Meet Clay ‘Krucial’ Perry III
Influential Memphis rap artist moves from behind the board to behind the mic.
Over the last few years, as Memphis rap has again become a national force, Clay “Krucial” Perry III has played a key role in that renaissance. h As the engineer for the likes of Bluff City stars like Yo Gotti and Blocboy JB, as well as national acts like Rico Nasty, Yella Beezy and NBA Youngboy, Perry has had his fingerprints on some of the hottest tracks in hip-hop. But despite his success behind the board, Perry has managed to make a successful move to the other side of the glass. h In March, he put out a new mixtape, “If We Must Die.” Featuring 10 tracks — and collaborations with Blocboy JB, Trippie Redd and Lil Migo, among others — it’s his first release as the flagship artist for Memphis uber-producer Tay Keith’s Drumatized label, which is partnered with Warner Music. Perry has been gaining new fans as he’s shifted into fulltime artist mode, but it’s been a hard-earned transition. “It really wasn’t easy. I know there’s a lot of people who saw me as an engineer, even though I was always an artist too. They only viewed me as an engineer,” he says.
“It's also some [jealousy], some hatin'-a*** s*** from some people. Like, ‘Damn, how did he pass me? I let my engineer pass me.' People don't really respect the work that goes into [the studio side] as much as they should. But I know for sure I worked for everything I've gained from music, period.”
Born and raised in Memphis, the 24year-old Perry grew up taking a more traditional musical route encouraged by his family. “My parents made me play instruments and nice things of nature,” he says, chuckling. “I played violin, saxophone, I was always musically inclined. But I stopped doing that once I figured out what my path was, and it was [hip-hop].”
Influenced by Kanye West and Wiz Khalifa, he began recording and releasing tracks under the Clay “Krucial” Perry moniker, working out of South Memphis' One Sound Studio.
“I was recording and I had kinda learned how to record myself. I was learning as I went,” says Perry of how he moved into engineering. “At the time, it was the only studio in Memphis I was aware of. It's where I met Blocboy, Tay Keith and Hitkidd — it was like a hub, with everyone coming through there.”
Perry would forge a close creative collaboration and bond with Blocboy JB, helping develop his sound as he became one of Memphis' new generation hip-hop stars. “I spent two years of my life around Bloc every day,” says Perry. “I wasn't doing that ‘cause it was my job, he really became like my partner.”
Even as he worked recording other artists, Perry was building his solo catalog with a prolific run of releases starting in 2017 that included “Vyv,” “Verne,” “Don't Hear Your Mother Cry from the Other Side,” “All Gold Ain't Krucial,” “Krucifix,” “It Could've Been Different” and “Too Sad For Tomorrow.”
In the midst of this work in 2018, he met with Tay Keith's manager and COCEO of Drumatized, Cambrian Strong, in Los Angeles. “At first he brushed me off, if I'm honest. I wanted him to manage me. I can't lie though — at the time I didn't have s*** worth managing,” says Perry laughing. “But I gave him my new project and he listened to it that night. He came to my hotel and woke me up and said, 'Yeah, this right here is that s***.'"
It took another 18 months before he formally signed with Drumatized and Keith and Strong made their pact with Warner Music. Although Perry had completed most of “If We Must Die” by last spring, he waited out 2020 and the pandemic before releasing it.
“I didn't drop a project for a whole year, which for me is crazy. Prior to that I dropped a project just about every time you loaded your phone up, or every time you got on Instagram. In 2019 alone I put like four projects out,” he says. “I was compensating for what I lacked. At that time I didn't have a support system other than myself. So it was just an effort of literally keeping the music in everyone's face.
“But with 2020 I took a whole year of not releasing anything. So now to come off that hiatus and see the response to ['If We Must Die'] — to see people receive it so well, was a relief. I feel like it's the one of the best received things out of Memphis, in terms of hype and features and the whole package.”
Even though “If We Must Die” is still fresh, Perry is already at work on new material.
He's been back in the studio working with producer and pal Hitkidd.
“My friends make beats, they know what I want to sound like... and a lot of times, especially with Hitkidd, he'll make me go out of my box,” says Perry. “I don't write anything beforehand. I go straight off the top of my head. Lyrics, melodies… nothing is written. We just do it, just work it and get to a point where it sounds done and that's it.”
Perry notes that the current hot steak for Memphis rap and the class of hit producers and record makers — like Keith and others — isn't the result of any trend, but rather hard work.
“I also think everybody got tired of being broke. That's the most logical answer for all the [success],” he says laughing. “For the most part people who are doing something now, they been doing something for a long time – y'know? Nobody just popped up overnight. Everybody put in that groundwork and now you're seeing them reap the benefits of what they sowed, whether it's Tay or Hitkidd or myself."
Next up on Perry's agenda is shooting a video with Trippie Redd and Blocboy for his single “Homies.” There's also talk of him joining fellow Memphian and Warner Music artist NLE Choppa on tour later this fall.
“The slogan I have is that I want everything to be at God-level,” says Perry. “Whether it's the music, the videos or anything else. That's what I'm always aiming for.”