Chyskillz facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Chyskillz
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Chylow Parker |
| Also known as | Chylow M. Parker, Chy-Skills, Chy-Skillz, CHY Skillz, Chyskills, Mr. Slam |
| Born | July 19, 1969 Manhattan, New York City, New York, US |
| Died | February 13, 2018 (aged 48) |
| Genres | Hip hop, New jack swing, Jazz rap, Hardcore hip hop, Gangsta rap, East Coast hip hop |
| Occupation(s) | Breakdancer, Graffiti, BMX bike, DJ, producer, musician, MC |
| Instruments | Turntable, sampler, Drum kit, Electric guitar, Keyboards |
| Years active | 1991–2018 |
| Labels | Chyskillz Entertainment Inc., JMJ Records, Def Jam, Wasteland Records, 719 Music Inc. |
| Associated acts | Large Professor, Fam-Lee, Public Enemy, BO$, Onyx, Rumpletilskinz, Run-D.M.C., Queen, Ice Cube, Sister Machine Gun, Shaquille O'Neal, LL Cool J, Mic Geronimo, Royal Flush, Fredro Starr, Sauce Money, Noreaga, Sticky Fingaz, Busta Rhymes, De La Soul |
Chylow Parker (born July 19, 1969 – died February 13, 2018) was an American music producer and DJ. He was best known by his stage name Chyskillz. He was also a rapper and a member of the popular hip hop group Onyx.
Chyskillz was discovered by the famous hip hop artist Jam Master Jay from Run-D.M.C.. Jam Master Jay signed Onyx to his record label, JMJ Records. Chyskillz produced Onyx's first album, Bacdafucup. This album helped the group get nominated for "Favorite Rap/Hip-Hop New Artist" at the American Music Awards. They also won "Best Rap Album" at the Soul Train Music Awards.
During his career, Chylow Parker worked with many well-known artists. These include Large Professor, Onyx, Run-D.M.C., Ice Cube, Shaquille O'Neal, and LL Cool J. Many of the songs he worked on were later re-released.
Five albums produced by Chyskillz earned "gold" status from the RIAA. This means they sold over 500,000 copies. These albums were Public Enemy's Greatest Misses, Onyx's Bacdafucup, Run-D.M.C.'s Down With The King, Shaquille O'Neal's Shaq-Fu: Da Return, and LL Cool J's Mr. Smith. Two of these albums, Onyx's Bacdafucup and LL Cool J's Mr. Smith, even went "platinum." This means they sold over 1 million copies.
Contents
Chylow's Early Life
Chylow Parker was born in Manhattan, New York City. When he was four, his family moved to Jamaica, Queens, New York. At age ten, Chyskillz and his family moved again to Flushing, Queens. There, he met other future artists like Large Professor and Mic Geronimo.
When he was ten, Chyskillz first tried playing on Technics turntables. At that moment, he knew he wanted to make music his life. In the 1980s, Chyskillz and Large Professor were part of a b-boy crew called "Stay Fresh Crew." Chylow was good at breakdancing moves like the "Flare (acrobatic move)" and "Headspin". He also enjoyed doing graffiti, leaving his "CHY" tags on buildings in Flushing, Queens. Chylow was also a skilled BMX biker.
Chyskillz's Music Journey
Meeting Jam Master Jay
Chyskillz began his music career as a DJ for Large Professor. Large Professor was a founding member of the group Main Source. Chyskillz also worked as an engineer and producer in a recording studio. One day, he met Fredro Starr, who saw him deejaying. Fredro liked Chyskillz's music beats and gave him his phone number.
Later, Onyx's manager, Jeff Harris, called Chyskillz. He invited him to Jam Master Jay's studio. Chyskillz's first professional work was a remix he made for the song "Runs in the Fam-Lee" by Fam-Lee.
Working with Onyx
In 1991, DJ Chyskillz was introduced to the group Onyx by Queens MC Neek The Exotic. When Chyskillz met Fredro Starr and Sticky Fingaz, they were already signed to Def Jam Records. The group Onyx included Fredro Starr, Sticky Fingaz, Suave (also known as Sonny Seeza), and Big DS.
Onyx already had another producer, but their music was more commercial. Chyskillz played some of his beats for Fredro, and they liked his style. Chyskillz started making beats for Onyx, and their collaboration worked well. The first song Chyskillz made for Onyx was "... Bridges."
Russell Simmons, a co-founder of Def Jam, heard the song. He offered Onyx a deal for six songs. But they ended up making ten songs with the same budget. Because of this, Russell Simmons gave them a full album deal.
Chyskillz and Jam Master Jay worked together to produce Onyx's first album, Bacdafucup. This album sold millions of copies. The album's sound was described as intense and edgy. It had a strong East Coast and New York City feel. It featured deep bass and sounds like screeching sirens.
Chyskillz became well-known for his work on hit songs like "Throw Ya Gunz" and "Slam". Both were co-produced with Jam Master Jay. Onyx's hit song "Slam" was even included in a book called Rock Song Index: The 7500 Most Important Songs for the Rock and Roll Era. It also made it onto the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
Chyskillz left Onyx in the summer of 1993. He then signed with Wasteland Records. In May 2003, Chyskillz started his own music label called "719 Music Inc."
How Chyskillz Made Music
In an interview, hip hop artist and producer Large Professor talked about working with Chyskillz. He explained Chyskillz's unique production style: "He would take a part of a song, like the 'Synthetic Substitution' beat, and record it on one tape. Then, using two or three tape decks, he would play that tape and add bass lines over it." This shows how Chyskillz used different sounds and layers to create his music.
His Last Year of Music
In the last year of his life, Chyskillz traveled a lot. He often visited cities like Dallas, Atlanta, New York, and Miramar. In these cities, he had friends and found new artists to produce music for. He would upload videos to Facebook from airports, asking "Where in the world is Chyskillz now?" His friends would try to guess the city. In his videos, he would often say, "It's about to catch a flight, I'll might be in your city."
Remembering Chyskillz
On July 5, 2017, Chyskillz was in a car accident. He had surgery on his shoulder in October. He was planning to have back surgery soon. On February 10, 2018, he had been sick with a bad cold for two weeks. He went to the hospital and was told he had the flu. Doctors advised him to rest.
On February 12, Fredro and Sticky flew to New York. Fredro picked up Chyskillz to go to the studio for some remixing work. Chyskillz was happy to go. He came home late that night. The next morning, his family found him. Doctors said he had a heart attack. He had plans to go to Miami and Dallas for work the next week. He had just finished working on a project with the group De La Soul.
Chyskillz's Music List
Albums
- With Onyx
- 1993: Bacdafucup
- Solo albums
- 2014–2017: LP (unreleased)
