Warner Brothers' R&B Star Cruna Croons at Impact 210 (Impact Worldwide)

Cruna is a modern day Smokey Robinson. During his recent visit to Impact210, Cruna broke down the music scene is his hometown of Nashville, why he chose Warner Brothers over Nelly or Irv Gotti and how he’s nothing like what you’d expect.


Impact210: How did you get signed to Warner Brothers?
Cruna: The actual deal went about with the VP and head of A&R over there, Naim Ali. He’s from Nashville like me. He came down and was asking, who’s the new hot guy? He was at a barbershop and the barber gave him directions to our studio, Cross Tracks Studio. Me and Jazz have Cross Tracks Entertainment. He came around and said he heard that Nelly had Cruna. I was actually in New York, and Jazz said ‘no, me and Cruna are together. He didn’t take that deal.’ So the next day, Naim was in New York. We had a meeting. That part is history.
Impact210: How does it feel to be with Warner Brothers?
Cruna: I feel good to be on Reprise. It’s the best spot for an R&B artist. Cynthia Johnson fights for me like Mike Tyson. She’s VP of Promotions. I have that relationship with her like she’s a manager or A&R. She knows artists. She pushed the promotion behind Alicia Keys and Jaheim. I feel like I’m in a win-win situation.
Impact210: How did you get to be that dude in Nashville?
Cruna: Hard work. I sang everywhere to anybody, regardless of the size of the venue or how many people were in there. Regardless if it’s one or one million. I’m going to sing to that one person like I really am excited to see them, instead of them seeing me. Like I say, my gift is what God gave me. Being able to look at life, write it down on paper and sing it to people. I love the response that they give me.
Impact210: So you still live in Nashville?
Cruna: I have a house in Nashville, but I transferred to Atlanta because right now that’s the music mecca. I’m doing things with several of my label mates, Tango Redd, Scrappy. I have the second single from Sharissa called “I Got Love” on the radio.
Impact210: Is R&B big in Nashville?
Cruna: Yes, because of the gospel roots. Nashville is big in gospel. We have Shannon Sanders, the musical director for India Arie. He’s written a lot of songs. Young Buck from G-Unit. Those are the two names that are sticking out now. We have a lot of unsigned hype. It’s tough to break through down there. You have to be smart in what you do. You have to know your art and if you show people you’re passionate about it, they’re going to accept it.
Impact210: What do you tell to young entertainers is the secret to success?
Cruna: Know what you want, get out and get it, and don’t take no for an answer.
Impact210: So you were really doing it on the indie level before you got signed?
Cruna: Me and Jazz put out an independent project called A Hustler’s Love Story, which is the title of the album coming out on Warner Brothers. It made a lot of noise on the streets. We pressed it up. We mastered it ourselves. We recorded it at our own studios. It made a lot of noise. That’s what got the attention of Nelly, Irv Gotti, Jimmy Henchmen, Kevin Liles, Ashanti, DJ Quik and Naim Ali at Warner Brothers, which is the only deal that’s right for me. Everybody has this wrong perception about people from the South. People think I’m country, slow. That gives me the advantage when I meet them because I already know what they’re expecting. They’re expecting a country bumpkin. You’re not expecting somebody with some intelligence. I’m not a college graduate but I do have intelligence. I may have a different slur and lingo than somebody else. But that doesn’t make me not human or worthy of doing what I’m doing.
Impact210: How are you going to stand out from the rest of the R&B singers?
Cruna: I stand out because I’m not ProTools. What you hear on the CD is what you hear live. The passion. Every feeling, every word is vivid. You can see it. You can reach out and touch it. Everything I wrote on this album is a personal experience of mine or somebody else. I’m not trying to reach the make believe love. I want to tell you about love. I want to tell you why I love you instead of, baby, I love you. I want to be able to tell the real stories about life, not the make believe.
Impact210: You have a tear tattoo near your eye. You’ve been to prison, right?
Cruna: I spent 7 years, 2 months incarcerated. The tear tattoo is a symbol for my stupidity. People look at it and say I must have killed somebody. My grandmother died in 1996. She was my best friend in the whole wide world. She was the one that taught me how to keep my feet on the ground and look straight ahead. Don’t look back. She died and I wasn’t able to attend her funeral because of my incarceration. So it’s a constant reminder of my stupidity and it’s a tear I’m going to shed forever for my grandmother.
Impact210: Many rappers feel that jail gives them street credibility.
Cruna: Jail is a place for no human being. Not one person alive should be behind a gate where another man dictates if you use the bathroom or not. No man deserves that.
Impact210: Anything else you want to add?
Cruna: I want people to know that there is a young cat out here with an old soul. There is a 2005 Smokey Robinson.