet, so I can’t calculate their feelings. But from those who have met me, they are sometimes either scared or intimidated. Some are warm and welcoming but I’m not worried about how I am going to be perceived because if you’re true to yourself, then you cannot go wrong. Whenever somebody says something really negative, it just shows me how much they hate themselves. I love myself so much, I find it hard to make fun of other people. I would never hurt anybody else’s feelings.

Was rapping something that you always wanted to do?

Well, when I was in high school, I was in a group, and we use to cut class -to rap and have a lot of fun. I then graduated at 16 and went to college for three years. After that, I took a break and started working at Patricia Field [clothing boutique in Manhattan], which is where I met my friend and sister Dai Burger. She was making music at the time and was like ‘Oh my gosh, we need to go into the studio. You need to come with me’, but I was like, ‘Yeah…Whatever’, but she somehow managed to get me down to adlib on some tracks. I did that for a while and also worked with other friends, but then I noticed whenever I’d put something out, people would want more of it. People wanted to hear more from me and I’m glad I didn’t ignore their cries because since last year I’ve been working non-stop.

There are people that will know you and will not be able to separate JunglePussy from Shayna. Is there any JunglePussy in Shayna or any Shayna in JunglePussy?

That’s really weird because people say to me all the time, ‘I know you’re JunglePussy, but I want to get to know Shayna.’ I mean, I can’t step into a little machine and transform. When I wake up in the morning, I am Shayna and JunglePussy. Like everything, I say as Shayna, JunglePussy means it – everything goes hand in hand.

Can you talk for a minute about the process you went through to make “Cream Team”, which is perhaps one of your most well-known tracks?

I made it in the summer of 2012 right after I had finished being in a serious relationship [laughs]. I realized that it was one of the most stupidest things I’d ever done in my life. I just wanted to get back to my life and focus on me and my bitches. I wanted to make a song for my bitches to shake their asses to, that’s how “Cream Team” came about.

What do you make of women in hip-hop? I feel like 2013 has been a major shift for the emergence of more women.

I don’t think it’s equal as of yet, there still aren’t many options available to women. It’s like there is not enough space for us, and so we have to come through one at a time. People think it’s equal because there are so many underground girls making music, but we have a long way to go. I mean, I’m not scared I just can’t wait for the end-result.

Artists, especially female rappers are often criticized for their opinions. Do you ever have to censor yourself?

I mean nobody likes an angry black woman – everybody will just say she’s crazy or whatever, but it’s up to me to always be impeccable with my words and really get my point across. I wouldn’t say shit just to get a rise out of people – everything I say is meaningful. If it comes off harsh, then that’s how it was meant to be. I’m never a whiny bitch because that’s just not cute. It is so easy to be opinionated and just bash anyone, like that is so easy to do, but for the past few years I’ve been writing things down on paper. I have a library full of journals where I just write down all my feelings.

I remember I first heard about you when you supported Lil’ Kim at a show in New York. How did that come to be?

That was the best night of my life. It was like the craziest day, because I even got my weave done. I had short hair throughout the summer, but when I heard I was going to open for Lil’ Kim, I was like, ‘Hell no, I’m putting my 26-inch weave in. I remember hearing Kim saying, ‘The girls who performed for me come hang with me on my table.’ It was so crowded that night, she even had three huge bouncers carrying her around. It was definitely one of the best nights of my life. I always have to pinch and remind myself how great it was. I wish I could just frame it and put it on my wall.

So just for the record, what do you think of the Lil’ Kim comparisons?

When people say that, I don’t get mad. If anything, it’s a compliment because we are both from Brooklyn. We have the same accent, so I guess we might sound alike. If we were both from Texas, we would probably sound the alike, too.

It seems everyone wants to be the Queen of hip hop, how comes no one wants to be Princess or Dame?

[Laughs] First things first, Lil’ Kim is definitely the queen. Some bitches are playing the princess role, and others are not really seeing the bigger picture. There’s not only one queen. There are multiple queens, but I don’t care if you’re a queen because I’m a goddess. You can get your crown taken, but being a goddess is something no one can take away from you.

Your music has presented us with many different sides of you. Are there any sides that are missing or that we’re not aware of?

I think people are now getting to know my spiritual and self-conscious side. To be great you have to treat yourself great, and that doesn’t mean buying fancy things. You have to treat your body well. I’m very strong on nurturing the mind, body and the spirit. It’s a collective and you have to have everything in order for everything to be right.

If “Stitches” is an interpretation of who you are as a lyricist, what do you think people will learn about you by listening to it?

Anybody who has been in a relationship can relate to it because whenever you find somebody that you really like, other people will also like him too, and that’s a struggle. Being possessive is a struggle.

Does your family listen to your music?

My mom is like my number one supporter. She knew about JunglePussy before I was even making music. She did use to be like, ‘Hmm… I don’t really like the name,’ but once she saw what I was doing she changed her mind. She came to one of my shows earlier this year and was chilling. She’s supportive of everything and being a weird girl, she would always allow me to dye my hair or get tattoos. She’s not an irresponsible mother. She just knows that she has raised me as a strong, young independent woman.

Do you believe in love at first sight?

Yeah, but nobody else does. I don’t think it’s ever going to work out, though. I sometimes fall in love everyday, especially in the train station. Every train I take I see somebody who makes me wonder what life would be like with them. I don’t think I will find my future husband in America. I think I might fall in love with someone overseas.

What’s your ideal type of guy?

A nice chocolate, brown or white guy with nice skin and nice teeth. He also has to be clean and a little spiritual, that’s all I’m asking for.

Is there an issue we haven’t tackled yet that entices you?

I sometimes wonder – who are the women showing other young urban girls the way? There’s nobody. When I started doing music, I wanted a mentor so bad. I wished there was someone I could just call for advice but, there was nobody, so I had to open the bible. It was really important to teach myself how to be a better woman. One of my missions is to be there to support other young women, boys need it to, but they already have a lot of prominent male figures. We don’t have a lot of women speaking out – Rihanna is just being a hoe, and everybody thinks that’s okay.

Say you were told it was your last few hours on earth. How would you spend your time?

I would take my mother and sisters on holiday to either Jamaica or Trinidad. We’d eat as much coconut and curry goat as we can, and just rub our feet in the sand.

Do you have any death-bed confessions?

[Laughs] Every time I go to sleep, I could be on my deathbed, so I always confess my sins. Actually, some people think I’m a tranny, but they are stupid. Do they really think I’ve got money to be getting a new pussy? I’m definitely not a tranny. Don’t you see my throwback Thursday pictures of me when I was a baby on Instagram?

Are you going to heaven or hell?

I’m going to heaven, what do you mean? I’m trying to chill with Tupac; we all know he’s up there.

If someone was to write it all down for the next generation to read, what would you want them to know about JunglePussy?

‘She never touched door knobs.’ I really don’t. If I’m approaching a door and it’s not open, I slow down and wait until somebody walks in front of me and opens it first.

What are your plans for the future?

I love it here in New York, but I’m definitely not going to stay here forever. There are so many other people on the earth who needs to see me, and I want to see them, too. So the future consists of a lot of performing and me soaking up some vitamins for my brown skin.