Ghetto House
House · 1995 · 128 to 140 BPM · also known as Booty House, Ghetto
Ghetto house is Chicago again, but from the South Side and West Side in the 1990s: raw, repetitive, obscene and joyful house music, pressed cheaply on the Dance Mania label. An 808 or 909, a chanted phrase looped over it, and a climbing tempo: dance music in the most literal sense, made for the footwork scene that would grow out of it. Its direct lineage runs through juke and then footwork itself. The records were made fast and cheap, often finished in an afternoon, favoring raw energy and functional repetition over polish, and that same rawness is precisely what later producers kept chasing.
11 reference tracks
- DJ Funk: Pump It (1995)
- Paul Johnson: Feel My M.F. Bass (1995)
- Jammin Gerald: Pump That Ass (1995)
- DJ Slugo: Wouldnt You Like To Be A Hoe Too (1996)
- DJ Deeon: Freak Like Me (1996)
- Brandon: Shades On (2021)
- Big Dope P: RDT (2021)
- Dr. Fresch: Bricks (2023)
- Poop Historian: Worlds Largest Poop (2023)
- AC Slater: Jack Got Jacked (Jack Beats Remix)
- DJ Funk: Work It
At a glance
- Tempo: 128 to 140 BPM
- First appeared: around 1995
- Machines: Roland TR-808, Roland TR-909
- The sound: Phrases vocales bouclées, Production volontairement brute
- Labels: Dance Mania, Relief, Booty Call
- Key artists: DJ Deeon, DJ Funk, Paul Johnson, DJ Milton, Parris Mitchell
Producing Ghetto House
Ghetto house runs 128 to 140 BPM, climbing from 130 in 1994 to 140 by 1998 as juke emerges, with a raw, mechanical, unswung feel, an 808 or 909 looping without humanization, its groove from the syncopation of the kick and vocal phrase rather than the drums. Build a four-on-the-floor kick with an extra syncopated hit, a very dry clap on 2 and 4, closed hats opening on the offbeats, and syncopated 808 toms foreshadowing juke, programmed with no humanizing. The bass is usually an 808 kick with a long decay tuned to the tonic, playing a two or three note syncopated line, sometimes the same sound as the kick, with no sidechain since the two blend, lightly saturated for grain. A looped, obscene vocal phrase and a simple minor stab complete the track, deliberately raw.
The full production course, in French: tempo, drums, bass, sounds, arrangement, mix, plugins and machines, and a step by step start.
Frequently asked
What is Ghetto House?
Ghetto house is Chicago again, but from the South Side and West Side in the 1990s: raw, repetitive, obscene and joyful house music, pressed cheaply on the Dance Mania label. An 808 or 909, a chanted phrase looped over it, and a climbing tempo: dance music in the most literal sense, made for the…
What tempo is Ghetto House played at?
Between 128 and 140 BPM.
Who are the key Ghetto House artists?
DJ Deeon, DJ Funk, Paul Johnson, DJ Milton, Parris Mitchell.
In the same family
- Chicago House
- Acid House
- Garage House
- Deep House
- Soulful House
- Lo-Fi House
- Hip House
- UK House
- Italo House
- Hard House
- Progressive House
- Disco House
Listen to Ghetto House in the atlas · Cette page en français
