Kerry “Krucial” Brothers is a talented Grammy award winning, multi-Platinum producer and writer. His life is one of many journeys, from growing up in the streets of Far Rockaway, New York to becoming the founder and co-CEO of KrucialKeys Enterprise. He has produced, written, arranged and composed songs that appeared on soundtracks such as Dr. Doolittle, Drumline, Shaft and Ali, and has worked with artists like Rakim, Mario, Angie Stone, Nas, Keyshia Cole, and of course Alicia Keys. With Keys he was the main producer, writer, and reason why both ‘Songs In A Minor’ and ‘The Diary Of Alicia Keys’ have gone on to sell over 17 million albums collectively world-wide. We at Urbanheights.com were able to talk to Krucial about KrucialKeys and his upcoming EP, as he settled in from his trip to Africa.


Urbanheights.com: Tell us about your recent visit to Africa.

Krucial: Well basically I was on a pilgrimage with a charity called Keep a Child Alive and what they do is help children in Africa with AIDS and HIV receive anti-viral medication so they can be more able to do every day things. We all know the big tragedy of AIDS in Africa, and here, and often the kids’ parents die of the disease and they are being raised by grandparents. We even visited households where the children themselves are forced to become heads of households. We went to Kenya, Uganda, Johannesburg, South Africa and Soweto, basically just visiting the clinics and the kids who are actually benefiting from the medicine. Its one thing to contribute money and only see pictures, but it was a great experience to actually see the kids, actually see the people that you’re helping. You get to hear their stories and it opens your eyes to see just how much you can help b y doing so little. To see what it means to them is real touching. I have and EP out called “Take the Hood Back” and I was able to go and see what the REAL hood is like.

Urbanheights.com: While you were in Africa were you able to catch wind of any local musical talent?

Krucial: Oh definitely, I always keep my ear open for new talent. And there’s definitely some talent out there, especially in Soweto where the teens struggle with so much but still have great aspirations. There was a young guy there, probably around 18, and he read his poems to us and it was really deep. Every line was like something you felt or something you saw. It was like here’s a kid with amazing talent and with all the burdens he deals with from day to day he still has the ability to express them this way. And to see the joy and smiles on their faces and they have so much less than us it just puts things in perspective. What are we complaining about? And who knows, maybe one day we can become Krucial Keys Motherland.

Urbanheights.com: Speaking of Krucial Keys, what are your plans for the future?

Krucial: Basically that man. You know, it started out as just a production company, myself and Alicia Keys in 1996, and we’re basically known for having quality in our music, quality in anything we do. We promote reality and real-life situations, and we feel like from music we can get into media, other forms of entertainment, financial institutions, this is just the start. We start with music but we’re definitely gonna branch off into other things and become synonymous with a better quality of life period.

Urbanheights.com: What sort of sound or vibe are you going to provide for us?

Krucial: Well, the sound is gonna vary, we’re not ones to get locked into a particular sound. The sound is gonna vary depending on who we’re working with. If we’re
working with an artist from South Africa its not gonna sound like the stuff we do. We’re gonna mesh his sounds with our sound to come up with a blend. Or maybe we’ll accent the native sounds. It all depends. All I can really say is expect some quality, something for people who really love music.

Urbanheights.com: As for your album dropping this summer, what can we expect from it?

Krucial: Well basically its an EP named “Take the Hook Back”, there are eight joints on it and its just a little taste of what’s to come. What you can expect, I know I’m repeating myself, is just some quality hip hop. Its myself, featuring my young artist by the name of Illz. We’re doing our little Dre/Snoop, Rae/Ghost thing you know what I mean, and we’ve done mix tapes in the past but now we’re gonna hit everybody with some original material to hold people for the summer, and then the full-length LP will come at the end of the year. You know, just building the demand. You’re gonna have some party stuff, some jeep bangers, just the basis of what real hip hop is, just in case anybody forgot. When I do music I do it based on what I’m feeling in my heart, not based on what’s hot right now. Some sounds may sound familiar because we all grew up in the same era, but each sound is channeled through individuals, so it will definitely be original.