http://www.sixshot.com/interviews/10795/
‘Krucial’ Brothers - Supreme Clientele
Posted: 4/11/2008 9:58:38 AM by Jon Michael
Kerry “Krucial” Brothers is seldom seen, often heard, and his impact is always felt. He has the career every music producer dreams about. Growing up in a musical household in Queens, New York planted the seed of a music career in the young Krucial’s mind.
While first attracted to hip-hop as a rapper and producer he was later taken in a different direction. It was at this time when he hooked up with international superstar Alicia Keys. Not only did Krucial have a large hand in the production of all three of the songstresses albums but the writing as well. To his credit, Krucial has sold about 30 million records worldwide and has collected two Grammy awards in the process. With Alicia Keys’ third album, As I Am, as his latest success, Krucial has also decided to form KrucialKeys Entertainment where he serves as co-ceo.
Sixshot.com recently caught up with Krucial to discuss working on Alicia Keys’ albums, winning two Grammys, and being the only producer to have Nas and Rakim on the same track.
First things first, tell us how you got into production.
Actually I started out as an aspiring rapper. I was always going to people for beats and production and I always made sure I paid attention to what they were doing. When I couldn’t get w hat I needed from them anymore, I took what little money I had and bought some equipment so I could start making my own beats. That’s what led me into beat making and production. When people were making beats for me, I was always telling them what I wanted and how I wanted it to sound but as a person who wasn’t real educated in the business side of thing I didn’t know that that in itself was production so in a sense I’ve really always been doing it.
Starting as a rapper, how did you get into that real soulful R&B production?
I mean being a producer I was always sampling old soul record, funk records, jazz records, and even like classic rock records. Coming from a musical household, I was always hearing this type of music so I really had no choice but to absorb it. It just kind of happened from there. At the time I was only doing hip-hop and not doing R&B at all. I just fell into it because Alicia had come to me and asked me to work on her first album. Considering what I was doing, I didn’t think I could work on an R&B record but I sat back and I realized that I was sampling that old R&B music anyway.
You’ve also written a lot of stuff for Alicia Keys. Was it difficult going from writing rhymes to writing R&B joints?
For me it was easier. When you’re writing rhymes you’re using much more lyrics. When you’re writing for a song where somebody is singing, it’s less about lyrics and more about melody. I actually had more melody in me than I realized and I’m coming from hip-hop where I’m writing so many lyrics for just one song, I would say it was definitely easier. It was more like a freedom for me too because I felt like I didn’t do this any way so there was no pressure if it didn’t come out right. When I write rhymes I’m harder on myself because I feel like people are really looking for me to say something crazy. It was a psychological thing because I felt like I was just giving it a shot.
How did it feel winning that Grammy?
It felt great man. To be nominated and win by your peers, people who love music, and really do music, it’s a great feeling. The first time I got one for Songs In A Minor, which was great too. That’s the biggest award you can get in music and it’s not given to the most popular person. They really listen to the music and the quality. When you look at the album of the year it’s probably an album you never even heard of. It’s really an honor to be recognized for anything you do.
With all your accomplishments in R&B, what would you say is one of your most memorable moments hip-hop wise?
My most memorable hip-hop moment was actually on an R&B joint and that ‘Streets of New York’ with Nas and Rakim. That was the first time they were ever on a record together and just seeing them work together was amazing. To have them both together was crazy; I have the utmost respect for both of those artists.
Yeah Nas and Rakim together is insane, what was that like?
It’s crazy because working with them in the studio is like working with your family or your people. It’s like you know them already. It was just comfortable man. You had two legends but they would listen to a suggestion if I had one. They’re both just real cool. I’ve been blessed so far because in this business I’ve only worked with people that are real easy to be around in the studio.
You got your own company now. What are the goals? What do you wanna get done?
I just wanna keep bringing quality music. I say that in a broad sense too where I don’t just mean hip-hop or R&B, I just wanna continue to bring quality music overall. I started in hip-hop and the fact that I went into R&B also makes me feel like I really broadened my horizons and I have a wide range of musical abilities. I feel like my company and the independent label that I’m working on now is really going to bring out some quality music. To me, I feel like that’s the future.
As a Grammy winning producer, what do you look for in a hip-hop artist?
I look for a good flow. I look for lyrics and delivery. There’s nothing new under the sun man. You can’t reinvent the wheel. If a rapper can take something that we’ve already heard and flip it in his own way where we find it to be creative then to me that’s impressive. I want an artist to be poetic but not so poetic to the point where you’re not gonna understand what’s going on. I look for simple poetry, that’s how I put it. That’s what I look for in a hip-hop artist. I also look for people that really got that star quality. We got a lot of rappers out there now but that doesn’t mean that they’re all stars.
What projects do you have coming up that we could look out for?
Right now I’m in the studio with a brother by the name of Robert Randolph. I don’t know if the hip-hop crowd is gonna be familiar with him but he’s a dude from the brick city, Newark, New Jersey. He plays the steel guitar and a lot of people think he’s from down South or somewhere in the country but he’s not. It’s just amazing to see this dude get on this instrument and see the things that he does. He just does things that are genius. Our publishers got the idea to get us together and we’re coming up with some real creative stuff right now. A lot of people are real surprised and I’m always telling him how I’m gonna get him on urban radio. (Laughs) I also got a few songs that I did with Anthony Hamilton. I got a lot of things pending but I like to talk more about things after I actually get in the studio with people. Rest assured there’s gonna be a lot more production coming out from me this year and next year.
Anything you wanna say to the fans at Sixshot.com?
Yeah man, you guys should keep up with me and what I’m doing. You can check out www.krucialkeys.com and my myspace page at www.myspace.com/krucial. You could ask me questions there and I’ll be more than happy to answer. We got video up there so you could get the behind the scenes footage and everything. I just wanna let people more into the world, you know?
