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]
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]
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.
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]
