| Ghetts | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Justin Reginald Clarke-Samuel |
| Also known as | Ghetto |
| Origin | Plaistow, London, England |
| Genres | Grime |
| Occupations | rapper |
| Years active | 2003-present |
| Labels | J. Clarke Enterprise |
| Associated acts | The Movement, Scorcher, Wretch 32, Mercston, Devlin, Lightning |
Justin Reginald Clarke Samuel (born 9 October 1984), better known by his stage name Ghetts (formerly Ghetto)[1] 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,[2] Kiss 100,[3] BBC Asian Network [4] and BBC Radio 1Xtra.[5] He is associated and has toured internationally with such acts as Kano and was a member of NASTY Crew.[6]
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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, Giggs and Skepta, in the end Giggs took home the award.
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.[7]
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 typecast 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,[8] performing alongside a violinist.[9]
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.
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 Storm
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-Dubz 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.[10]
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.[11] 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." [12] 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.[13]
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".
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Album | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK | UK R&B |
IRE |
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" | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Who's on the Panel" | 2011 | — | — | — | — | Non-album singles |
| "I Told Ya" (featuring Rapid) |
— | — | — | — | ||