The biggest thing you need to know going into a THEESatisfaction show—your hips are going to move. With music this bass-heavy and tightly syncopated, it's impossible to do anything else. You're not going to be able to get out all the energy out with just a polite toe tap or head bob—this music calls for full-bodied dropping it low.
THEESatisfaction is Catherine Harris-White (Cat) and Stasia Irons (Stas). Their website say they "live/laugh/love/dance and create in Seattle, WA. They write, produce and perform their own material, funk-psychedelic feminista sci-fi epics with the warmth and depth of Black Jazz and Sunday morning soul, frosted with icy raps that evoke equal parts Elaine Brown, Ursula Rucker and Q-Tip"—which, despite all it's complexities and specific references, is about as good a description of THEESatisfaction as is possible.
"Our music is just like vibe, groove, fun, dance-y, critically thinking type of music," Stas says with a laugh. "I don't like to say genres. I just like to go off of how I feel when I hear a song or like when people say they feel when they hear it."
Listening to their debut record—awE naturalE (2012)—Stas' distaste for specifying genres is apparent. Jumping from R&B to techno to old school rap, THEESatisfaction never seems satisfied with just one tone. Yet all this genre switching and flipping done seamlessly. This is not a band trying on different musical styles for size, this is a fully realized musical statement.
THEESatisfaction's music isn't without purpose though, taking on politics, societal issues, and their own lesbian identity. This might make their music sound too heavy to be fun or too limited in its audience. However, both women agree that their sound is unifying, not divisive.
"For awhile they were like trying to put us in like, 'Oh they're just women rappers' or 'they're just queer people,'" Cat explains. "But I think we broke out of that early, and just kind of broke out of those boxes and now there hasn't really been an issue."
Stas agrees. "I feel like our music is inviting, you know. It's not like only gay people can hear it or only gay people understand it."
That's one thing that comes across loud and clear—other than the pair's incredible talent—is how inviting THEESatisfaction's music is. Well, that and the bass line...
