Balewa Muhammad: Back In Da Days Before The Clutch

Many R&B fans who take the time to look into the masterminds behind the great songs they love so much are all too familiar with The Clutch and their work in recent years. But do you ever think about the lives and history of each individual member? Before writing hits as part of the ill song-writing collective The Clutch, Balewa Muhammad attempted a musical career in front of the scenes as a member of soul group The Transitions.

Created by Mike Bivins of New Edition, The Transitions were a trio comprised of Balewa Muhammad, Charles 'Gator' Moore, and Rashawn Worthen. The vision for their album, Back In Da Days, was a throwback to 70's blaxploitation films in America. The sound is gutter R&B in content, but The Transitions carry it well with their soulful crooning, each member having a distinct voice as well. The songs are street narratives with lyrics expressing point of views on experiences in the ghetto, not ignorant acts of glorifying the gangsta lifestyle. Even in the more romantic/relationship leaning songs, the overall street soul vibe is carried over. Not corny, not fabricated, just real and sincere from a standpoint that may happen to be more explicit than what some folk are familiar with. The Transitions get bonus points for letting each member sing on most songs, with no established lead singer hogging the spotlight.

The first single off the album was, "Ghetto Laws" which sets the tone of the album effectively. The organs and horns set an accurately dated musical backdrop nicely, while The Transitions sing about the rules to live by if you want to get by. "5th of Gin" expresses remorse of going to jail and being unable to spend time with the one you love. Even if you can't relate to the situation, you might still like the song for its beautifully melancholy arrangement. Part of the melody reminds me of Boyz II Men's "Pass You By", slightly coincidental considering the Mike Bivins connection. Balewa has a duet with Vee from the group Koffee Brown on "I'm Not Crazy" where a man confronts his girlfriend with questions about cheating, and catching her on each lie that she tells. "Fat Ass Pam" is a tale of a lady who has a certain loose reputation amongst the fellas, you know the type, though I'd like to note that there are just as many men with such said reputation. Rashawn gets his solo shine on "Rainy Night In Harlem" though Gator lends a few gut-wrenching ad-libs right at the end, which work perfectly with the emotions set.

Production on this album comes from Balewa's brother Dauwd Muhammad, KayGee of Naughty by Nature, Darren Lighty, Eric Williams of BlackStreet, Wesley Hogges, Med, Danny Pierre, Falonte Moore, Rob Fusari, J.C. McCoy, Nod, Tiger & Leland, and Ean Woodson. I spent $22 on this 10-track album, and don't regret it at all. It's become one of my favourite albums of all time.

Unfortunately, The Transitions just didn't have the commercial sound necessary to have successful longevity but Balewa didn't abandon his musical aspirations here. Much of the writing and production on this album from the likes of KayGee and Eric Williams seemed to have served as a blueprint for newcomer Jahiem, who's albums reflected the style of The Transitions, but with a more modernized and mainstream appeal.

Balewa ended up co-writing songs for Jahiem, and sung significant back-up on many of his singles (I have a strong hunch that all these guys knew each other early in their lives from growing up in various parts of New Jersey). I say "significant" because Balewa's voice is heard so dominantly, even singing the chorus on many of these songs without people really knowing who it was. Take a look at some of the Jahiem songs where Balewa lends a big helping hand:

"Could It Be"

"Just In Case"

“Anything (remix)”

"Put That Woman First"

"Diamond in da Rough"

"Fabulous"

Know those songs? Then you know Balewa's voice.

Oh, maybe you've heard him singing the chorus of this song, along with fellow Clutch member Keri Hilson:

"The Way I Are" by Timbaland

???

So here I was, sometime in 2007, aware of this writing group called The Clutch making lots of noise in the music industry, but not knowing much about the members aside from Keri Hilson and Candace Nelson, when I read up on them and BAM! Saw that my boy Balewa Muhammad is part of the team. Such a crazy moment. Had NO idea he was behind a lot of these Clutch songs, GOOD for him! I wanted to shed some light on his very meritable yet unknown background in the music biz, and hope for bigger things to come.

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