Aside from being an invaluable entity to the music of Alicia Keys, Krucial, as he is often called, has also worked with a number of other artists such as Keyshia Cole, Shareefa and the newly-controversial Nas. Hearing Nas mentioned with Krucial, who is known mostly for his R&B efforts may have some Hip-Hop heads a bit skeptical right now. 

However, according to Brothers, he is 100 percent Hip-Hop. Born in Brooklyn and spending a lot of years in Harlem and starting as an emcee, Brothers is trail-blazing in ways unheard of.  He affirms that doing Hip-Hop got him everywhere he is today.  That even includes his crossing paths with Alicia Keys and the production of her timeless masterpieces.

 Krucial, busy and on the cusp of Alicia Keys latest LP release As I Am (November 13^th) found the time to sit down with AllHipHop.com. During our diatribe, he made it clear that Hip-Hip is the core in which everything else just naturally followed. Not to mention how he feels about those infamous rumors that himself and Alicia are an item. 
 

AllHipHop.com:  How did you know that you were meant to produce and make music?

Krucial : I never really realized it [early on] when I got into music. I was an aspiring MC as a kid and I got into Hip-Hop when I heard it out in the streets. I used to work with different producers and always give my input like “it should sound like this or like that.” Eventually I couldn’t find any material [to flow to] so I just started making my own [beats]. People would hear my beats and want them. It kinda gradually happened. Working with Alicia [Keys] and having her feeling it and making songs that are now history let me know that, “Hey I really am a producer.” 

AllHipHop.com:  Throughout your successes, how have you kept your feet to the pavement and continue to make exceptionally good material?

Krucial :The love of it. The love of creating songs and arranging them a certain way. I’m one of those people who really love music. I try not to get caught up with what rewards come with it. The music is a reward in itself. 

AllHipHop.com:  What are some of your influences?

Krucial : Old Soul definitely. I grew  up listening to a lot of Soul, R&B and Funk. My parents kept albums in rows on the living room floor. As a kid I’m on the floor with my chin in my elbows watching TV but seeing nothing but albums [around me]. So I got curious started listening to them. But [growing up] I listened to [Bob] Marley, Bomb Squad and Dr Dre. People that do something different inspire me to do my thing. 

AllHipHop.com:  Since you consider yourself to be Hip-Hop. Do you think that your R&B work “waters down” and/or brings out the Hip-Hop side in you?

Krucial : Hip-Hop influences me so much. If you think about where Hip-Hop started we sampled from Soul and R&B.  We [sampled] the rawest and funkiest part of the track. [A lot of times I am] creating something that could have been made in the 60s or 70s, however Hip-Hop gives it that [modern day] big beat. It doesn’t water it down, [Hip-Hop] lets me expand more.

AllHipHop.com:  In saying all that, what type of producer do you consider yourself to be?

Krucial : Everyone looks at me as an R&B producer.  I don’t see myself that way, it’s  just music. I’m definitely Hip-Hop all the way. To me Hip-Hop is a blend of all different music genres that  aren’t supposed to be brought together and that’s the kind of music that I like to create.  

AllHipHop.com:  Do you ever incorporate the “flow” from your hip-hop side along with R&B?

Krucial : Its embedded. Some people get on 50 or Ja Rule about singing on [Hip-Hop]. People have been singing forever.  

AllHipHop.com:  What personal characteristic of yourself do you feel has allowed you be so successful?

Krucial : I’m very humble, have God in my life and feel blessed. I do have talent but God gave me this talent. I think that consistency and mastering my craft has also made me. I can do this [producing] thing but I can do more. I have so many other things to accomplish. That came from something that my parents have always instilled in me. [Which is] you can’t be the best at anything unless you put time into it everyday.   

AllHipHop.com:  In what stage of Alicia Keys’ career did you meet her?

Krucial : In the very beginning, way before there was an “Alicia Keys.” I met her in the early 90s in a cypher in the Downtown Village in Washington Square Park. Back then you could find musicians in that area, there was always open mics and cyphers going on. I kept in touch with people that I vibed with. I had a little bit of equipment at my house so I would invite people over.  I invited her and from there we just got it poppin’! I was on the SP12 and MPC 300 she would be on the keyboard. [Alicia and I] would just vibe and make music. Eventually people started hearing it and thinking that it was pretty hot. We got to the point where she asked me to work on her album. [At first] I was a little intimidated because my background was Hip-Hop. [However] I was really feeling her and where she was going [musically] so I gave it a chance.   

AllHipHop.com:  What star qualities did you see in Alicia Keys in the very beginning?

Krucial : I knew she was going to be a star. She is such a good and radiant person. Alicia, she was just one of those people you wanted to be around. Then it was her voice, she reminded me of Anita Baker. I loved her voice and the fact that  I could  put [my] beats under it. I really wasn't thinking about where it could go, we were just making music.  

AllHipHop.com:  Her albums are always seem to come from left-field, how do you attest to that?

Krucial : [Alicia Keys] is rebellious, that’s the real essence of Hip-Hop. When I listen to her album I do not hear R&B, I hear Hip-Hop. People want her to do this, so she does something else. Conforming is boring, [you should] do what you feel from the heart. When it’s real people will recognize it. 

AllHipHop.com:  Is that why you think that Songs In A Minor was so successful?

Krucial : We were just being real. [Songs In A Minor] was a  good statement at where we both were at the time. You’re listening to the production of me as a baby in R&B and [Alicia Keys] learning that what she was doing was hot and that she didn’t need “such and such” to make a song.  With the next album (Diary of Alicia Keys) we learned more and mastered more. This [new] album is even more bananas!  Nobody expected “No One” to be something from her!

AllHipHop.com:  Exactly! Her singles are known for being so different?  Is that always the plan?

Krucial : No, its something we just do. We don’t sit here and think about it, it just happens.That's the thing about me and the people around me, we do music from the heart. When you try to plan it, [the music] sounds contrived. That is not realistic and people can tell, they’ll be like “it sounds like he tried.”“No One” was almost written by itself. 

AllHipHop.com:  Can you give an example of how one of our favorite Alicia Keys’ songs was created, how about “You Don’t Know My Name.” Oh never mind, Kanye West produced that track, correct?

Krucial : No, Alicia Keys produced the track with Kanye West. People have to understand that she is a real producer. He came by with the track and [they built on it]. John Legend was also on the background vocals, a lot of people do not know that either   

AllHipHop.com:  I will give you another one,  how about  "Diary!"

Krucial : "Diary" was one of those joints where Alicia just started with the piano cords. She just kept playing the keys for a while and needed that last line. Then I was like, “just think of me as the pages in your diary.” She liked it said how [Diary] reminded her of a Tony! Toni! Tone! track so we reached out to them to add their flavor. Dwayne Wiggins came through and the song was done in two takes.  
 

AllHipHop.com:  Do you need anything special when you’re in the studio to get you going?

Krucial : [Just] my MPC 4000. I have every MPC there is. Some people get crazy about guitars I love MPC’s. I just need that and my laptop. 

AllHipHop.com:  From an outsider observing a writing session, what do you think they would take from it?

Krucial : I’m an easily distracted person. If you’re not relevant to what is going on I would ask you to leave. I can’t do spectators. We like to zone out in the studio. 

AllHipHop.com:  Forget about outsiders, how about a new songwriter?

Krucial : They would be apart of the session not just observing. They would be like “damn they are so down to earth.” Marsha (from Floetry) loved our vibe. Howard Lily [came through] and said the same thing, we’re just really easy to work with. 

AllHipHop.com:  How was it working with Marsha?

Krucial : It was wonderful. She actually collaborated on a joint with Alicia and myself on the new album.  I can’t wait ‘til she does her solo joint.   

AllHipHop.com:  Since you work so closely with Alicia Keys, how do you prevent her material from sounding like other artists you work with?

Krucial : My job as a producer is to take [an artists’] energy and make the best [music]. When I’m with Alicia her energy is her energy. When I’m working with another artist I am basing my production [around] them.  I work [only] with who I’m working with at the moment. 

AllHipHop.com:  Do you ever write for rappers?

Krucial : I definitely do beats [for rappers] and would do a hook. To me [writing for rappers] is what’s wrong now. Cats don’t be in the studio together, people are just like “send me the tracks son.”  Working with Nas [help me realize that], he’s a true poet.  

AllHipHop.com:  How was it working with such a legend like Nas?

Krucial : He was great, he comes through [the studio], feels the track and writes right there on the spot. Nas is a true artist in the real form. Forget the fact that he is a rapper. You can compare his [lyrics] to the best. You have to understand where he is coming from as far as the talent. You have to respect people who have the true talent. 

AllHipHop.com:  When you’re creating a song, do you write the lyrics or make the beat first?

Krucial : All of the above. Sometimes it’s just a melody in my head. Sometimes a beat will inspire me. I’m more like a melody and free styling [type of producer] from flows because of my Hip-Hop roots. 

AllHipHop.com:  What is more important, the beat, the melody or the lyrics?

Krucial : Lyrics and melodies. Production changes, sounds change, each decade [music] changes. There are songs from the 50's that still relate today because of the great song with great lyrics and melody. 

AllHipHop.com:  How do you feel about the New Jack Swing era?

Krucial : I liked New Jack Swing and Guy. I respect Teddy Riley as a producer for bringing in a new style of R&B and getting a name for it. I need to start my own genre.

AllHipHop.com:  How about calling it “Krucial Times?”

Krucial : (Laughs) We will see 

AllHipHop.com:  You know I have to ask, how do you and Alicia balance your business with your romantic relationship?

Krucial : (Laughs) We just peoples. We both have a love for music.   

AllHipHop.com:  So you’re saying that the rumors aren’t true?

Krucial : I am saying that the rumors are the rumors. Its all good, I take it as a grain a salt. I look at this a job and I love it. All the extra stuff is irrelevant. The only difference between myself and a person that works an ‘8 to 5' is that you see my work. Then there are all these shows that are focused on celebrities’ lives. I  want to use the media to promote what I’m trying to promote and that’s it. If I am going to put myself out there it will be in a book so that myself and my children can benefit from it, not the media.  

AllHipHop.com:  Sounds fair enough. To wrap this thing up, what’s up with the new Alicia Keys album? Any special appearances we should look forward to?