Donny Hathaway
Donny Hathaway
Donny Hathaway
Donny Hathaway
Donny Hathaway
Donny Hathaway
Donny Hathaway
Donny Hathaway
Donny Hathaway
Donny Hathaway
Written by Donny Hathaway and Leroy Hutson. Released in 1970 as a single by Hathaway. This song connects to other soul/jazz songs released by African-American artists of the early ‘70s such as Curtis Mayfield. This song, although it does not use very heavy lyrics, uses instruments to send its messag...
Woo hoo, mm
Mmhmm
Yes, this is the ghetto
Sure enough now
Mmhmm
Mmhmm, mmm
Oh oh oh
Ah yeah
Mm
Don't you know that's all right yeah
Yeah
Ah, yeah (Hey!)
(The ghetto, the ghetto
The ghetto, the ghetto) Sure enough
(The ghetto, the ghetto
The ghetto, the ghetto) Oh yeah
(The ghetto, the ghetto
The ghetto, the ghetto) Yeah, yeah, yeah
(The ghetto, the ghetto) You don't know what we're talkin' about, yeah
(The ghetto, the ghetto) My lawd
(The ghetto, the ghetto
The ghetto, the ghetto
The ghetto, the ghetto
The ghetto, the ghetto)
Ah
(Shoot, I think y'all listen to the brother) Wait a minute!
No you ain't doin' what you're suppose to
You doin' what you wanna do (Well)
But you know you wrong
Got to be wrong
(Hey, Hoss!) hear me 'bout
The ghetto, the ghetto
The ghetto, the ghetto (Yessiree, everything is everything) (Hey, Hoss!)
The ghetto (You better get a job), the ghetto
The ghetto (Party tonight, y'all) (Hey, Buzz), the ghetto (Where? Crap game? What's happening?)
(Everything is everything, y'all)
The ghetto (Pass the joint!), the ghetto
The ghetto (Mmm), the ghetto (Go ahead, get down, woo!)
The ghetto, the ghetto
The ghetto, the ghetto
The ghetto, the ghetto (Woo, look over there!)
The ghetto (Yeah!), the ghetto (Get it!)
The ghetto, the ghetto (Leave her alone, man)
The ghetto, the ghetto
(And then give me your money, you better not tell nobody
I don't know what you're doing
Hey, Buzz!)
Oh (Hey!)
The ghetto, talkin' 'bout the ghetto
The ghetto, talkin' 'bout the ghetto (I'm talkin' 'bout the ghetto)
The ghetto, talkin' 'bout the ghetto (Mm, yeah)
The ghetto, talkin' 'bout the ghetto (Handle it, it's alright, now)
The ghetto, talkin' 'bout the ghetto (Talkin' 'bout the ghetto, oh-oh)
The ghetto, talkin' 'bout the ghetto
The ghetto, talkin' 'bout the ghetto
The ghetto, talkin' 'bout the ghetto
I'm talkin' 'bout the ghetto
I'm talkin' 'bout the ghetto, mmm
Yeah
Can y'all dig it out there?
Can you dig it?
Talkin' 'bout the ghetto
Woohoo hoo-hoo
Oooh-hoo-ooh, mmhmm
The Ghetto was written by Donny Hathaway & Leroy Hutson.
The Ghetto was produced by Ric Powell & Donny Hathaway.
Donny Hathaway released The Ghetto on Wed Jul 01 1970.
In the liner notes to his final album, Extension of a Man, Hathaway wrote:
I was earlier inspired by my environment to write “The Ghetto”. I felt it was a song that all Black people could relate to … being happy, lively and reflecting on the joys of a people in a suppressed area.
In a rare intervi...
Co-writer Leroy Hutson said:
“The Ghetto” came about one Tuesday evening, when Donny came home, and I was sitting at the keyboard playing a riff. He heard me playing, came in, and said to me exactly these words: “No, Hoss” – he called me ‘Hoss’ – “it should go like this.” Then he sat and played th...
We went into the studio and Donny said, “Hey man, check this out”: he sat down and started playing “The Ghetto”, and we just jumped in there and played something to go with it. We ran it down a couple or three times, rolled the tape, and it was a done deal.
— Phil Upchurch, guitarist, Never My Love...