The Break Presents: Shawn Chrystopher

Known as Timbaland’s protégé, Shawn Chrystopher is well on his way to becoming an established talent in rap. Fresh off the release of The Lovestory LP, here the Inglewood native describes his fashion style, going on tour with Big Sean and striving to be a walking billboard for brands.

Standout: "One of My Homies"

Also check out: "Biscayne" (Produced By Timbaland)

And: "The Temptation"

Name: Shawn Chrystopher

Age: 25

Hometown: Inglewood, California

Most people don’t know I: Been rapping since the sixth grade. I used to mock my favorite rappers and rap their songs over and over again earlier, but in sixth grade I began to write my own stuff.

I grew up listening to: 2Pac, Bone Thugs-n-Harmony and more.

My style or skills have been compared to: Style wise I am more into street wear, but I can appreciate high-fashion and I know when to use it. For example, if I were to have a meeting with Kevin Liles, I wouldn’t wear street wear. I know that Kev is all money, so I would know to dress according to the situation.

With that being said, I prefer street wear. I rock a lot of stuff from Society. I also wear a lot of throwback jerseys. I am a big Laker fan, so for some of my shows I will rock a throwback Eddie Jones or Nick Van Exel.

Skill wise, I get different comparisons with every tape that I drop. I switch my style up a lot because I don’t want to sound like everyone at the moment. When I first started I got a bunch of Kanye comparisons.

My standout records or moments have been: Having a one-on-one conversation at the LRG office with Jonas who was the owner of the company. He was one of the first people to believe in me and my talent before any A&R or company. He invited me out to the office and we talked for like two hours. He said he saw a lot of himself in me. He could tell I am a hardworker and encouraged me to keep going. He was the first person outside of my friends on a large scale to extend a hand.

I also went on tour with Big Sean in 2011 and 2012. I learned a lot from touring with him, and hitting all of those cities allowed me to push the music to a large amount of people. Touring with him helped me change the way I write records.

My goal in hip-hop is: To show people it can happen by being yourself. I want people to know that you don’t have to sell out and be a walking billboard for brands.

I’m gonna be the next: 2Pac, because I am not just doing rap. I want to conquer so many fields. I want to continue to direct visuals and movies and push myself.

To checkout more of my music go to: Follow me on Twitter @shawnchrys, Instagram and YouTube.