Ghetto (rapper)
Encyclopedia
Justin Reginald Clarke Samuel (born 9 October 1984), better known by his stage name Ghetts (formerly Ghetto) is an English grime
artist from Plaistow
, Newham
, east London of African-Caribbean
(Jamaican/Grenadian) and Ghanaian descent. His music has been played on national radio stations such as BBC Radio 1
, Kiss 100
, BBC Asian Network
and BBC Radio 1Xtra
. He is associated and has toured internationally with such acts as Kano
and was a member of NASTY Crew.
Ghetto is a very enthusiastic UK artist who has made a number of well-known songs within the UK Grime scene. He is also notorious in the UK music industry for his freestyling ability, being able to come up with lyrics off the top of his head during MC clashes with other artists. In 2008 he got nominated for a BET award for Best UK Act along with Chipmunk
, Giggs and Skepta, in the end Giggs took home the award.
as an aggressive and angry rapper.
The album is titled Ghetto Gospel to demonstrate that Ghetto has put his soul into creating it.
On 27 October 2007 Ghetto performed with Kano at the BBC
Electric Proms, performing alongside a violin
ist.
and Cascada
.
Ghetto's debut album, Rebel With a Cause was due to be released in 2010 but has been pushed back to a later date and is set to be released in 2011.
On February 21, 2011, GrimeDaily uploaded the official video of a song titled "Whos on the Panel". The song is directed at the MTV Base
panel who presented the "Best of the Best: UK MCs 2010" show on Sunday, February 20, 2011. Ghetts wasn't in the list, and "vowed to make a track sending for the panel who cast the list and also vowed to shoot a video and have it on YouTube
in the morning." The song and video was finished the next day, premiering on Kiss 100 the day before the video upload. On February 25, 2011, the song was made available to download on iTunes
, along with another song titled "I Told Ya" featuring Rapid - which also had a video shot and uploaded by GrimeDaily on February 24, 2011.
Ghetts collaborated with Cher Lloyd on her record Dub on the Track in 2011. Ghetts Released a new song called "On A Level". Ghetts features on Clement Marfo & The Frontline's single "Overtime".
Mixtapes
Grime (music)
Grime is a style of music that emerged from Bow, East London, England in the early 2000s, primarily as a development of UK garage, dancehall, and hip hop...
artist from Plaistow
Plaistow, Newham
Plaistow is a place in the London Borough of Newham in east London. It formed part of the County Borough of West Ham in Essex until 1965.Plaistow is a mainly residential area, including several council estates; the main road is the A112 - Plaistow Road, High Street, Broadway, Greengate Street and...
, Newham
London Borough of Newham
The London Borough of Newham is a London borough formed from the towns of West Ham and East Ham, within East London.It is situated east of the City of London, and is north of the River Thames. According to 2006 estimates, Newham has one of the highest ethnic minority populations of all the...
, east London of African-Caribbean
British African-Caribbean community
The British African Caribbean communities are residents of the United Kingdom who are of West Indian background and whose ancestors were primarily indigenous to Africa...
(Jamaican/Grenadian) and Ghanaian descent. His music has been played on national radio stations such as BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation which also broadcasts internationally, specialising in current popular music and chart hits throughout the day. Radio 1 provides alternative genres after 7:00pm including electronic dance, hip hop, rock...
, Kiss 100
Kiss 100 London
Kiss is a UK radio station broadcasting on FM and Digital Radio, specialising in hip hop, R&B, urban and electronic dance music. It also broadcasts on DAB Digital Radio around the UK & nationally on Freeview, Sky and TalkTalk TV...
, BBC Asian Network
BBC Asian Network
BBC Asian Network is a British radio station serving those originating from and around the Indian subcontinent. The music and news comes out of the main urban areas where there are significant communities with these backgrounds. The station has production centres in Birmingham, Leicester and London...
and BBC Radio 1Xtra
BBC Radio 1Xtra
BBC Radio 1Xtra is a digital radio station in the United Kingdom from the BBC specialising in new black music, sometimes referred to as urban music. Launched at 18:00 on 16 August 2002, it had been codenamed Network X during the consulation period and is the sister station to BBC Radio 1...
. He is associated and has toured internationally with such acts as Kano
Kano (rapper)
Kane Brett Robinson , better known as Kano and also known as Kane O, is an English rapper and actor. His grandparents came to England as immigrants from Jamaica. He was formerly a key member of east London’s N.A.S.T.Y...
and was a member of NASTY Crew.
Musical career
Ghetto was a member of grime collective NASTY Crew, however he left, saying that things had gone "pear shaped" due to the number of people in the group. He later went on to create the grime collective The Movement.Ghetto is a very enthusiastic UK artist who has made a number of well-known songs within the UK Grime scene. He is also notorious in the UK music industry for his freestyling ability, being able to come up with lyrics off the top of his head during MC clashes with other artists. In 2008 he got nominated for a BET award for Best UK Act along with Chipmunk
Chipmunk (rapper)
Jahmaal Noel Fyffe known by his stage name Chipmunk, is a British hip hop rapper and songwriter from Tottenham, London....
, Giggs and Skepta, in the end Giggs took home the award.
2005: 2000 & Life
After being released from prison in 2003, at the age of eighteen years old, Ghetto put out his first release, 2000 & Life in 2005. The mixtape contains 24 tracks and numerous collaborations.2007: Ghetto Gospel
In 2007 Ghetto released his second, pre-album mixtape Ghetto Gospel. The mixtape was a departure from his previous release, 2000 & Life, being more mellow and featuring tracks about subjects such as girlfriends and his mother. In interviews, he has stated that the mixtape's calmer tone is to "prove people wrong", as he does not want to be typecastTypecasting (acting)
In TV, film, and theatre, typecasting is the process by which a particular actor becomes strongly identified with a specific character; one or more particular roles; or, characters having the same traits or coming from the same social or ethnic groups...
as an aggressive and angry rapper.
The album is titled Ghetto Gospel to demonstrate that Ghetto has put his soul into creating it.
On 27 October 2007 Ghetto performed with Kano at the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
Electric Proms, performing alongside a violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
ist.
2008: Freedom of Speech
On March 10, 2008, Ghetts released his third mixtape, Freedom of Speech. It is predominantly a solo mixtape, and features no other producers aside Lewi White and Smasher (The pair responsible for "Back in the Day"). It includes collaborations with Smasher, Sparkey, Griminal, Brutal, Chipmunk & Devlin. Ghetto stated that the mixtape is more akin to 2000 & Life than Ghetto Gospel.2010: The Calm Before The Storm
On July 12, 2010 Ghetto release his fourth mixtape under the alias Ghetts, entitled "The Calm Before The Storm". This was a highly anticipated release fusing the best elements of UK hip-hop and grime into this pre-album massacre. Ghetts immediately gives the people what they want; pure Grime bangers with Ghetts’ ridiculous word play and flow in full effect. The opening track "Intro" provides a trademark murky riddim which Ghetts unleashes – schooling listeners on everything from collabos to his take on Grime guys dominating the charts with watered down material. Pure 140bpm vibes make up CBTS, with production provided by the likes of Z Dot, Rude Kid and Nocturnal as well as bringing along a number of guests including fellow east Londoners Griminal, Devlin and Maxsta among others to help out. On March 13 Ghetts won an OMA(Official Mixtape Award)for his mixtape, The Calm Before The Storm2011-present: Current projects
Ghetto's "Sing For Me (Electro Remix)"; produced by Rude Kid another well known producer in the grime scene has had attention from the mainstream market. This single has been signed by the "All Around The World" record label, (also known as AATW) who specialise in electronic dance music and is also home to acts such as N-DubzN-Dubz
N-Dubz are a British hip hop group from Camden Town, London. The group consists of members Dappy, Tulisa Contostavlos and Fazer.N-Dubz were previously signed to Polydor Records before joining All Around the World Records...
and Cascada
Cascada
Cascada is a German Eurodance act most famous for their hit singles "Everytime We Touch", "What Hurts the Most", and "Evacuate the Dancefloor"...
.
Ghetto's debut album, Rebel With a Cause was due to be released in 2010 but has been pushed back to a later date and is set to be released in 2011.
On February 21, 2011, GrimeDaily uploaded the official video of a song titled "Whos on the Panel". The song is directed at the MTV Base
MTV Base
MTV Base is a 24-hour music and general entertainment channel from MTV Networks International. The channel focuses primarily on music from the world of R'n'B, hiphop, reggae, soul and urban. The MTV Base brand first launched in the United Kingdom and in the Republic of Ireland on July 1, 1999,...
panel who presented the "Best of the Best: UK MCs 2010" show on Sunday, February 20, 2011. Ghetts wasn't in the list, and "vowed to make a track sending for the panel who cast the list and also vowed to shoot a video and have it on YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
in the morning." The song and video was finished the next day, premiering on Kiss 100 the day before the video upload. On February 25, 2011, the song was made available to download on iTunes
ITunes
iTunes is a media player computer program, used for playing, downloading, and organizing digital music and video files on desktop computers. It can also manage contents on iPod, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad....
, along with another song titled "I Told Ya" featuring Rapid - which also had a video shot and uploaded by GrimeDaily on February 24, 2011.
Ghetts collaborated with Cher Lloyd on her record Dub on the Track in 2011. Ghetts Released a new song called "On A Level". Ghetts features on Clement Marfo & The Frontline's single "Overtime".
Discography
EPs- 2010: Merry Christmas EP
Mixtapes
- 2005: 2000 & Life
- 2007: Ghetto Gospel
- 2008: Freedom of Speech
- 2010: The Calm Before The Storm
- 2011: Momentum [Hosted By DJ Whoo Kid]
Singles
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Album | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ... |
UK R&B UK R&B Chart The Official UK R&B Chart is a forty-position R&B/Hip-Hop chart compiled by The Official UK Charts Company. Although the chart does not receive any airplay, its compilation is viewed on BBC Radio 1's website and publications such as ChartsPlus and Music Week... |
IRE Irish Singles Chart The Irish Singles Chart is Ireland's music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association and compiled on behalf of the IRMA by Chart-Track. Chart rankings are based on sales, which are compiled through over-the-counter retail data captured... |
EU |
|||
| "Top 3 Selected" | 2008 | — | — | — | — | Ghetto Gospel |
| "Sing For Me" | — | — | — | — | Non-album singles | |
| "Sing 4 Me (Remix)" | 2009 | 193 | — | — | — | |
| "Don't Phone Me" (featuring Griminal) |
— | — | — | — | ||
| "Don't Phone Me (Remix)" (featuring Fumin & Lil Nasty) |
— | — | — | — | ||
| "Skadoosh" (featuring Maxsta & Dollar Da Dustman) |
2010 | — | — | — | — | The Calm Before the Storm |
| "Trained to Kill" (featuring Dot Rotten) |
— | — | — | — | ||
| "Grime Daily" | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Whos On the Panel" | 2011 | — | — | — | — | Non-album singles |
| "I Told Ya" (featuring Rapid) |
— | — | — | — |