Hello, reader! This week, I spoke with local R&B singer, producer, and performer Jerel Crockett. The local talent has been a mainstay in the Richmond scene, performing with numerous groups, collaborating in the studio, and branching out as a solo artist. He recently released a new single called “Constant,” and we discussed the evolution of the song, his musical taste, and performing Thriller live in its entirety. Here’s our conversation:
Gabriel Santamaria: Hey what’s Jerel. How you been, man?
Jerel Crockett: Been blessed, man. Blessed!
GS: Glad to hear it. Listened to the new track. Sounds great.
JC: Thank you.
GS: Who did the production on “Constant”?
JC: I’m personally very hands-on on my side of things. A songwriter may have a producer or a beatmaker that may send them some concepts. And what I’ll do I’ll go in and I record it on my own. I do my own recording. I record my own vocals and engineer my own vocals. If the song is ready to go, we release it. But if it needs some production work, I actually do a lot of hands-on production. Getting the song to where it needs to be. If it needs additional production, a new beat, or whatever I find ways to lift the track to where it needs to be so it can be competitive in the commercial R&B world.
GS: That’s one of the things I liked about playing with you when we did gigs in the past together. You always have a very good eye for detail.
JC: Thank you.
GS: Speaking of the commercial R&B world, do you have a top slow jam on this day? That isn’t your own.
JC: Oh man, I would consider “Constant” a song that feels like a slow jam, but it’s actually up-tempo. It gives the feeling and emotion of a passionate R&B song, but there are also moments where you get a little bounce. The songs that helped shape “Constant” are from the ’90s era—and even the late ’80s. Teddy Riley, Guy, and the artists Teddy Riley used to produce for. Anything by Babyface. As far as slow jams? I could go on all day, honestly. Boyz II Men’s “End of the Road,” for sure.
GS: Banger.
JC: “My My My” by Johnny Gill. Those are just classic R&B songs right there. It’s a lot of 90’s. There’s a lot of slow jams in that era of music.
GS: New Jack Swing. What a time to be alive.
JC: Oh my gosh. It was the perfect time.
GS: Well, it was in everything too. I didn’t even notice it until I was older. Obviously, they were the biggest music artists of the time, but it was also background music for sitcoms and even in video games like Sonic. It was just a part of our culture at the time. It was such a good time to be alive.
JC:Definitely. Teddy Riley was really one of the pioneers of that whole movement. He had that signature soul, but it was definitely different—it had a lot of rhythm to it. He used a lot of synthesizers, and it was one of the first times synthesizers started making their way into a different part of R&B. Hip-hop drums also began to find their place in R&B. He had a great R&B and hip-hop combination, and I think that’s where “Constant” fits. It combines a modern-day hip-hop feel with nostalgic R&B vibes.
GS: One of the first times I heard about you was a Halloween show back in the day. You performed all of Thriller with the Former Champs?
JC: Oh, man. You’re taking me back now.
GS: You did the whole Thriller album?
JC: We did the whole thing. Top to bottom.
GS: What was that experience like? How much rehearsal is that?
JC: We probably rehearsed for a couple months for that. We learned every song. Even the filler songs. Every single song top to bottom. And I had to learn and embody Michael Jackson. And that was a very challenging but very fun time.
GS: You’ve worked in the Richmond scene for a long time but that’s the first I remember seeing and hearing about you. Was Sam Reed on back-up vocals?
JC: Yeah. She came out to help out with background vocals. And I think that was one of the first times I met Sam.
GS: Oh cool.
JC: Yeah. I think that was in 2012.
GS: That long?
JC: Yeah. We’ve been around for a while.
GS: You got that right. Tell me more about “Constant” and the evolution of the song. Was there a demo involved or anything?
JC: Let me give you some background on this particular song. It was actually written by a singer-songwriter named Breland. I discovered Breland online—on Instagram—and saw that he was writing a lot of R&B songs for mainstream R&B artists. I reached out to him, and he ended up writing two original songs for me. I really worked to develop those songs and get them where they needed to be. They were in a demo stage initially, so I did a lot of production work.
Breland had a producer who made the beats, but I wasn’t directly working with them. Instead, I took the stem files, brought them into the studio session, and tweaked the song sound by sound until I felt everything was where it should be. About a year later, Breland transitioned into becoming a country singer. He’s now signed with Atlantic Records and is a mainstream artist. He wrote that song for me before he blew up.
GS: Oh, that’s awesome.
JC: So, I’m just blessed to have a talented writer like that to collaborate with.
GS: Shout out to Breland.
JC: Definitely.
You can find “Constant” available on all major streaming platforms and be sure to look out for Jerel in 2025 for more music and performances.
