Stop Sleepin: Shawn Chrystopher

Shawn Chrystopher’s genius was noted at an early age, having completed high school by 16 and receiving a full ride to study political science at the University of Southern California.

While in school, Shawn learned music theory as well as how to play a handful of instruments.  He decided to leave college after just 3 years to pursue a serious career in music.  So far so good, as he has started working with Elitaste (Wale & Mike Posner), and has been featured in the latest LRG magazine ads.  

On August 11th, Shawn hit the internet with his debut album, A City With No Seasons, named after his hometown of Inglewood, CA.  The album was released for free in an effort to get as many people exposed to his music as possible.

With A City With No Seasons, Shawn wanted to connect with people in a different way, leaving the safe area where so many rappers find themselves emulating proven sounds and lyrics, to please the general public and radio air waves.   He set out to create a work of art where each verse would build off the last, while also touching on very personal subjects, giving the music universal appeal.  Everyone can relate to the deep feelings and emotions on this album.

Take a look at the wonderfully directed video, “And I Present,” which introduces us to the album.

As that intro shows, Shawn truly put his heart and soul in the project, having produced the whole album with production partner, Zaire Koalo.

The album’s artwork was inspired by Jean-Michel Basquiat, whose “elementary” art is often underrated.  However, since all art, music included, is about expressing yourself regardless of other people’s opinions, Shawn wanted to go outside the box with his album art in honor of Basquiat.

Watch Shawn kill this performance of the album’s first single, “Untitled.”

That song gives me chills, and if you really focus in on the melody and lyrics, it will have you loosing track of time.  Shawn speaks about his love with:

“There’s no misconception to say she’s perfection,
The object of my affection with no question,
No guessing, no fights, no argument,
What you meant, then there aint no stressing,
See she don’t ever, ever lie,
She is my heart, she would never ever die,
But if she did, bet I’m goin with her,
I won’t spend my life on this Earth being bitter,
I don’t need two girls in my house like John Ritter,
I don’t need no girl who dresses like prom pictures,
See this girl loves me for me,
Yea me for me, is that so hard to see?”

As amazing as that love song is, we see Shawn explore the opposite emotion with, “Heartbreaker.”

“Heartbreaker” was written after Shawn’s fiance told him that it wasn’t working out, four months into their engagement.  Even though this was a hard time for Shawn, he has since said that getting your heart broken is the first step toward fearlessness.

Various parts of this album including “Heartbreaker,” remind me a lot of Kanye West and 808’s and Heartbreak.  Coincidentally, Kanye is one of Shawn’s favorite artists.

If you’re interested in checking out more of Shawn’s music, listen to “I Will Never Change ” from his I.W.G. mixtape, where he worked with a theme of artists being equal to fans.  Also check out “Lethal Weapon” from I.W.G. 2: I Told You So.

Shawn Chrystopher’s style, approach to making music, and attitude toward the listener make him an extremely unique artist with tons of potential.  Watching Shawn develop into a more well known artist will be really exciting for any fan of music.

In the mean time, you can get a good glimpse into his personality by checking Shawn Chrystopher’s blog, HonourRoleStudent.com.