You have all heard music like Finesse2tymes’ “Goin’ Straight In,” BlocBoy JB’s verse on ASAP Rocky’s “Bad Company,” and some of GloRilla and Hitkidd’s earliest collaborations. However, what you did not see was how much mixing/recording engineer and artist Clay “Krucial” Perry III sacrificed to help bring those records to the world.

“I can't say who it was around [BlocBoy JB] at the time, but somebody around him told me, ‘You signed up for this. It’s your birthday. We’re gonna celebrate your birthday with you, but we need you here [in the studio].’ That put it in my mind that there are no days off, and that I could be replaced on my birthday,” Perry III told REVOLT.

In this installment of “Studio Sessions,” Perry III explains how the first day that he met Finesse2tymes changed his career, seeing GloRilla record “FNF” and why people respect him enough to not charge him for features on his music.

One of the people you have worked with extensively has been super producer Hitkidd. How did you two first connect?

It is crazy how that happened. In about 2018, in Memphis even before I met him, I had knowledge of him because I knew people that knew him. I started making money, by way of being an engineer, and I had invited him to New York to work. From there, we just became good friends. He ended up having his first child three or four years ago, and he came to me to be the godfather of his child. I really appreciated that.

I was just with him [on Dec. 16]. He is one of those people [who], if you record something, he will ask you, “You think that’s good?” It is not even that he does not think it is good. He is just looking for you to have a flaw in your belief system so he can push you to be the best version of yourself you can be. I admire that about him.

Given your connection to your Hitkidd, have you ever worked with GloRilla?

Their first project [the 2021 EP Set The Tone] had “Ghetto” and “Hot Potato” on it. Those were records I mixed. I did that for free, off of the strength of the relationship we have. They used to record at the studio I still work out of called Track Nation. Glo was always around. I was there the night she recorded “FNF.”

You are also an artist who has worked with the likes of NLE Choppa and G Herbo, to name a few. Who would you say you have some of the best creative chemistry with in the studio?

I love NLE Choppa. I love the fact you brought him up. He is not a little boy, but in my mind he is like the little bro. He can do no wrong. When I first caught wind of him, it was by way of me being around BlocBoy JB all the time. He used to request to go live with Bloc. He was a kid. He had to have been 16 or 17. As time went on, he ended up telling me, “You don't even know. I got followers off of that. My music started getting taken seriously because I was getting so many followers off of the strength of being able to go live with Bloc.” Our relationship is incredible.

We got a song together called “Switches.” I watched him do his part in one take. I thought that was incredible. Prior to that, I had a record with him called “Last Question,” and that was when he first blew up. In the industry, these guys charge hundreds of thousands of dollars for verses and videos. I have never had to pay him or anybody else a dime because of my relationships with them.

What is your creative process like when you make music?

I like to record by myself. I freestyle, as well. I punch everything in. I don't write. It comes out however it comes out. I am in the studio every day. I was telling someone the other day. I’ve probably been an engineer since I was 19 or 20 years old. I just turned 28. I am in the studio for every birthday, Thanksgiving, Christmas and all of that. I am at the studio right now. I am really overly dedicated. I have never wanted to do anything else in my life more than this.

Can you point to a specific moment when you have skipped a holiday or a personal celebration to be in the studio?

In BlocBoy JB's case, there was one time on my birthday in 2019 when I was in the studio, but I really wanted to go home. I cannot say who it was around Bloc at the time, but somebody around him told me, “You signed up for this. It’s your birthday. We’re gonna celebrate your birthday with you, but we need you here.” That put it in my mind that there are no days off, and that I could be replaced on my birthday. It put me in a place where it is like I started to take my craft too seriously.

You have also been working with Finesse2tymes for a number of years. How did you two first connect?

His biggest record before he went to jail was “Goin’ Straight In” In the middle of the song he says, “Aye Clay, keep all that, Clay.” That was the beginning of me being taken seriously as an engineer in Memphis. It made people wanna record with me. When he went to jail, I never really had the chance to tell him. I still, to this day, [I] do not even know why the hell he did that. That was my first day meeting him. I never had the chance, until a few months ago, to tell him, “You don't know what that did for me and my career.” It made other artists wanna record with me. When it comes to him working as an artist, he carries himself in a very remarkable way.

We were in the studio with Jermaine Dupri the other day. JD is a legend, and usually Finesse is one of those people who walks around with his backpack full of raps he wrote while in prison. When they load the beat up, he will shake the bag, close his eyes and grab a random piece of paper like a raffle. And he will make those rhymes he picked go with the beat. When he worked with Jermaine Dupri, he did not do that [at] that time. He actually listened and wrote. Seeing him grow as an artist, and as a man, is crazy to see.

What is the funniest moment you have had in the studio with him?

At the beginning of some songs that he put out around 2017 or 2018, he used to be like, “Man, Clay an ugly a** n**ga.” I used to take that off, and he will be like, “Nah, keep it.”

What do you have coming up for 2025?

I am still on my engineering tip, working with who I work with. As an artist, I just partnered up with Hitkidd. We are just trying to see where that is going to go. I am about to have my first feature with Wiz Khalifa, hopefully before the year is out. I am just excited to keep things going, regardless of [whether] it is as an engineer or an artist.