New York, NY (Top40 Charts) The rising
Memphis rapper Clay "Krucial" Perry III recruits
Chicago drill star
G Herbo for the fiery new single and video "Wafi." The explosive track features on Clay's highly anticipated forthcoming project, Clay, which drops April 22 via Drumatized (DOA) / Warner Records.
On "Wafi," Clay spits flames and lays out his plan for world domination as he raps over ominous synths and thunderous drums. The animated music video translates this sentiment into a trippy cartoon depicting both rappers suspended in space flexing their intergalactic muscle.
The defiant track follows the soul-baring "Karma," which showcases Clay's emotionally layered lyrics and gripping storytelling. He jumps from paranoia-tinged flashbacks of police encounters to ruminations on his upbringing, as Big30 matches Clay's energy with nimble wordplay.
Clay is building on the foundations he laid in 2021 with his major-label debut mixtape, If We Must Die, which featured
Trippie Redd and Tay Keith. The rapper first came to fame as a revered sound engineer for artists like NBA Youngboy and Rico Nasty. After making the leap from board to booth, he made a name for himself under the "Krucial" moniker with independent projects and, in 2021, If We Must Die. With flashy, impactful anthems like "Wafi" with G Herbo, and his forthcoming Clay project, Clay is only just getting started.
Clay "Krucial" Perry III raps like he has something to prove. The
Memphis artist has been a go-to engineer in the city for years, sitting behind the boards for rap's finest: NBA Youngboy, Yo Gotti, Blocboy JB, Rico Nasty, Yella Beezy, and more. Working with stars-and working with other artists he thought he could spit better than, pushed him to step into the booth himself. He always felt he had something to say and now was his time to share it. A sense of urgency rings out on new singles like the G Herbo-featuring "Wafi," where Krucial spits like his life depends on it, laying out a mission of world domination. If his new mixtape Clay is any indication, he may be poised for just that. Krucial began recording in college, realizing no one else could make records sound the way he wanted.
Demand for his work grew as he started working with artists like Blocboy and Gotti, and soon, every big record out of the scene bore his fingerprints. He began making noise of his own with independent projects like Krucifix (2018), It Could've Been Different (2019), and Too Sad for Tomorrow (2019), and he released his major-label debut If We Must Die in 2021. Now, as he prepares Clay, Krucial has more reasons to succeed than just self-satisfaction. He has people counting on him, mouths to feed. There's pressure, but he knows he's capable-he has to be. "It's like being in the house and the phone rings and you're the only person there," he says. "Are you not going to pick up?"
