Junglepussy is known for her fierce lyrics and sharp punchlines, but on “Showers,” the latest single off her upcoming album, she reveals a soft, vulnerable side for the first time.
The 26-year-old, New York City based rapper has built a career out of embracing a confident, unapologetic sexuality while preaching messages of female empowerment and self love. Her first-ever single, “Cream Team,” which celebrates the power of women who strip and their “pussy muscle hustle,” caught the attention of the legendary Erykah Badu. On track after track of Junglepussy’s most recent album, Pregnant With Success, she makes it clear that she knows her worth and has no time for misbehaving dudes or petty jealousy. The project drips in clever lyricism, and made Rolling Stone’s list of the 40 Best Rap Albums of 2015.
“Showers” represents a pivot from both the substance and sound that have come to define Junglepussy. The lyrics dig into the emotional burden of a painful past, marking the first time that her work has confronted sadness in such an explicit way. In the opening verse, she sings, “Then I got some good lovin’, and I thought that it would ease the pain / Scars on my body-ody, cuttin’ like decorations.” She uses the hook to poetically reiterate the permanence of her “chains” and her inability to escape them, repeating, “Shower with my chains on, took a shower, all my chains on.”
The track also delivers a sound that’s completely new for Junglepussy. Up until now, she’s been turning out songs that are almost exclusively high-energy and pure rap. For most of the two-and-a-half minutes of “Showers,” though, she sings over a melodic guitar. The sound embraces a recent comeback of easy listening R&B — the type of music that you want to wake up to in the morning or play on a sunny, lazy afternoon. It’s her first foray into into this airier, lighter genre, and she executes it perfectly.
Junglepussy Keeps It Fierce
While there’s a lot that’s different about “Showers,” it has a few of the traits that are foundational to Junglepussy’s music. Most evidently, the song stays true to the rapper’s commitment to self care. The very act of “showering” is a ritual of cleansing. By singing about showering with her chains on, Junglepussy suggests that healing from emotional pain is possible, even if you can’t let go of it entirely. By describing her scars as cutting like “decorations,” she hints at the beauty that can come from painful experiences.
And, on the song’s single rap verse, Junglepussy shows that she’s still delivering hilarious punchlines and brushing off the haters. She raps, “Hit me for the meet and greet, if you wanna run your beak / Chickens talking shit ‘bout me, they need to go and brush their teeth.” But, right afterwards, the bridge kicks in, sung by her nephew, Zachary, who tells her, “…you’re doing too much talking.” And, just like that, it’s back to the hook.
“Showers” serves as the second single off Junglepussy’s much-anticipated third studio album, which is set to drop in 2018. It’s been over two years since she’s graced the world with new music and, if this track is any indication of what we can expect, this project promises to be some of the most multi-dimensional work that we’ve seen from this talented artist to date.
