EssJay TheAfrocentricRatchet

Minneapolis Transplant, EssJay TheAfrocentricRatchet, is bum-rushing the hip hop scene, one lyrical haymaker at a time. An independent femme rapper, EssJay’s style displays the gritty and eclectic upbringing experienced growing up in the rough and culture-rich streets of Chicago. Through aggressive bars, unapologetic braggadocio, and true passion for the genre, EssJay has turned her shortcomings into her greatest assets.

Diagnosed Bi-Polar in the fall of 2017, EssJay has since used music and her growing platform as a therapeutic resource and tool to speak on mental health, normalizing big body confidence, overcoming generational trauma, and more. An intellect upon first introduction, EssJay's ‘ratchet’, turnt up alter ego is not to be overshadowed.

The 2020 EP release, YODY, an acronym for You Out Did Yourself, brandishes boss bad bitch energy with the twerk anthems like Pop It and Golden. EssJay’s stage presence and larger-than-life personality are the draw for crowds attending the annual YODY show. YODYFESt and YodyPalooza, sold out 2022 and 2021, leading to a demand for a bigger space and a bigger show. In 2022, at the famed Minneapolis venue The Cabooze, EssJay put on what has been said to be the best event experience in the Twin Cities to date, with YODY, Again.

Self-proclaimed hood rat, revolutionary, mother, and wife, EssJay represents the complexities and diversities of the Black Queer Femme experience in America.