Junglepussy

Last updated
Junglepussy
Birth nameShayna McHayle
Born (1991-10-31) October 31, 1991 (age 33)
New York City, NY, U.S.
Genres Hip hop
Occupations
  • Rapper
  • actress
Years active2010–present
Website junglepussy.nyc

Shayna McHayle [1] (born October 31, 1991), [1] known professionally by her stage name Junglepussy, is an American rapper and actress from New York City. Her first mixtape Satisfaction Guaranteed was released in 2014. [1] She has received recognition from different artists such as Erykah Badu and Lil' Kim. [2]

Contents

Early life

Shayna McHayle was born in East New York, Brooklyn on October 31, 1991, [1] to a Jamaican father and a Trinidadian mother. [3] After her parents divorced, she was raised by her mother. [4] Her mother encouraged her to be creative, allowing her to dye her hair as a form of self-expression, and encouraged McHayle and her sisters to practice self-love. [4]

She started rapping in high school with a group of friends called Primp, [5] until graduation at 16. [1] After graduating she attended the Fashion Institute of Technology, [1] until getting a job in retail and starting a YouTube channel as a pastime. [6]

Career

In 2012, she released her first track as Junglepussy, "Cream Team" on YouTube, followed by "Stitches". [6] In 2013, she performed alongside rapper Lil' Kim at Westway. [7]

In January 2014, Erykah Badu posted "Cream Team" on her Facebook and Twitter. [8] [9] [10] On June 10, 2014, Junglepussy released her debut mixtape Satisfaction Guaranteed. The self-released 11 track compilation debuted on the Vice website. [11] Junglepussy later released videos for the songs "Nah" and "Me" on her official YouTube channel. [12]

On August 20, 2015, she announced her next album would be titled Pregnant with Success , based on a lyric from "You Don't Know". [13] On the same day, Junglepussy released a video for the assumed first single from the album, "Now or Later". [14] The album was released on November 17, 2015. [15] It was included on year-end lists by publications such as Fact , [16] Spin , [17] and Rolling Stone . [18]

On May 11, 2018, she released an album, JP3, which features guest appearances from Rico Love, Gangsta Boo, Wiki, and Quin. [19] The album was leaked a day before its release. [4] At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average score out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, JP3 received an average score of 83, based on 6 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim". [20] Vibe included it on the "25 Hip-Hop Albums by Bomb Womxn of 2018" list. [21] It was nominated by the American Association of Independent Music for its 2019 indie music-celebrating Libera Awards in the category of Best Hip-Hop/Rap Album. [22]

She made her acting debut in the comedy film Support the Girls (2018). [23]

In 2020, Junglepussy released JP4, her fourth studio album, which Guardian described as "a moody blend of nu-metal, alt-rock and funk". [24] NME described the record as "stunning", praising McHayle for uniting "a multitude of sounds" and "scoping multiple genres" while still producing a cohesive and enduring record". [25]

The album features appearances from Gangsta Boo and Ian Isiah.

In 2022, Junglepussy released the 5 track "JP5000" project to high acclaim from publications such as Pitchfork, Metacritic, and more.

Artistry

Musical style and influences

In a 2014 interview with Interview , Junglepussy cited she has taken inspiration from musicians such as Erykah Badu, Missy Elliott, Lady Saw, Kelis, Busta Rhymes, Vybz Kartel, Mavado, The Veronicas, Metric, Gossip, and Soulja Boy. [9]

Public image

Junglepussy explained that as a young woman she was mostly influenced by the television show Moesha , starring singer/actress Brandy. She said in Paper : "Growing up, I would see Brandy on Moesha and see her keeping in her cornrows and her braids, but still flourish in her art and music, looking fly. I loved Moesha as a child, but now I take away something more special from it. Just because you're a black girl, it doesn't mean you need to only care about hair and makeup. Brandy cared about books, culture and where she was going — you can do both." [8]

Personal life

Junglepussy is autistic. [26] [27] She identifies as asexual. [28] [29]

Discography

Studio albums

Mixtapes

Singles

Guest appearances

Filmography

Film

Television

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Madrid, Isis (September 22, 2014). "'Loving Yourself': The Philosophy of Junglepussy (page 1 of 2)". The Village Voice . Archived from the original on February 5, 2015. Retrieved April 7, 2015.
  2. ↑ Weiss, Dan (March 17, 2016). "Junglepussy: The Rapper Sliding Into Your DMs". Spin . Retrieved April 30, 2019.
  3. ↑ Rosenzweig, Mathias (October 20, 2014). "Scrapbook: Junglepussy Flips Through Her Old Photo Albums". Noisey . Retrieved February 18, 2019.
  4. 1 2 3 Douze, Khalila (May 24, 2018). "Junglepussy is here for you". The Fader . Retrieved May 8, 2019.
  5. ↑ "Junglepussy: "I'm Supposed to Have This Unique Story of Imperfection"". Noisey . December 8, 2015. Retrieved May 8, 2019.
  6. 1 2 "Junglepussy". YouTube . Retrieved April 7, 2015.
  7. ↑ Junglepussy (June 2, 2013). "IM OPENING FOR LIL KIM TUESDAY @ WESTWAY". Twitter . Retrieved May 2, 2019.
  8. 1 2 Moran, Justin (June 20, 2014). "Why Junglepussy Is One of Rap's Brightest New Stars". Paper . Retrieved May 8, 2019.
  9. 1 2 Chapman, Alex (June 10, 2014). "The Real Junglepussy". Interview . Retrieved April 7, 2015.
  10. ↑ Erykah Badu (January 10, 2014). "Oooh .. JUNGLEPUSSY – Cream Team." Twitter . Retrieved April 7, 2015.
  11. ↑ Schwartzberg, Lauren (June 10, 2014). "Stream Junglepussy's Debut 'Satisfaction Guaranteed'". Vice . Retrieved October 2, 2015.
  12. ↑ "JUNGLEPUSSY". YouTube . Retrieved October 2, 2015.
  13. ↑ Nostro, Lauren (August 21, 2015). "Premiere: Junglepussy Shares "Now or Later" Video Off of Her Forthcoming Album, 'Pregnant With Success'". Complex . Retrieved October 2, 2015.
  14. ↑ Junglepussy (20 August 2015). "Junglepussy – Now or Later". YouTube . Retrieved October 2, 2015.
  15. ↑ Thompson, Paul (November 17, 2015). "Stream Junglepussy's New Album". XXL . Retrieved March 25, 2016.
  16. ↑ "The 50 Best Albums of 2015". Fact . December 9, 2015. Retrieved March 25, 2016.
  17. ↑ "The 50 Best Hip-Hop Albums of 2015 (page 2 of 2)". Spin . December 16, 2015. Retrieved March 25, 2016.
  18. ↑ "40 Best Rap Albums of 2015 – 37. Junglepussy, 'Pregnant With Success'". Rolling Stone . December 23, 2015. Retrieved March 25, 2016.
  19. ↑ Ortiz, Edwin (April 27, 2018). "Junglepussy Shares New Song "Trader Joe" and Reveals Release Date for 'JP3'". Complex . Retrieved May 19, 2018.
  20. ↑ "JP3 by JunglePussy". Metacritic . CBS Interactive . Retrieved February 18, 2019.
  21. ↑ Turner-Williams, Jaelani (December 14, 2018). "25 Hip-Hop Albums By Bomb Womxn Of 2018 – Junglepussy, 'JP3'". Vibe . Retrieved May 8, 2019.
  22. ↑ Cirisano, Tatiana (March 28, 2019). "A2IM Reveals 2019 Libera Awards Nominees: Mitski, Bad Bunny, Snail Mail & More". Billboard . Retrieved May 2, 2019.
  23. ↑ Parker, Mitch (June 29, 2018). "junglepussy makes her acting debut in 'support the girls' trailer". Vice . Retrieved August 23, 2018.
  24. ↑ "Junglepussy: 'I don't like the narrative that women have to be superheroes'". the Guardian. 2020-11-10. Retrieved 2021-06-24.
  25. ↑ "Junglepussy – 'JP4' review: as wild as her moniker suggests". NME. 2020-10-23. Retrieved 2021-06-28.
  26. ↑ McHayle, Shayna (28 April 2022). "proud #autizzy #blacktuallyautistic #autismawarenessmonth 💙". Instagram . Retrieved 3 March 2024.
  27. ↑ McHayle, Shayna [@JUNGLEPUSSY] (6 May 2022). "I MADE THIS TOP FOR MYSELF #AUTIZZY WAS COINED BY @THEYTHEMPLURAL BIG UP EVERY BLACK AUTISTIC PERSON" (Tweet). Retrieved 3 March 2024– via Twitter.
  28. ↑ McHayle, Shayna (22 February 2019). "i rly think i'm asexual🤹🏾‍♀️". Instagram . Retrieved 3 March 2024.
  29. ↑ McHayle, Shayna [@JUNGLEPUSSY] (17 November 2019). "MAYBE WHEN I COME TO TERMS WITH BEING AN ASEXUAL "SEX SYMBOL" ILL GET PAST FEELING LIKE THE SPRITE CAN MUST DISAPPEAR IN MY MOUTH & BEGIN TO GROW DEEPLY ROOTED BONDS OF TENDERNESS I SO DESIRE" (Tweet). Retrieved 3 March 2024– via Twitter.
  30. ↑ Green, Dylan (February 8, 2022). "Junglepussy: JP5000 Album Review". Pitchfork . Retrieved February 8, 2022.
  31. ↑ "You Don't Know". Spotify . Retrieved May 2, 2019.
  32. ↑ "Now or Later". Spotify . Retrieved May 2, 2019.
  33. ↑ "State of the Union". Spotify . Retrieved May 2, 2019.
  34. ↑ "Showers". Spotify . Retrieved May 2, 2019.
  35. ↑ "Trader Joe". Spotify . Retrieved May 2, 2019.
  36. ↑ "They Know". Spotify . Retrieved May 2, 2019.
  37. ↑ Darville, Jordan (October 29, 2019). "Junglepussy spits venom in the creepy "Spiders" video". The Fader . Retrieved November 10, 2019.
  38. ↑ "Junglepussy shares "Main Attraction" and announces new album Jp4". Thefader.com. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
  39. ↑ "Junglepussy's Love Is as Long as a Tangerine Dream Song on "Arugula"". Pastemagazine.com. 4 March 2020. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
  40. ↑ Kim, Kristen Yoonsoo (February 22, 2019). "Junglepussy on the Role That Should Have Nabbed Her an Oscar Nomination". Pitchfork . Retrieved May 8, 2019.
  41. ↑ Marine, Brooke (December 21, 2018). "5 Under-the-Radar TV Shows You May Have Missed in 2018". W . Retrieved November 10, 2019.

Further reading

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