Khrysis

Khrysis serves as a primary in-house beatmaker for the underground North Carolina rap collective known as the Justus League, working alongside his mentor 9th Wonder from the group Little Brother. Despite frequently operating in 9th Wonder’s shadow, he built his own reputation by supplying productions to acts beyond the Justus League roster, such as Sean Price, Masta Ace, and Jean Grae. His productions typically fuse varied drum patterns with layered melodies drawn heavily from raw soul recordings, yet he relies on a minimal setup consisting of the software programs Fruity Loops and Cool Edit together with extensive vinyl sources.

Born Christopher Shawn Tyson in New Jersey, he first developed an interest in crafting beats during his early teenage years. Drawing from his father’s extensive jazz and R&B holdings, he would capture an album onto cassette and then employ a dual-deck recorder to isolate drums, hi-hats, and other elements needed for loops. His introduction to the Justus League occurred at North Carolina Central University in Durham, NC, after he had already connected with League rapper Chaundon while working at the campus station WNCU during high school; Chaundon facilitated the initial meeting with 9th Wonder. Upon enrolling at NCCU, Khrysis reconnected with 9th Wonder, who in turn brought him into the wider Justus League circle. Alongside fellow member Sean Boog he formed the duo the Away Team, whose first full-length effort, National Anthem, appeared in May 2005.