Too $hort - "The Ghetto" (Hip Hop Track information, lyrics, example, & comments)

Edited by Azizi Powell

This is Part III of a three part pancocojams series on the word "ghetto" (as used in the United States). Part III showcases Too $hort's Hip Hop song "The Ghetto". Information about and selected comments from that sound file's discussion thread are also included in this post.

Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2016/03/war-world-is-ghetto-information.html
for Part II of this series.

Part II presents information about the Funk band "War" and showcases that band's 1972 song "The World Is A Ghetto". Selected comments from that sound file's discussion thread are also included in this post.

Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2016/03/the-united-states-meaning-of-word.html for Part I of this series.

Part I presents definitions of the word "ghetto" from urbandictionary.com and selected comments from a dailykos article about comments that Senator Bernie Sanders made about African Americans and "ghettos".

The content of this post is presented for socio-cultural, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.

Thanks to Too $hort for his performance of this Hip Hop track. Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post, and thanks to the publisher of this example on YouTube.

Additional Black cultural songs whose titles include the word "ghetto" or words with that same meaning will be showcased on pancocojams at a later date.

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INFORMATION ABOUT TOO $HORT
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Too_Short
"Todd Anthony Shaw (born April 28, 1966),[1][2] better known by the stage name Too Short (stylized as Too $hort), is an American rapper, producer, and actor. He is best known for his hit songs like "The Ghetto" and "Blow the Whistle". Too Short is one of the very few musicians to have been able to collaborate with both 2Pac and The Notorious B.I.G. during the height of their careers.

Too Short is credited as being one of the pioneer rappers of West Coast hip hop.[1][2][3] Many of his rap lyrics are about pimping, drug use & sexual antics.[4]...

In the early 1990s his beats came from mostly a TR-808 and from mid-to-late 2000s, a TR-909 was used. In 1985, Too Short and Freddie B. formed the label Dangerous Music to regionally distribute his music and with others formed rap group The Dangerous Crew.[6] Dangerous Music became Short Records, and then Up All Nite Records. With his 1989 release, Life Is...Too Short, he began using replayed established funk riffs (rather than samples) with his beats....

Subsequent work was primarily collaborative, including work with Tupac Shakur, The Notorious B.I.G., Scarface, and Pimp C. One of his notable collaborations during this period was on the track "The World Is Filled..." on the classic Notorious B.I.G. album Life After Death; he comes in on the third verse after Diddy and Biggie. Being featured on the album introduced him to a wider audience as well, due to his typical style contrasting greatly with the Mafioso theme of the album...

With the 1999 release of Can't Stay Away, Too Short fully came out of retirement and released a number of new albums within the next few years, most of them taking on a crunk or Dirty South type sound, as he had become involved in the Southern rap scene. However, he didn't totally give up on his trademark funk grooves or sexually explicit style...

In 2004, his earlier 1990 single "The Ghetto" appeared on popular video game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, playing on West Coast hip hop radio station Radio Los Santos. Given that this was an incredibly popular game at the time, the featuring was acclaimed as a success for Too $hort, both in publicity and in the fame generated by the song."...


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LYRICS - THE GHETTO
(Too $hort)

Talking bout the ghetto...funky funky ghetto
Trying to survive, trying to stay alive

[Chorus:]
The ghetto
The ghetto
(Talking bout the ghetto)
The ghetto
The ghetto
(Funk funky ghetto)

Even though the streets are bumpy, lights burned out
Dope fiends die with a pipe in their mouths
Old school buddies not doing it right
Every day it's the same
And it's the same every night
I wouldn't shoot you bro but I'd shoot that fool
If he played me close and tried to test my cool
Every day I wonder just how I'll die
Only thing I know is how to survive
There's only one rule in the real world
And that's to take care of you, only you and yours
Keep dealing with the hard times day after day
Might deal me some dope but then crime don't pay
Black man tried to break into my house again
Thought he got off early doing time in the pen
Even though my brothers do me just like that
I get a lot of love so I'm giving it back to the...

[Chorus]

So just peep the game and don't call it crap
Cause to me, life is one hard rap
Even though my sister smoked crack cocaine
She was nine months pregnant, ain't nothing changed
600 million on a footbal team
And her baby dies just like a dope fiend
The story I tell is so incomplete
Five kids in the house and no food to eat
Don't look at me and don't ask me why
Mama's next door getting high
Even though she's got five mouths to feed
She's rather spend her money on a H-I-T
I always tell the truth about things like this
I wonder if the mayor overlooked that list
Instead of adding to the task force send some help
Waiting on him I'd better help myself
Housing Authority and the O.P.D.
All these guns just to handle me in the...

[Chorus]

Even though they put us down and call us animals
We make real big banks and buy brand new clothes
Drive fancy cars, make love to stars
Never really saying just who we are
We use alias names like TOO $HORT
Sell you stuff you might kill for
Young kids grow up and that's all they know
Didn't teach him in school now he's slangin dope
Only thing he knows is how to survive
But will he kill another brother before he dies?
In the ghetto, you keep one eye open
All day long, just hoping and hoping
You can pay your bills and not drink too much
Then the problems of life you'll be throwing up
Like me, but you don't see
Ten years from now, where will you be?

[Chorus]

So much game in a Too $hort rap
Blacks can't be white and whites can't be black
Why you wanna act like someone else?
All you gotta do is just be yourself
We're all the same color underneath
Short Dog's in the house you'd better listen to me
Never be ashamed of what you are
Proud to be black stand tall at heart
Even though some people give you no respect
Be intelligent, when you put em in check
Cause when you're ignorant, you get treated that way
And when they throw you in jail you got nothing to say
So if you don't listen it's not my fault
I'll be getting paid while you'll be paying the cost
Sitting in the jailhouse running your mouth
While me and my peoples try to get out

[Chorus]

tp://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/toohort/theghetto.html
-snip-
Videos of this track are labeled "explicit" and "clean version". Apparently this is the clean version because there is no profanity and no "n words". The first "dope" in the lyrics is African American Vernacular English for "very good". The second "dope" is vernacular for "narcotics".

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SHOWCASE EXAMPLE: Too $hort - The Ghetto



TooShortVEVO Uploaded on Mar 23, 2011


Too $hort's official music video for 'The Ghetto'

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SELECTED COMMENTS FROM THIS SOUND FILE'S DISCUSSION THREAD
These selected comments are given in chronological order by year starting with 2014 (although there are earlier comments). The comments may not be in consecutive order. I've assigned numbers for referencing purposes only.

These comments are about American [United States] ghettos.

2015
1. Pendejo
"I've never seen a "ghetto." I think they're a myth."

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Reply
2. lycibin
"+Pendejo wut dude"

**
Reply
3. Pendejo
"+Sillycibin I'm not being silly. Overtime I see a "ghetto," it's on TV."

**
Reply

4. Sillycibin
"+Pendejo where do u live lol"

**
Reply
5. Pendejo
"+Sillycibin Right now, Santa Barbara, California."

**
Reply
6. Sillycibin
"+Pendejo oh well they do exist"

**
Reply
7. Pendejo
"+Sillycibin What? You ain't from a ghetto, so how do you know?"

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Sillycibin
"+Pendejo i live in nyc theres a lot of ghettos"

**
Reply
8. Pendejo
"+Sillycibin What? I've been to NYC and it was awesome! No ghettos though."

**
Reply
9. Voluseraptor
"+Pendejo lmaoo
you went to NYC, but that's like the bit they show the tourists or whatever
Not all of NYC is flashy lights, bro."

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Reply
10. Sillycibin
"+Voluseraptor yeah brownsville and east new york brooklyn are [profanity deleted] rough dude theres like a murder every day"

**
[additional comments not included]

Reply
11. E. Rizzy Productions
"California ain't got ghettos like the east coast. Try west baltimore or camden nj. Nyc"

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Reply
12. Ivan Iliev
"+Pendejo Dude ghettos are real.... I live near one it's pretty much described in the video how it is in one ghetto."

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Reply
13. Pendejo
"+Ivan Iliev Are you going to leave it?"

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Reply
14. Ivan Iliev
"Man i live near it. Wow. Im happy to not live there. Its bad here where i live too, but still.. The ghetto is full of some gangs, so if you go there at night you probably will get robbed. I dont live in it :D But still i live in poor area."

**
Reply
15. E. Rizzy Productions
"+HyptroxGaming K, let me rephrase. Cali got some real ghettos, and theyre just as hard as east coast, but they look way different. A lot of west coast ghettos might not even look like a ghetto if ur just rollin through and u dont know the area. In bmore and detroit and atlanta, ghettos got lots of prarrie and abandoned houses and sh_t*, so u know its a bad area even if youve never been there before."
-snip-
*This word is completely spelled in this comment.

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Reply
16. RISQUE1963
"+Pendejo If only they were a myth. But don't worry. The way the US, Russia, China are going these days, the whole world is about to be a ghetto, bought to you live and in living color."

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Reply
17. dylan heaney
"+Pendejo Go to Compton or Detroits urban areas then you will see"

**
[additional comments not included]

Reply
18. DR-Loc
"+Pendejo Every state has at least one or 2 ghettos(yes that includes places like nampa, or caldwell idaho, I live there, and we have norte, and IDK what the opposing gang is called.)"

**
2016
19. Reply
$quirrel $cott
"Every state has ghettos"

**
Reply
20. Pendejo
"+Duke $cott Even Florida?"

**
Reply
21. Benji Hit Em Up
"Detroit bro exhibit A"

**
Reply
22. Jamal Jewel
"Pendejo are you serious man"

**
Reply
23. Pendejo
"+Jamal Jewel Yes, I was pretty sheltered through no fault of my own."

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Reply
24. Jamal Jewel
"+Pendejo okay I can understand that but yes the ghetto is no myth and I advise to not go into a ghetto especially one that is ran by gangs cause you will get ate alive no disrespect"

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Reply
25. Pendejo
"+Jamal Jewel Got it!

But why do the movies make it look so cool?"

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Reply
26. Jamal Jewel
"+Pendejo because it's Hollywood"

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Reply
27. br pulido
"Lol funny guy"

**
Reply
28. Verbal AK Spray
"+Pendejo Come over to the south side of Chicago we'll show you the ghetto lmao"

**
Reply
29. new warleans-EBK
"+Pendejo come eo new orleans"

**
Reply
30.KadoDeDioZ
"+E. Rizzy Productions youve never been to cali have you?"

**
Reply
31. B. Anthony
"Just drive to east Oakland and back"

**
Reply
32. dizefx
"+Pendejo Ha"

**
Reply
33. AlejoLoquendero Videos de Gta Sa! (Alejo Loquendero)
"Pendejo xD"

**
Reply
34. Maddie smith
"+Pendejo i went to a ghetto in washington when i visited the usa! drove passed it but the tour guide wouldnt let me get out."

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Reply
35. new warleans-EBK
"+Maddie smith if you get a chance come to new orleans LA they got the toughest hoods in america"

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Reply
36. Billy The mf kidd Mattu
"+new warleans-EBK you really can't say that you haven't been to every hood in America how would you know?"

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Reply
37. new warleans-EBK
"+Billy The mf kidd Mattu i looked up the worst projects in america and 2 new orleans projects was number 1 and number 2 and i been to alot of cities and alot of hoods outside of nola.. and new orleans was always the murder capital until recently chicago took it . but i seen it with my own 2 eyes new orleans aint nothing nice"
-snip-
End of that comment exchange to date

**
J Gamez
38. "I grew up in the ghetto, and let me tell you somthing. The people in teghetto were true no gimmiks, they were pure heart. Now that i am in with so called educated people. They are fake, no life. Sad."

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Reply
39. EsechavaHD
"U crazy, when I [profanity deleted] lived in the ghetto it was nothing but [profanity deleted] annoying ass drama

**
Reply
40. flee hops
"+J Gamez Nothing good with a real ass ghetto. They back you up until you get real good money, then you a snitch and they rob you."
-snip-
The word "ass" in the phrase "annoying ass drama" and "real ass ghetto" is an intensifier - a word that increases the word that comes before it. "Annoying ass" means very annoying. Real ass means "definitely real"...

"snitch" is someone who gives information about someone who did something wrong to the police or to someone else in authority

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This concludes Part III of this series.

Thanks for visiting pancocojams.

Visitor comments are welcome.

War - The World Is A Ghetto (information, examples, lyrics, & comments)

Edited by Azizi Powell

This is Part II of a three part pancocojams series on the word "ghetto" (as used in the United States). Part II presents information about the Funk band "War" and showcases that band's 1972 song "The World Is A Ghetto". Selected comments from that sound file's discussion thread are also included in this post.

Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2016/03/the-united-states-meaning-of-word.html for Part I of this series.

Part I presents definitions of the word "ghetto" from urbandictionary.com and selected comments from a dailykos article about comments that Senator Bernie Sanders made about African Americans and "ghettos".

Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2016/03/too-hort-ghetto-hip-hop-track.html for Part III of this series.

Part III showcases Too $hort's Hip Hop song "The Ghetto".

The content of this post is presented for socio-cultural, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.

Thanks to War for their musical legacy. Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post, and thanks to the publisher of this example on YouTube.

Additional Black cultural songs whose titles include the word "ghetto" or words with that same meaning will be showcased on pancocojams at a later date.

****
INFORMATION ABOUT THE FUNK BAND "WAR"
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_(band)
"War (originally called Eric Burdon and War) is an American funk band from Long Beach, California, known for the hit songs "Spill the Wine", "The World Is a Ghetto", "The Cisco Kid", "Why Can't We Be Friends?", "Low Rider", and "Summer". Formed in 1969, War was a musical crossover band which fused elements of rock, funk, jazz, Latin, rhythm and blues, and reggae.[1] The band also transcended racial and cultural barriers with a multi-ethnic line-up. War was also subject to many line-up changes over the course of its formation, leaving member Leroy "Lonnie" Jordan as the only original member in the current line-up; four other members created a new group called the Lowrider Band.

Although War's lyrics are often socio-political in nature, their music usually had a laid-back, California funk vibe. A particular feature of War's sound is the use of harmonica and saxophone playing melody lines in unison, sounding like a single instrument, for example in the melody of "Low Rider"."...

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INFORMATION ABOUT "THE WORLD IS A GHETTO" (ALBUM)
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_World_Is_a_Ghetto
"The World Is a Ghetto is the fifth album by the band War, released in late 1972 on United Artists Records. The album attained the number one spot on Billboard, and was Billboard magazine's Album of the Year as the best-selling album of 1973.[1]

In addition to being Billboard's #1 album of 1973, the album is ranked number 444 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. The title track became a gold record.

Track listing

All tracks composed by War (Papa Dee Allen, Harold Brown, B. B. Dickerson, Lonnie Jordan, Charles Miller, Lee Oskar, Howard E. Scott)."...
-snip-
"The World Is A Ghetto" is listed as track 2, side 2.

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LYRICS - THE WORLD IS A GHETTO (SONG)

(as performed by War)

Walkin' down the street, smoggy-eyed
Looking at the sky, starry-eyed
Searchin' for the place, weary-eyed
Crying in the night, teary-eyed

Don't you know that it's true
That for me and for you
The world is a ghetto

Don't you know that it's true
That for me and for you
The world is a ghetto

Wonder when I'll find paradise
Somewhere there's a home sweet and nice
Wonder if I'll find happiness
Never give it up now I guess

Don't you know that it's true
That for me and for you
The world is a ghetto

Don't you know that it's true
That for me and for you
The world is a ghetto

[Instrumental Interlude]

There's no need to search anywhere
Happiness is here, have your share
If you know you're loved, be secure
Paradise is love to be sure

Don't you know that it's true
That for me and for you
The world is a ghetto

Don't you know that it's true
That for me and for you
The world is a ghetto

Don't you know that it's true
That for me and for you
The world is a ghetto

Don't you know that it's true
That for me and for you
The world is a ghetto

http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/war/theworldisaghetto.html

****
SHOWCASE EXAMPLE: WAR ~ The World Is A Ghetto



UnAmericanBandstand,Uploaded on Jan 11, 2009

1973
-SNIP-
There are R&B and Hip Hop samples of War's "The World Is A Ghetto". Some of those samples have this same title.

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SELECTED COMMENTS FROM THIS SOUND FILE'S DISCUSSION THREAD
These selected comments are given in chronological order by year starting with 2012 (although there are earlier comments), except for replies. The comments may not be in consecutive order. I've assigned numbers for referencing purposes only.

2012
1. Tom K
"I remember to this day this was a big hit on the radio when I was growing up, it's still a good one -I wish artists would go back to making music like this that's socially-relevent."

**
2. Tommie Davenport
"i love this song, during this time it was a struggle for blacks, like it is today, but during this time of this song, life was sweet people cared for each other not like today.... i think you get my point....this song is so specail....."

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2014
3. sauquoit13456
"On this day in 1973 {February 4th} "The World Is A Ghetto" by War peaked at #7 {for 1 week} on Billboard's Hot Top 100 chart; it had entered the chart on November 12th and spent 16 weeks on the Top 100...
It reached #3 on the Billboard R&B Singles chart...

Was track 2 of side 2 on the group's album of the same name; and on February 11th, 1973 the album peaked at #1 {for 2 weeks} on Billboard's Top 200 Albums chart and on February 4th it also reached #1 {for 7 weeks} on Billboard's R&B Top Albums chart...
"The World Is A Ghetto" was the first of three straight Top 10 records on the Top 100 by the group; after this one came, "The Cisco Kid" {#1 for 2 weeks in 1973} followed by "Gypsy Man" {#8, again in 1973}..."

**
4. aldeb456
"The world is a ghetto, Why can't we be friends, Cisco Kid, Slipping into Darkness....one of the most underrated bands/groups of all time!!"

**
5. lowriderbandfan
"Although the five surviving original WAR artists are split into two bands,1/4, at least they are still performing WAR music. As a diehard WAR fan though, I only follow the four WAR OGs of the LOWRIDER BAND for remaining a brotherhood despite that other band called "WAR" using their WAR
name. Peace. "

**
6. Joey Diaz
"Dang been there done that homeless male at 20. 41 now. For the folks out tbere. The solution shall come. Hang in there and take a hand up. If you can. Handouts keep you in the ghetto. Hand ups pull you up"

**
7. Leo55BabyBoomer
""Ghetto" is a term or adjective used by some to describe their perceptions of others living condition. Look around...the whole world has become a 'ghetto.' Corruption; crime; poverty; lack of employment; broken families; broken souls; broken spirits...like the song says, "The WORLD is a Ghetto." Let's stop bickering among ourselves and try to build a better place for tomorrow's youth...Democrats? Republicans? Tea Party members? Independents? Leaders?"

**
8. Kelvin Spence
"with cop killings,families hungry,brothers killing brothers tell me the world is'nt a ghetto"

**
9. Talan Shepherd
"This is so true, around the world as a whole."

**
10. Kyree Smith (ree)
"The world is a ghetto. They never lied. Just Look around u"

**
11. Floyd Williams
"If you are not a part of the 1% Powers That Be Or The Illuminati then yes, for you and for me, The World Is A Ghetto."

**
Reply
12. Will, Follower of Jesus1 year ago
"cuz the one percenters own half the entire globe's wealth. So, yeah. Duh."

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13. Ronald Charles Epstein
"The world looks desperate if one is poor."

**
14. TBmuch
"Even more true today I believe than then. Love the beat, lyrics."

**
15. Charles Starr
"Just watching the news and this song came to mind..."

**
16. Roger Hyam
"Ghettos are always relative. Ghettos within ghettos. Ultimately we are all in ghetto earth so let's get along and make it a beautiful place to live."

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2015
17. Tim Mayfield
"The sound, the voices , the music...
"So True"
In 2015 The World is Still A Getto"

**
18. Jamie Warrior Warlord McCallum
"nice track a classic nice jam, and the whole world is a ghetto, and well all our streets are tough and hard through out the world, well you might live in a quiet street but something will happen in that street one day, we all have to protect ourselves and help each other."

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19. one new yorker
"Afro cuban new yorky funk to the 10th power."

**
20. maltaillon
"It was where I grew up! Compton, Ca. 1958-1970!!!!!!"

**
Reply
21. Gio Mf
"Compton right here. We still bumping this 90's kid here"

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22. ray hanks
"damn this is great!!!,,,oh btw,, the world truly Is a ghetto, It is what it is baby,, we all in the same business,,,, Survival , howEVA !!!"

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23. stephen lawson
"Canonball Aderle said a' its rough and tough in this Ghetto and a lot of funny stuff going on but you've gotta walk tall"."

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2016
24. MrOldskoolmusiclvr62
"I can personally relate to this song because I too & many Others were all born in The Ghettos across Urban America as I say Unto you from One Brother to Another, It Ain't Easy being Black in America! Also My Older Sister had this Album in Her collection back in The day, Oh Yes I truly remembered when She bought That Album & brought it Home & cranked it up!"

**
25. Jorgemanuel Garciabravo
"TO ALL ORIGINALS GOING HARD NATURALLY AT 12"

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Visitor comments are welcome.