TISSUE met Brooklyn-based rising rapper Junglepussy just around the corner of the TISSUE lab. Hanging out together in her backstage jungle, we talked about her sheltered youth, how dumb boys actually are and general pussymusclehustlin’.

2 tropical 4 America. If you read Junglepussy’s punchline, you immediately know her game. Junglepussy aka Shayna McHayle has all what it takes: a settled mind with a strong opinion and this unresistable attitude of not giving a fuck for some things, while giving lots for others. One that she gives: making people around her feel comfortable. When we entered the room, there was no lets-sit-down-and-get-this-behind-us situation. First, we were just goofing around and chatting about this and that, like Berghain being one of her next tour stops or discussing some fashion issues.

One of her biggest fans out there is no other than Erykah Badu. The soul queen tweeted twice about her love for Junglepussy. Besides that, Shayna released two albums so far that paved her way: Satisfaction Guaranteed in 2014, followed by Pregnant With Success one year later (which is, btw, self-released. TISSUE hailing from the realms of independent publishing!)

INTERVIEW: NADJA PREYER
PHOTOGRAPHY: TIM BRUENING

You were born and raised in Brooklyn. How was growing up there?
Well growing up in Brooklyn, I was very sheltered. My junior high school was a private school, a special school for “gifted and talented people” … But when I went to high school, I went across the bridge and this was really when I got to experience New York City and not just Brooklyn. Cause before that, I was always with family and close friends and cousins and when I started going across the bridge, it was like, ‘Wooah, it’s a whole new world!’ But yeah, you know, growing up, I was always artsy, creative, I liked to draw and do my clothes myself. I wanted to be a designer. I just wanted to dress nice. That’s why I went to FIT (Fashion Institute of Technology, editor’s note) and studied merchandising there – and I hated it, because they tricked me. I was like, “I wanna do style” and they told me “You need to do merchandising, which is gonna branch off into styling”… And they lied. It was so boring, so much math, so much business classes. But then I appreciated it, because after that, I started to transition into doing my own music and I was grateful for these business classes and all that boring shit, cause it helped me in the end.

How did living in Brooklyn have an influence on your music?
Now, especially more than ever, there are so many people in Brooklyn that are not from Brooklyn. I feel so exclusive (jokingly). People are always like, “Oh, you’re from Brooklyn?” (pause) “Okay, but where are you really from?’ And I’m like, “I’m really from Brooklyn“ (laughs). And that just makes me feel proud of having the purest perspective ever (on Brooklyn). So untainted and well… If people want Newyorkness, I got it. (ironically)

“IF PEOPLE WANT NEWYORKNESS, I GOT IT.”

So maybe it gave you confidence in a way?
Yeah. Now more than ever. Especially since everybody wants to be in New York for whatever reason. I mean (raps) ‘I been taken these chains all my life, walking these streets all my life.’

Make a track out of it…
Yeah, right? A song about gentrification (giggles)

You did this lecture at Yale, where you told the students that you started writing as a child.
Exactly. That Yale lecture was so interesting. I was like, “These are Ivy League students, probably way more book-smart than me, but still they wanna know what’s in my mind – okay!” But yes, as a child I had to write all the time. If I wanted something, my mother wanted me to write EVERYTHING down. If I wanted something, I had to say why I wanted it. If I wanted to go somewhere, I had to explain why I wanted to go there. Or in the morning, she would leave me a letter and I would have to respond to it. So I was learning to chose my words right and making sure that they were expressing what I really wanted to say. Aside from that, I always loved to write stories. The best thing for me as a child was getting an empty notebook and just filling it up with stories. I still have these notebooks. They’re like 14 chapter handwritten books about just shit (LOLs). I read some of them and I was like, “What the hell, Shayna?!” It’s mostly romance novels, but today that makes so much sense, because my music is also talking about relationships and all of that. So reading them I saw what a journey I had been on.

On that journey, when was the point you realized that music was really a thing for you? You could’ve also become an author.
I think it was after my songs Cream Team and Stitches. Those were my first two. So I put out the first song, to see if anybody would give a fuck, and people did. Then I put out the second one, to see if they really give a fuck – and they still did! And then I was like, “Oh my god, I have a voice, I have a platform, I gotta make sure I’m expressing myself exactly how I see myself.” I don’t want the world to define me, I want to define myself. But
I’m also still learning, so thats why it takes kinda long doing my music. Because I make sure that it’s a true expression of my growth and where I’m at. It’s just non-GMO organic growth in music (laughs).

“I PUT OUT THE FIRST SONG, TO SEE IF ANYBODY WOULD GIVE A FUCK, AND PEOPLE DID. THEN I PUT OUT THE SECOND ONE, TO SEE IF THEY REALLY GIVE A FUCK – AND THEY STILL DID!”

To the topics of self-love and confidence, which are obviously your main themes. How did you get to the point of embracing and loving yourself the way you do today?
I think it was after realizing how dumb boys are. They are just out there and acting like they need to tell us what we’re worth. And they don’t know! So after that, I was like, “I know! I know what’s within me, I know all I can do”. I’m always gonna remind myself of that, despite all the dumb boys around. And that’s where it came from.

You seem to express yourself very personally, also compared to other rappers. Has this always been easy for you or is it a challenge to do that?
No, it’s not been easy. It’s a challenge for me to accept how deep and personal I am with everything. Because like you said, there are so many artists who are so detached from the things that they’re saying. And I’m always like, “I wish I could say this and that and don’t really mean it, but people will believe it”. But then I don’t, because it’s not really me. So… I struggle a lot with being a genuine in a world full of fakes (over-exaggerated voice). No, but really – it’s not easy, because I’m being so personal and I’m actually learning, experiencing and growing and then translating that into music. It’s a lot of work and it takes a lot of me. But I love it. What else would I give? I’m all I have to give. So I have to make sure, it’s as personal as possible. That’s what’s real about it. It’s just me.

“I’M ALL I HAVE TO GIVE.
SO I HAVE TO MAKE SURE IT’S AS PERSONAL AS POSSIBLE.”

The way you rap is pretty poetic. Your pacing is different, you let the words come slow and clear. You like to let them sink in. Does that just happen?
Yeah, it sounds kinda poetic. It’s funny because in high school I hated poetry. I thought it was so corny. So maybe that was me secretly loving it and just wanting to know how to do it. I was like, “Ew! Poets! I mean… All of this passion just to say five words!?”

The issues you’re putting on the table are quite serious, but you use a lot of fun and even irony to express them…
Yes. When I’m recording, we have the best time. Especially for the new music I’m working with a lot of different producers and I just have the giggles. When we’re recording, we’re all just like, “Ahahaha!” and then, “All right come on, for real…” I’m never really in there being serious. It’s always me enjoying myself and just hanging out and making a recording. So doing my music is like hanging out with the mic in front of me.

“DOING MY MUSIC IS LIKE HANGING OUT WITH THE MIC IN FRONT OF ME.”

But getting all these serious messages across in a fun way… Does that come naturally or is it a bit like a concept?
I don’t know, I think its just natural. I come from a funny family. In my family everybody is a freakin clown. Growing up with my older sister, my father and my mother was just jokes on jokes on jokes… And even now to this day, still everything is funny. I’m like “Can y’all grow up?” So I think it’s just natural. I like to enjoy myself. I mean, I also take myself seriously, but then I don’t, cause everybody knows how to make words rhyme. So I’m not gonna act like, “I’m the first person ever to make words sound nice together”. That kinda relaxes me.

Lets talk about healthy food. You even have your own signature juice, the Junglepussy Juice. You like to tell people what’s good for them. Is there someone who inspired you to spread your empowering messages?
My mother! Growing up, my mother always convinced me not to eat fast food. When I was in junior high school, there was this Burger King right around the block and they would give us coupons with crazy discounts or even free food. And my titties were getting sooo big. So my mother was like, “Shayna, the Burger King is growing you titties with all the hormones they put in the food!” And I was like, “What is she talking?” and then, “Go through that drive through!” Back then I was like, “whatever mom, I’m just growing some beautiful titties”. But now I know. For some reason, I was just over it, like, “This is not okay.” I didn’t like the way it made me feel. Oh! I know what it was. It was this viral video with the pink slime… (everyone in the room looking at each other, puzzled) It’s like a makeup of all the remnants. They put in all the chicken parts and crush them all up. So that video really triggered me. I love pink! It’s my favorite color, but I would not put pink inside of me like that!

That’s really gross. So to finish our conversation with something nice: when can we expect your next album?
Soon! When I get back to America. It’s all done, it’s been done for like a year now. And we filmed the movie last spring. And before I went to film it, I made sure to finish all the music.

Which movie?
It is called Support The Girls. It’s an indie film. It got bought, so it’s gonna end up in a theatre. Which one it is, I cannot announce yet but… Yeah, the music is coming. Before summer!

Visitez:
www.junglepussy.nyc