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

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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

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Flat Stomach for Summer

It’s that time of year again, especially here in Cali when peeps decide to get up off that thing and shed the winter lbs (as if we have winter here). Now my last post talked about when I do cardio, before or after weights (after is better). So what else to do to get a chiseled six pack? Well, diet is THE largest factor in this equation. WHAT exercises you do decides how the muscle will look once you shed that winter coat, but diet uncovers your abs.

But as for exercises, many people think a bunch of sit ups and crunches is all they need to do. Now don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing wrong with crunches or sit ups (if done correctly). It’s just that for the average person who sits at a desk or in their car all day this just exaserbates tightness in the hip flexor area which leads to lower back discomfort.

So if you are in an office cube all day sit ups and crunches are a NO-NO. What you need is to work on core strength and stability. Your hip flexors already over dominate and actually need to be stretched out (along with your erecter spines: lower back) and your glutes and abdominal muscles need to be strengthened. Here is an exercise you can do every day to achieve that much desired flat stomach:

Plank Exercise:



If you do this excercise every day for a good two weeks you will start to see results. And by the way, you actually CAN work on your stomach all day long. That old saying of not to suck your gut in is the exact opposite of what you want to do. As often as you think of it, try constantly squeezing your stomach and glutes that will help tighten those areas so your belly does not hang out.

Let me know how it’s going for you!

Peace, Krys.

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iTunes

This was an exciting week for the Krys Justice camp, my first two singles Not Stoppin’ and All Night Long off the upcoming JUGGERNAUT album went live on iTunes, the last of 13 online stores my music is available worldwide. Totally stoked! This further cements the realness of things for me and the KJ momentum building.

To all my amazing fans, be sure to hit up iTunes for the download, and set your alerts for Krys Justice because my next pre-release single This Life is already on Amazon, Rhapsody, Napster, Lala, Shockhound, and IMVU and will be up on iTunes any day now.

So for now I ain’t stopping til it gets poppin, Peace!

Krys

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Workouts done Justice!

I have a confession to make; I am a bit of a work out fanatic… if you hadn’t noticed. For most people working out is a love-hate relationship, but for me it’s definitely a love-obsession, or, like the Governator describes it (caution: this clip is pre-Kindergarten Cop)…




So in this constant pursuit of physical perfection I’ve picked up a few tid-bits of workout knowledge that I felt I could share. So for my first of a weekly update I will bestow some Justice upon your workouts (ha).


Tip: “When Do I Do Cardio?”

People, including myself, have questioned this. Before or after weights? For me, I’ve found that the best time to do cardio, is after resistance training. The reason is our body stores a natural supply of Creatine that is used for developing lean muscle, and if you do cardio before weights you will consume this supply. That’s like Popeye eating spinach before he goes on Twitter, kind of pointless. Ya dig? Also by doing weights first you put your body into fat oxidation mode before cardio so you are automatically burning more calories when you do your cardio last.
What about you?

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Star Trek

Last night I was at a private screening of Star Trek at Paramount Studios in Hollywood. My manager’s a friend of Rod Roddenberry of Roddenberry Productions. Rod’s one cool guy and grew up with the Star Trek franchise since his dad, Gene Roddenberry, created it.

The kind of action films I like are “Ironman,” “Transformers” and “Man on Fire.” And guess what? If you like those too, I think you’re going to love this movie. Instant classic, J.J. Abrams did a great job. It had my attention from the beginning and never let go.

The story was well developed and had great background on each of the characters inviting even young viewers to become instant fans. The casting was well done, the animation was amazing, and there was great humor throughout. Star Trek has become cool again! Anyway, check it out for yourself and let me know what you think. I’m going to have to go see it again soon.

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Songwriting today

I can't begin to say how much I took away from my three days at the ASCAP Expo in LA. It's a conference for songwriters, composers and producers--in case you've never heard of it. But since I write all my own lyrics and arrange and produce my own music, this was definitely where I needed to be last week.

What made the biggest impact on me was the generosity of the songwriters that shared their experiences and what they've learned along the way. Check the talent on this panel out:

• Natasha Bedingfield - Songwriter, Performer - "Unwritten," "Pocketful of Sunshine," "Love Like This," "These Words"
• Sean Callery - Composer - TV: 24, Bones, Medium, La Femme Nikita
• Wyclef Jean - Songwriter, Producer, Performer - "Gone Till November," "Hips Don't Lie," The Score, The Carnival
• Ryan Tedder - Songwriter, Performer - "Apologize," "Bleeding Love," "Stop and Stare"
• Craig Wiseman - Founder - Big Loud Shirt Industries; Songwriter - "Live Like You Were Dying," "Believe," "Summertime," "A Baby Changes Everything"

You probably think of them as overnight successes, but it took Ryan Tedder eight years and a lot of false starts to get his songs on the map. But now he can't keep up with the demand.

Wyclef Jean's story is also incredibly inspiring. He came from such humble beginnings and through his creativity and perseverance turned into a major international recording artist.

There's a lot about this industry that's ridiculous, but true artists like them keep it real for their fans and those following in their footsteps like me. I'll try to get some photos up here in the next few days -- have just been busy getting back to San Diego and routine!

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