Founder and Co-CEO of KrucialKeys Enterprises alongside Alicia Keys, Kerry "Krucial" Brothers is a Grammy award-winning, multiplatinum-selling producer and writer who has played an integral role on Keys' albums Songs In A Minor, The Diary of Alicia Keys and As I Am. He has also produced, written, arranged and composed songs that appeared on the soundtracks of Dr. Doolittle, Drumline, Shaft and Ali . In addition to Alicia Keys, Brothers has also worked with Rakim, Mario, Angie Stone, Nas and Keyshia Cole, and is currently working with Anthony Hamilton, Goapele, Robert Randolph and Brandy. This week Krucial checked in to give 24Hr Grind his advice on succeeding as a music producer and songwriter.

Feel the Music and Have Fun
Don’t get so caught up in it that it gets too serious and becomes robotic and stiff. If you’re into music you got into it because it was fun -- it seemed like something to do that made you excited, and made you feel good. Sometimes when you try to pursue it as a career the fun gets lost as you get caught up in, 'Oh I’m not making any money from it... I’m not achieving this...' or 'Oh I gotta do this this way in order to be a success,' and once that starts happening it will stagnate your creativity, so always learn to keep it fun for yourself and feel what you’re doing.

Greatest Moments in Krucial History:
Working with Rakim in the studio for the second album. There was a song called “Streets of New York” where we had Nas and Rakim on the same record. Rakim is like a legend to me. He’s like the father of this modern day rap style, so to have him finally come to the studio and to just have a long conversation with him and really bond with him was great. There was no ego. We were just really having a conversation about New York in general and conversing with him was like, 'Wow he has so much knowledge on how it used to be and still fill you on what’s happening now.' After having a conversation with him, he gets in the booth and has this whole rhyme ready. This guy wasn’t just talking he was gathering info. Half the conversation is now his verse. It was incredible. His delivery and everything, watching this guy put down his lyrics, he was very creative, very talented, it was an honor to work with him.