Kerry Brothers, Jr. (born October 1, 1970) better known as "Krucial" or, as Alicia Keys often referred to him, "K" is Multi-Grammy Award winning producer who is an American songwriter, executive producer and record producer, who was once rumored to be the boyfriend of multiple Grammy Award-winning R&B and soul singer Alicia Keys,[1] with whom he has worked on her four multi-platinum albums Songs in A Minor (2001), The Diary of Alicia Keys (2003), As I Am (2007) and The Element of Freedom (2009).[2] Brothers and Keys are the co-founders of KrucialKeys Enterprises, an independent music production company,[3] and they also co-own a Long Island-based recording studio named The Oven Studios.[4] In addition to Keys, he has worked with R&B and hip hop artists like Mario, Rakim, Angie Stone, Nas, Keyshia Cole, Toni Braxton and rising stars Drake and K'naan. In a prolific musical partnership with Keys that first developed in the early 1990s, Brothers helped write and produce a number of tracks for her debut and second albums, Songs in A Minor and The Diary of Alicia Keys, respectively, which have both sold over 30 million copies worldwide. Brothers has produced, written, arranged, and composed songs that have appeared on motion picture soundtracks such as Dr. Dolittle, Drumline, Shaft, and Ali.[5] With his work with Keys, earned him three Grammy Awards; Best R&B Album (Songs in A Minor and The Diary of Alicia Keys), Best R&B Song ("No One").
Brothers, Jr. co-wrote and co-produced songs of albums Alicia Keys; additional writers and producers are listed below.