Ghetto
Feature taken from www.sweetandsound.co.uk
“There must be something in the water down there” says Ghetto or 'Ghetts' – born Justin Reggie Samuel Clark – when I ask him what he thinks of the underground grime scene's effect on the mainstream music charts. “As you can see, the people running the charts at the moment came from the grime scene, from the underground.”
Hailing from Plaistow, East London, Ghetts started out performing as a guest with Nasty Crew where he formed a close relationship with fellow artist Kano. After moving on to become a founding member of The Movement, Ghetts has made three releases in the past three years, which seem to chart his move from underground protégé to an artist on the path to matching Dizzee, Kano and Tynchy in terms of commercial success. But how does Ghetts feel about grime's big players moving from the underground to the charts?
“I would love to work with Amy Winehouse, but my number one would be The Prodigy – they're definitely number one for me…”
“The transfer? It's a very positive thing, I don't believe in staying underground because obviously the sky's the limit.” Ghetts' first solo release '2000 and Life' charts his time growing up in Plaistow and time spent in prison, the lyrics full of the kind of angry bravado Calvin Harris wouldn't touch with a barge pole. Around this time Ghetts was caught up in disputes with several other acts such as Wiley and Bashy, and whilst these spats seem a thing of the past he acknowledges it was all part of his 'training' to emerge from the underground scene. “The underground grime scene is basically training, you have to take it and build on what you learn” he says, reflecting on his early days as an underground MC. “You go through phases, you start spitting on tracks, learning how to make tunes – don't get me wrong, some people are blessed with knowing the formula of making a song from the very start, but some of us are not. I went from spitting to making tunes, to videos – it was all training.”
Ghett's second release 'Ghetto Gospel' seems far more personal and poignant in content, including reflections on his behaviour growing up in the track 'Closest Thing to Heaven'. With lyrics reflecting on the effects of his drug abuse and jail time on his family, Ghetts admits this particular track brought his mum to tears when he performed it for her on mothers day. The performance this evening has been arranged by Bigga Fish, a youth organisation who encourage grime and urban artists to inspire young people by hosting special under 18's events and workshops. When I ask Ghetts whether he would have been interested in attending a similar event as a teen, he seems very enthusiastic: “I would have loved this, I would have loved it”. And who would have been his dream act? “There's uh, this guy called Ghetto, I would have loved to have seen him….” This kind of response seems typical of Ghetts' character, he seems open and entirely at ease about talking about his gradual progression as an artist, but occasionally adds in small statements to reiterate that he's now ahead of his peers in terms of crossing over. As he talks about the underground scene as a training ground for what he calls the next 'Grime Stars', he adds: “some don't make it and some get benched for the rest of their life – but I wont be one of them”. Later, when I ask him who he thinks is under-rated, or yet to receive the attention they deserve he jokes: “In the underground scene, I'm probably the most under appreciated artist” before adding “nah, there's a lot of us – Wretch, Devlin, Griminal – there's a lot of us that are under-rated, but in due time it'll come together”.
Stills taken from Ghetto's video "Don't Phone Me"
Ghetts' third release 'Freedom of Speech' is said to be a combination of his earlier, angrier sound mixed with a newer refined word-style and a slightly more melodic approach to his music, so as not to loose the fans who were drawn to the less confrontational 'Ghetto Gospel'. This new diverse style is reflected in the mix of acts he would like to collaborate with, as he says: “I would love to work with Amy Winehouse, but my number one would be The Prodigy – they're definitely number one for me”. The question of his ideal female guest vocalist temporarily throws Ghetts, and he seems eager not to give me a cliché answer. Listening to 'Sing for Me', the track Ghetts describes as “probably my biggest to date” I hear him name-check Mariah and Beyonce (“Call your fiancé / Ask why I call her Beyonce!”) but he seems eager not to name a big US diva as his ideal female feature artist : “I don't want to be obvious and say Beyonce, she's amazing but that's too obvious. Saying Mariah Carey's obvious, saying Whitney Houston's the same. Where am I gonna go…?”
“Ah UK Funky – you know what, I love bubblin' to the music, I like the music, but I'm just upset that its taking over my genre – well, our genre. I'm a bit upset, it's put us in a bit of a predicament…”
I suggest Egypt, the only female performer on the bill whose note-perfect performance of UK Funky hit 'In the Morning' had stuck in my mind; “Egypt's heavy, I've spoken to Egypt about doing a song, so hopefully that's in the pipeline”. So can grime and UK Funky sit comfortably together in crossing over from the underground to the mainstream? “Ah UK Funky – you know what, I love bubblin' to the music, I like the music, but I'm just upset that its taking over my genre – well, our genre. I'm a bit upset, it's put us in a bit of a predicament.”
Ghetts is humble in his response to his career highlights so far, loyally crediting Kano with giving him his break: “When Kano first came out he brought me on the Mike Skinner tour, that was heavy, Mike Skinner's a heavy artist” and enthusiastically mentioning “I played a football stadium the other day, I think I was in Wolverhampton? It was great when I came out, I liked that a lot.” His personality is a lot like his music; outright and honest, and his conversation is polished enough to take on mainstream success, whilst still keeping the sincerity of an underground artist in touch with his grass roots. His part in the continuing movement of grime is one that shouldn't be overlooked and in due time will be harder to overlook than the sound of autotune in every new American RnB track.
Interview by Martha Ling, photo by Unknown
