Posted on 08/14/2009
He may be from Inglewood, California, but Shawn Chrystopher sounds more like a mix of Lupe Fiasco and Kanye West than someone you would expect from the city that has been known in hip-hop as the place where you do no good. But Chrystopher is making attempt to do good for himself by relying on a few trusted formulas to become a success. A City With No Seasons is the end result and with the formula he is using, he is definitely finding some success.

Chrystopher has a flow, finesse, and attitude that people enjoy and love to hear, so why not base himself on that fact in order to gain attention? However, he does this only in the first few songs of the album, and by the time he reaches tracks like "Fresh Prince," "Heartbreaker," and "Lose Your Mind," you tend to hear something quite different from him. It's not unique or over the edge, but you're hearing someone who is essentially "I hooked you, now I'm going to pull you in with my style." This is when you also realize he's now up to no good and is continuing on the powerful hip-hop traditions of The Pharcyde, Dilated Peoples, Freestyle Fellowship, and Jurassic 5, even though he sounds nothing like them. Chrystopher not only raps but does a bit of singing, and he's a decent singer at that (maybe not quite on the Phonte Coleman level but a few steps better than Drake). The singing may open him, perhaps, to an R&B audience, or the fact that his Lupe Fiasco and Kanye West-isms may be promoted more than his more abrasive side. But what this rapper has is heart. The lyrics here aren't pulled out of the steaming heap of stink everyone seems to be dipping their fingers in. You may not find brilliance in what he does now, but there's something in his execution that makes me want to believe he has something up his sleeve.

The CD cover, a simple illustration of a grey cloud hovering over a tree revealing its roots, speaks volumes. Does it represent him, does it represent the music on the album, or is it a metaphor for what he thinks about hip-hop? Does the drawing itself even say hip-hop? It honestly looks more like a cover you'd find on an album released by Sub Pop or K Records, but what you will not find in the music is the fake imagery of a bear with jewelry drinking Courvoisier. Shawn Chrystopher is a casual guy who speaks about love, life, getting his, and simply living life day by day without suffocating himself in the club. A City With No Seasons is a title that may bring more questions than answers, but those answers can be found in the music within, most of which was produced or co-produced by Chrystopher himself. It would be easy to suggest a wide range of producers he should collaborate with, but this album works because it's him creating his own way into the consciousness of potential fans. It's not groundbreaking, but it's something that holds up in a marketplace full of questionable efforts.

-John Book