Make Life Richer

I think many of us take a look back at the previous year around this time, and I have to say I am so excited with all the amazing things that happened here at KJE.

We completed Juggernaut, had an HMMA nomination for This Life, had the first experience of hearing my music played on the radio, got great media coverage with more coming, and have had Juggernaut songs heard by people in at least 101 countries so far.

Things keep moving forward. We are working on creating a show to bring life to the music, looking forward to announcing live appearances soon, and are already playing with new songs ideas for the next album. With all that's happened in 2009, I am truly excited to think of what's to come in 2010.

But the best part of everything that has happened thus far is being able to share it all with those closest to me, part of what makes any experience special being able to share it with someone else. Without that it’s almost a wasted moment.

So I think for this New Years it will be my new goal, and I invite anyone else to try as well, to make sure to involve those closest in every special moment. It makes life that much richer.

Peace to all in 2010,
Krys

Check out Krys's website, hear him on free online radio, Friend Krys on MySpace, Download any Juggernaut album tracks or the entire album from iTunes or Amazon, and check out Krys on YouTube.

Music That Moves You

So earlier this month I talked about Real Work and being told that making the music was the easy part and once the album was finished the real work would begin. I never truly knew what was meant by that until now, so here's another blogpost on it having moved from album creation to promo and show development - fun but hard work.

This week we met with choreographers to start to bring the music to life and give breath to what I have envisioned all along as the visuals to my songs.

It is extremely exciting for me personally because I am curious to see how a professional choreographer interprets my music into dance moves and how the music moves them.

At the same time we are also debating which song from the album we should be creating our first video for. I am leaning towards All Night Long but Not Stoppin', and Dream Your Life Away are contenders too. Maybe even This Life since it's so different from the others. I would love to hear from you... which do you think?

By the way, the photo is me being interviewed on the red carpet at the HMMAs last week. Totally unrelated to this post but just what else is going on!

Happy Thanksgiving and Peace,

Krys

Check out Krys Justice website.

My First Time

No, not that! I'm talking about Friday morning when I was headed over to the studio to work on show prep and a friend texted me and said 'hey you're on the radio!' San Diego's Star 94.1 played All Night Long from the Juggernaut album and then had listeners call in. They were the FIRST to play me on the air, and for a recording artist it's like, well, you know ;)

I texted my manager Grant who was already at the studio and grinning ear to ear when I got there. After two years of pulling something together like Juggernaut from nothing, it meant an awful lot to me getting AJ, Hula, Geena and Delana's feedback and hearing listeners call in saying they liked it.

I really took the the team's feedback to heart - AJ's right on the pan flute being in the intro, and hopefully he'll also like other album songs like Dream Your Life Away, This Life and Juggernaut that aren't about girls and clubs; I'm glad All Night Long brought Delana to her feet like I hope, say, CTTC (Cut To The Chase) will; Hula made me feel like I was on Oprah (how cool is that?); and Geena was right on about the intro that's already being reworked to be even more radio play friendly.

I'm headed to the HMMA awards in Hollywood this week for This Life and working hard pulling together my show to support the album - and feeling great thanks to my awesome fans writing to me from all over the world and now Star 94.1. Thanks guys!

Peace,
Krys

Check out Krys Justice website.

Fan Questions

A couple of conversations with fans lately made me think about things.

On the lighter side, I was asked today by a fan in Minnesota about the Juggernaut cover photo and what it means. Mostly it's just a play on the definition of the word 'Juggernaut' but some say it's Superman, and sure it's a play on that too. I welcome opinions cuz every one of them will be right! As for whether it's 'me' (ya, it's actually 100% me), the other way to answer this is that there's probably this hero character in all of us. But the photo for This Life, say, is probably just as much who I am.

Speaking of heroes, I was inspired by someone else yesterday, one of our nation's defenders who happens to be from San Diego, too, but is in New York now preparing to go to Afghanistan to help protect us here at home. He said to me "I'm under a lot of stress... but just like your song said 'so many questions inside, what do we do with this life'. Well I figured out what to do with this life and that's fight for this country." I don't know whether This Life will play much on the radio or in clubs like All Night Long, Not Stoppin' or CTTC, but his words are much greater reward. Keep safe, bro, and thanks for what YOU do.

Peace,
Krys

Check out Krys Justice website.

Real Work

For a recording artist, they say that the real work begins once the album is completed. Well I can tell you first hand this is no joke. Creating the album, although difficult in itself, seems easy now compared to everything else. I will admit every step is as exciting as the last and with every new achievement the momentum keeps building and building.

They also say “the calm comes before the storm”, and if this is the calm than there is a colossal storm coming. With the HMMAs this month on the heals of a great interview with DYSMD emag, and the launching of Krys Justice singles on online radio (Krys & Top Artists - Free Online Streaming Radio Channel) with growing fan support I'm truly honored by, I know it is the foreshadowing of much more to come.

And I know with the help of my management team at KJE, Inc. and all my amazing fans around the world Mr. Justice aka Juggernaut is up for the challenge. So stay tuned cause the show is just getting started.

Peace,
Krys

Check out Krys Justice website.

Summer Flew But JUGGERNAUT Coming!

Wow, where'd the summer go? Fortunately the beach never really goes away when you live in San Diego, if I can only find time for it! August was pretty much focused on finishing out the Juggernaut album and this week I'm working with the guys at Capricorn Studios who do a great job with the final mixing and getting the levels right. Can't wait to have the album launched!

I'm also jazzed about an interview I did with DYSMD.TV emagazine that's out today. How cool is a "digizine"? I'd met up with Tania Hormozi from the magazine in the lobby of the Hyatt last month and she had the fun challenge of trying to distill an hour long interview into about 500 words! Check out page 26 for yours truly: http://www.dysmd.tv/mag/sept2009/index.html. And check out the whole magazine for what's going down in Daygo, there are some great articles about cool people making the scene happen!

Peace,
Krys

Check out Krys Justice website.

The Death of Auto-Tune?

In this age of instant gratification, it seems artists have become lazier and lazier when it comes to honing their craft. In rap, instead of developing a unique style or sound they quickly use plug-ins to enhance vocals. Now don’t get me wrong, even though my singing doesn't happen to need pitch correction (This Life is about as raw as it gets), I'll still use it myself for what I hope is a subtle artistic effect, like in All Night Long. But I believe in doing it in a tasteful manner to enhance my style and not have it become my style.

If you’re not sure what I am referring to Auto-Tune is a program now widely used in studios since Cher first did in 1998. You might know it as the "T-Pain sound". Ever since his explosion onto the scene with I’m in love With a Stripper, everyone and their mom is using Auto-Tune to make an “instant hit”. But has it all gone too far?

Well, mogul rapper Jay-Z seems to think so with his new track D.O.A (Death of Autotune). But what’s interesting to me about this track is that who helped produce it is Kanye West, an artist that just made his entire album using Auto-Tune. Now I see no problem with an artist expanding their craft and pushing the limits, but at least they should stay consistent with their messages.

Anyway, I’d love to hear your feedback so hit me up. Until then I’m not stoppin til it gets poppin, ya’ll.

Peace,
Krys

Click here to return to Krys Justice website.