In January 2014, Eykah Badu tweeted “Oooh .. JUNGLEPUSSY - Cream Team..” with a link to a song with the irresistibly catchy hook, “Hustle that pussy muscle”. For a lot of people, this was their first introduction to rapper, actor, and model, Shayna McHayle. A creative chameleon, Shayna describes herself as someone who’s “always changing”. The 27-year-old’s career trajectory, Junglepussy moniker, and personal style have all come about organically, propelled by the confidence and innate understanding of personal branding that only someone who came of age on Myspace could possess. 

Junglepussy’s evolution from early releases like ‘Stitches’, a searing song explaining how she’ll leave you if you take her man, to writing and acting in all parts of the nine  minute dating show parody ‘I’m In Love’ speaks to the freedom that being an independent artist can allow when the foundation of your artistry is all you. 

Leaving highschool at 16, Shayna studied merchandising at New York’s Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) before deciding to pursue music after friends asked her to contribute to their tracks. She’s always had drive and always been goal orientated, and it’s obvious that this steely focus has played a significant role in her success. Creatively, she keeps herself busy—as a rapper, a represented model with Elite NYC, and an actress starring alongside Regina Hall in the feature film Support the Girls. Then there’s her two studio albums, Pregnant with Success and JP3, bodies of work that actualise the limitless potential fans saw in her early mixtape Satisfaction Guaranteed.

I met Shayna in Collingwood on one of the days between her first stint at Dark Mofo and her debut Melbourne show. She was huddled in the corner of the studio next to a heater, her hair and makeup freshly styled from the shoot we had just wrapped. She warmly thanked the team as they left before telling me how difficult it’s been for her to adjust to Australia so far, mainly because “It’s so cold!”

Your music seems to be rooted in authenticity, self-love and self-care, even throughout your various iterations as an artist. How would you describe your  creative journey? I don't know. There are things I realise everyday, even out here. Whenever I travel I reassess how far I’ve come. When I first did ‘Stitches’, or better yet when I was first doing music in general I had just gotten out of a relationship and I just wanted everybody to know that niggas ain't shit. I did that for maybe two albums and on JP3 I was like, “I’m not dedicating my music to these guys anymore.”

I like to play with “MY man” or “MY nigga”, that possessiveness that we feel when you like or love someone. I hate that and I’m always trying to dismantle that like I did in my latest video [for] ‘I’m In Love’, the game show. I played me, I played everyone, because it’s like, who is your man, who is it really? Why do we feel that to be connected to something we must own it. Why don’t we do like that quote says, “When you see a flower you love don’t pick it, just admire it”. 

I try to approach everything like that, like my work. I realised last summer that this is a service industry job—I didn’t know that! I mean, I can do whatever I want but I still have a responsibility. You can do whatever you want but “To whom much is given, much is required”. I’ve been feeling the responsibility to dive deeper into whatever I am. I’m letting shit go, I’m not letting things hold me back. 

I know that I really don’t care about these guys. I know that I’m lovable and awesome and I just be so shocked and gagged when they act like I’m not. I’m like, “What?! You don’t see all this?!” But I can’t live my life trying to prove to people that I’m worthy of decency. My new music, I’m just more so having fun with myself and the awesomeness of me. Y’all know what it is, y’all know I can’t stand infidelity, this and that, but most people who like monogamy don’t, so I’m like, “Alright, moving on.”

What other things have you ticked off your bucket list? Well, I went to a nude beach in Barcelona, I went topless at the beach which was something I thought I’d do way older—did that when I was 27. I’m starting to build relationships with farm animals too.

That really fits in with your identity of intensely projected positivity. I’m thinking about your love of Trader Joe’s and your all caps “JUST FUCKING LOVE YOURSELF” tweets. I just like the way the caps look! There are so many voices on Twitter, I’m like, “Nah, I need caps.” It’s not like I’m really yelling—the volume is just turned up! Y’all have Trader Joe’s here?

No, but we get the concept. You don’t need it. But even so it’s the concept of trying to make healthier decisions for yourself. Because if we leave it up to society, they want us to run ourselves down to the ground, eat what we wanna eat. The Trader Joe’s thing came from taking the time to think about our options. And trying to make healthier decisions when we can. Sometimes I don’t wanna eat at Trader Joe’s, sometimes I wanna eat high fructose corn syrup but I know I can’t function off of that everyday so I try to cut it down!

How does this healthier options ethos translate in your career? I don't know, damn if I was eating crazy shit and taking drugs I might’ve been a bigger star! Because all the stars love Pepsi and Mcdonalds—I feel like there’s something in that food I’m missing that’s holding me back—nah I’m kidding! Sometimes I think about that because it matters—but sometimes it doesn’t.