North Carolina’s Justus League crew has had what could be considered a turbulent year: 9th Wonder left Little Brother, and the new duo left Atlantic Records for ABB Records. But while talking to Khrysis and Sean Boog, you’d never know. The producer/emcee duo, collectively known as the Away Team, is too excited about their sophomore set to worry about the bullshit. And they have reason to be: Training Day is a lean, 12-track disc of melodic boom bap, complete with notable upgrades from Khrysis and Boog and well-placed cameos, helping it stand with the year’s already expansive list of solid indie releases. Right before starting off their tour with Little Brother and Evidence, the Away Team talks with HipHopDX about their new album, playing as the underdogs, and keeping fun in the music.

HipHopDX: You guys have two albums in the can right now, Training Day and another. Did you guys just record a lot of material at once? Or do you think you just had a lot of time since your first LP?
Khrysis: It was a little bit of both.
Sean Boog: We stay recording, man. The music never stops. The other album that’s ready to go, called The Warm Up feat. Nervous Reck, was just us recording joints, no plan of an album. For Training Day, we went into to it like, “Aight this is going to be an album." We actually initially were going to do something else with Training Day, but we sat down with our manager Dho and decided to do it through Hall Of Justus.

DX: So what were you guys going to do with it at first, and what made you change your min
SB: Initially we were asked to do it for the Rawkus 50, that was why we banged it out. We were planning on The Warm Up to be next, but they said they needed some more people to fill up the roster. So we jumped on it. We had [Training Day] ready—well 10 joints— and while we were waiting to hear back we hollered at Dho, played it for him and decided to do it ourselves. Dho landed the distribution through Fat Beats and we ran with it. Shout out to Slopfunkdust.

DX: So are you happy with the decision you made?
SB: Yeah!
K: Hells yeah!
SB: For one, me personally, I like to keep the shit I do within my team as much as possible. I know they have my best interests in mind. As artists you have to make decisions be proud of your decisions and roll with it.

DX: This record hits me a lot harder than the last, and there were a couple things I noticed. Boog, in reviews for the last album, some critics said you didn't sound too inspired. Did you go into this one with a "Prove them wrong" mindset?
SB: With me, man, [pauses] Aight, I’ll say it like this: There’s the joint on Training Day called "The Odds." On the first verse I start off, "Growing up I was the shortest of the bunch/ so what I do I packed more into a punch.” This Away Team shit and the meaning behind the name is the underdogs. I grew up that way, that’s all I know. That’s my comfort zone. So in a way, yeah, I’m always out to prove motherfuckers wrong. Tell me I can’t or that I won’t, and I will.

DX: How much do you think you've improved since National Anthem?
SB: A lot! When we did National Anthem, you have to understand as far as making records and putting an album together, we were babies. I mean I was rapping before I met Khrysis and Khrysis was making beats before he met me.

We came together the chemistry was there on all levels so we did the Away Team shit. I think as an artist if you aren’t constantly improving you don’t need to be doing this shit. On this album I found what my purpose in this rap shit.

DX: And what's that purpose?
SB: Man, the music me and Khrysis make is bang out, good ole fashioned rap music! Beats rhymes from our point of view. We want you to leave your problems at home when listen to the Away Team. Some artists get really deep and shit, which is dope, and I like that. But when you hear the Away Team, nine out of 10 times, you’re not going to hear that.

DX: What makes you prefer it that way though?
SB: It’s our personality, [and we] have fun with it.
K: Basically, it’s the kind of music we grew up listening to. We're from the school where people as rap fans wasn’t all caught up in the personal lives of the artists. We didnt give a fuck where you was from, who you was fuckin'. It was just music to us, on some life soundtrack type shit. It’s a whole lot of "he say she say" going on. I’m like fuck that: what’s your music talking bout?

DX: So thinking like that, shit had to be pretty crazy during the whole situation with 9th leaving the group…
K: [Laughs] Not really, because the music was still good. Plus, that was a thing that was between them.
SB: 9th [is] still fam; we just rocked his album release party. That’s LB’s situation, man.
K: And Pooh just left my house not even five minutes ago. We all still kick it. We still got Training Day done. Continued on page 2 »