Evolution of Ghetto House

History

In Chicago during the mid-90s, house DJs started mixing up their sets with southern rap and Miami booty bass, giving birth to ghetto house. The resulting sound was stripped down Chicago house with a raw and gritty edge, and, often, totally over-the-top lyrics exemplified by DJ Assault’s “Ass N Titties” and Mr De’s “Sex on the Beach”. The genre fell into obscurity until a revived version that was harder, grittier, and bassier emerged in the 2010s courtesy of artists like Destructo, Amine Edge & DANCE, Malaa and NuKid.

Influences

1990s ghetto house started out as a more explicit version of Chicago house similar to American hip house. While the genre borrows aspects of techno and electro, one of its main defining features is its stripped-down, rhythm-centric arrangement. Modern ghetto house also takes cues from dubstep and trap, often offsetting classic Chicago house beats with trap-inspired bridges.

Sound

Ghetto house features bass-heavy drops and rhythm patterns with intricate hi-hat fills that often come straight out of trap music. Pitched-down rap lyrics and bass riffs are complemented with white noise, metallic reverb, and sometimes obnoxious sirens and synth stabs.

Jammin The House Gerald – “Pump That Shit Up”

Chicago, 1997

“Pump That Shit Up” by Jammin Jerald features a frantic, pounding four-on-the-floor uptempo beat with trademark lyrics over stripped down production.

Destructo – “Higher”

Washington DC, 2013

“Higher” has a deep bass sound with a really basic drum beat.

Amine Edge & DANCE – “Halfway Crooks”

Marseille, 2013

French stars Amine Edge & DANCE produce a stripped down track with wobbly bass that looks back on early incarnations of the genre, but on this track there’s a build and drop giving it a more modern house feel.