AUGUSTA, GA - In person, Klutch is prompt and modest. He dresses casually in a T-shirt, like he’s coming to see friends. He wears a diamond bracelet he was given by comedian Katt Williams, but he seems to wear it for the personal memory rather than the bling. You only notice it when he gestures with his hands as he speaks.

“Truth is the platform that I feel all men should stand on in order to be seen as honorable in any occupation,” he says. “To speak something is the first step into putting it in action and all men should do what they say they will do, even if the only person you say it to is yourself.”

Klutch found a national platform for his music this year when he went on tour with Williams. The rapper won Artist of the Year in the CSRA Hip-Hop Awards. He recorded a new album, “Believe Me.”

And in the very first words on that album, he pushes modesty aside:

My life is prophecy fulfilled cause I told ’em I would do it
Every obstacle I’ve faced I either climbed or ran through it
So if a man tries to stop me he should be considered foolish
And as a man speaketh shall that man doeth.

Some might call that boastful. Not Klutch.

“My interpretation of this quote is that my success was my self-proclaimed prophecy because I not only told myself that I would do great things, I spoke it out loud to others,” Klutch says. “I conquered everything I’ve encountered. So if any man tries to detour or stop me he should be considered foolish because nothing can stop nor detour me from my goals but my attitude and my own actions, not the actions of another person.”

Klutch was born Nikkar Vinchore Balkcon on June 1, 1977. According to his mother, the day he was born the nurse said he was going to be a star.

It’s a story Klutch tells frankly, as though it’s not a dream but a fact.

He spent much of his toddler years in Newark, N.J., in some of the worst neighborhoods.
“I can remember someone snatching my mom’s purse while I was in her hand and my brother by her side” he recalls.

The unhealthy relationship his mother endured with his father, and the violence that they were surrounded by, caused his mother to make the decision to relocate to the Garden City. His grandmother was here and moving to Augusta brought him closer to his family.

Relocating to Augusta was a great move for Klutch. His grandmother taught him about the Bible, giving him knowledge and hope.

“I love Augusta. The crime rate isn’t high and it is a great place to raise kids,” Klutch says.

Yet he experienced financial hardships. The family moved from place to place around the city. He spent years in neighborhoods that were not considered the best, but was able to learn from the things he saw. He developed survival skills as watched his mom make ends meet for the family.

His mother could remember him and his best friend being hit by a car. He was more worried about his friend than himself. That, she points out, shows he has always had a passion for people.

He attended Lucy Laney High School, where he played several sports and was popular among his peers. In his senior year, he started writing poetry. He realized he had talent.

“That is the way I vented. I get my frustrations out, anger, problems, through writing. It was only natural that it turned into music,” Klutch says.

After high school, he attended Augusta State University, where he majored in biology.

Before long, however, he took a leave from college to embrace his love of writing.

“The word Klutch describes who I am — like the definition of clutch is to hold on to something and don’t let it go,” he says. “That describes me because I am not an easy quitter.”

The Game Shifta tag came from the streets.

“My friends said when I make it I was going to shift the game,” he says.

He worked over the past 10 years with various local artists in the area.

“Crum, T.A.V., Cashious Clay and Jig are some of my favorites,” he says. “I admire their talents and what they do as an artist.”

Klutch has become popular, not only to the hip-hop culture in Augusta, but has been supported by the media. He was the first local hip-hop artist to perform live on television for NBC Augusta.

Even after he signed with a record label and his career was taking off, he took time to perform at a Stop the Violence rally and to help raise funds in the wake of the Hawes tragedy. His support of toddlers Jordan and Shakayla Hawes following their murders helped cement his respect in the community. In 2007, he won the title of CSRA Best Male Rapper in the local hip-hop awards.

A huge part of Klutch’s motivation came into his life with his son.

“Being a rap artist is what God gave me. What I really work on is being a better father than what my dad was to me,” he says.

Becoming a dad was even more reason for Klutch to push his career. “They say when you lose someone you gain someone,” Klutch says. “The strongest influence in my life I had other than my mother was my grandmother.”

In April of 1999, he lost his grandmother, which sent him into a dark place. As the saying goes, things happen in threes. Already down from the loss of his grandmother, his financial stability was shaken by the loss of his job. Then, his relationship with his girlfriend turned shaky and came to an end. He was at his lowest point. “I contemplated suicide,” he recalls.

Then in November of 2000, he had a son. “My son’s birth has impacted me in a tremendous way as a man and an artist. It changed me because it wasn’t about me anymore; he gave me new reason to live,” Klutch said. His son was inspiration. “I became more determined. My songs have more power and more passion. I realized that this is the ticket to create a better life for him than I had growing up.”

Keeping his own childhood in mind, Klutch became even more focused on giving his son a better life and providing strong role model. “I try to live life like he’s watching me, even when he isn’t around” he says.

The grind became more serious as he tried to push his career to a new level. “Trying to create this career as a hip-hop artist, I’ve dealt with many frustrations,” he says. He was trying to get people to give him a chance by going around town giving away CDs.

“People would automatically assume I was trying to sell them something and say no before I finished my sentence.” He was undaunted. “I felt like my talent was undeniable. I just needed to get it into the right hands that can help me release it to the world.”

Then he happened to give a CD to a security officer who played the CD and passed it along. It ended up in Katt Williams’ hands. Recognizing talent, Williams gave the nod that blessed Klutch.

On Nov. 11, 2007, the game was shifted for Klutch as he signed his first record deal with Williams’ Katt Pack Universal.

“When I signed that contract I felt a sense of relief, finally. A sense of pride. I did it and I felt an emotion of a new beginning,” Klutch says. His career began to pick up as he went on a national tour in January of 2008 with Williams.

“I got to entertain people like Robert Townsend, Eddie Murphy and Clifford Powell. They came to see Katt, but I was able to perform for them,” Klutch says.

His label mate, Xplicit Lyric, joined him on the 107-city tour. It went well.

“People came out to see comedy and the way I was perceived gave me a lot of confidence in what I do. I got screams, applause, standing ovations — I was never booed.”

After his return home, while he continued to work on plans for his album and a video for his single, he discovered he had been nominated as the CSRA’s Best Male Rapper and Artist of the Year.

There has been a lot of controversy about the awards show because Klutch was gone much of ’08 promoting himself with his new label, but he stands strong.

“Lots of my current frustrations are people judging me without knowing me, but I’m able to feed off of that negativity,” he says.

When the nominations came out, there were several e-mails posted complaining about his nominations

“I tried to remove myself from the nominations before the awards show. Because, for me, I didn’t care about winning. I was honored enough being nominated. I just wanted to support the event because I know how hard many of us local musicians work,” Klutch says.

After contacting the organizer of the event, Kimberly ‘Isis’ Wesby, Klutch found he was unable to remove himself from the ballot. Fans had already voted him in. He ended up winning.

Some hip-hop fans criticized him on blogs. It was not to surprising to Klutch because of the negativity he saw before the event.

“The controversy arose because of artists looking for personal praise instead of seeing the big picture of what this event represents. People were too focused on who was being recognized instead of recognizing what was being done,” Klutch says.

I&L promotions hosted the event to provide an opportunity for Augusta-area artists to be recognized for their contributions. They teamed up with several local sponsors to put on an event to showcase Augusta talent.

“I was proud when I walked in and saw how well things were put together. I&L did a great job,” Klutch says. “I really see the CSRA awards as a seed that was finally planted and if it is nurtured properly it can bloom into something phenomenal that the whole CSRA will support and be proud of.”

Now that the New Year has arrived, things are busy for the Katt Pack family. Klutch’s album “Believe Me” is projected to be released during the second quarter. He is working on his first single, “I Be Like,” which will start hitting radio in February. Klutch also in negotiations to go on tour again in February to promote the album and the single.

“After the video is created, it depends on how it is perceived. We have to do that depending on how the public accepts what we are doing,” Klutch says. He does plan to try to shoot his video in the Garden City and have a listening party in the area after the single is released to give his community a sample of what the album is like.

He also plans to continue working on his nonprofit organization, Klutch-A-Kid. “I am from here and I am from the same neighborhood a lot of these kids are coming from,” he said.

The nonprofit helps fathers find outlets to spend time with their kids.

He also plans to engage in motivational speaking, hoping to be an inspiration to others.

That’s one of the things he got from his grandmother, and from his mentor in the entertainment business.

“Williams gave me a bracelet and a ring and told me to have faith,” he said.

He does, and he’s not only thankful to Williams, he holds the memory of his grandmother close to his heart. “I remember my grandmother told me I was gifted. Now I realize the gift is expression.”
 
To find more information about Klutch the Game Shifta, visit myspace.com/gameshifta or youtube.com/jsoulvideo.