View source for Ghettotech

{{short description|Genre of electronic music originating from Detroit}}
{{More citations needed|date=June 2014}}
{{Infobox music genre
| name              = Ghettotech
| stylistic_origins = {{hlist|[[Ghetto house]]|[[electro (music)|electro]]|[[Detroit techno]]|[[Miami bass]]}}
| cultural_origins  = Early–mid-1990s, [[Detroit]] and [[Chicago]], United States
| fusiongenres      =
| subgenrelist      =
| regional_scenes   = {{hlist|United Kingdom|Detroit|Chicago}}
| local_scenes      =
| other_topics      = 
}}
[[Image:GhettoTech DJs.JPG|thumb|300px|[[DJ Funk]] (left) with [[DJ Assault]] (right).|alt=]]

'''Ghettotech''' (also known as '''Detroit club''') is a genre of [[electronic dance music|electronic music]] originating from [[Detroit, Michigan|Detroit]].  It combines elements of Chicago's [[ghetto house]] with [[Electro (music)|electro]], [[Detroit techno]], and [[Miami bass]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-1002256635|title=Ghettotech and ghetto house {{!}} Grove Music|last=Mueller|first=Gavin|date=2014|website=www.oxfordmusiconline.com|language=en|doi=10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.A2256635|isbn=978-1-56159-263-0 |access-date=2020-01-15}}</ref>

==Overview==
Former Detroit music journalist for the [[Metro Times|''Detroit Metro Times'']], Hobey Echlin describes ghettotech as a genre that combines "techno's fast beats with rap's call-and-response."<ref>{{Cite book|title=Heaven was Detroit|last=Echlin|first=Hobey|publisher=Wayne State University Press|year=2016|isbn=9780814341223|editor-last=Liebler|editor-first=M.L.|location=Detroit|pages=368|chapter=Inner-City Blues: The Story of Detroit Techno}}</ref> It features [[four-on-the-floor]] rhythms and is usually faster than most other dance music genres, at roughly 145 to 160 BPM. Vocals are often repetitive, crude, and [[pornographic]]. As DJ Godfather puts it, "the beats are really gritty, really raw, nothing polished."<ref name="youtube">{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NGFpF6vCV18 |title=XLR8R TV Episode 13: Detroit Ghettotech |date=2007-08-14 |last=XLR8R |access-date=2024-11-22 |via=YouTube}}</ref>

Ghettotech was born as a DJing style in the late 1980s, inspired by the eclecticism of [[The Electrifying Mojo]] and the fast-paced mixing and turntablism of [[Jeff Mills|Jeff "The Wizard" Mills]]. DJs would mix multiple genres including [[oldschool jungle|jungle]], [[ghetto house]], [[hip hop music|hip hop]], [[Contemporary R&B|R&B]], [[Electro music|electro]] and [[Detroit techno]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title=Ghettotech: An Oral History|url=https://daily.redbullmusicacademy.com/2017/05/ghettotech-oral-history|access-date=2021-01-11|website=daily.redbullmusicacademy.com|language=en}}</ref><ref name="youtube" /> The music of [[2 Live Crew]] is also cited as influential to the genre.<ref name=":0" />

A Detroit ghettotech style of dancing is called the jit. This dance style relies heavily on fast footwork combinations, drops, spins and improvisations. The roots of jit date back to Detroit [[jitterbug]]s in the 1970s.<ref>{{Cite web
| url = https://www.vice.com/en/article/detroit-jit-jitterbugs-documentary-stringz/
| title = 2 Jit 2 Quit: In Search of Detroit's Street Dance Culture Past and Present
| website = NOISEY
| access-date = 2016-02-25
| date = 2014-05-28
}}</ref> Chicago's equivalent dance style is Juke, where the focus is on footwork dating back to the late 1980s.<ref name="youtube"/><ref>{{Cite thesis|title="Straight Up Detroit Shit": Genre, Authenticity, and Appropriation in Detroit Ghettotech|url=https://etd.ohiolink.edu/apexprod/rws_olink/r/1501/10?p10_etd_subid=48746&clear=10#abstract-files|publisher=Bowling Green State University|date=2007|language=en|first=Gavin C.|last=Mueller}}</ref>
[[File:Detroit Electronic Music Festival 2002 main stage after dark.jpg|thumb|Amidst the [[Detroit Electronic Music Festival]], Ghettotech has been able to maintain a regional staple for the event and proves to be persistent in its appearances.]]
Ghettotech was an integral part of the [[Detroit Electronic Music Festival]], an annual event. At this festival, Ghettotech serves to be between the techno and hip-hop scenes respectively and allow this younger audience into a side of electronic music not previously capable. This introduction of techno in a conventionally hip-hop centered festival allowed for otherwise unseen experiences for the festival-goers and allowed for more diverse experiences <ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-01-07 |title=Making Movement Music Festival A Family Affair |url=https://1051thebounce.com/2025/01/07/movement-festival-a-family-affair/ |access-date=2025-03-27 |website=1051thebounce.com |language=en}}</ref>and an in to a different branch of music entirely. As a genre, Ghettotech also proves to show the ability of genres to be ever-changing and the impact that location<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-04-14 |title=Ghettotech: A Detroit Love Story |url=https://officemagazine.net/ghettotech-detroit-love-story |access-date=2025-03-27 |website=Office Magazine |language=en}}</ref> can make on a genre as a whole as also seen through [[Swing music|Swing]], [[Ragtime]], and countless others that thrived on regional popularity.

==Key record labels==
*Twilight 76
*Databass
*Electrofunk
* Jefferson Ave
*Motor City Electro Company
* Intuit-Solar
* 666aline

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
{{Portal|Michigan|Music}}
* [http://www.stylusmagazine.com/articles/weekly_article/ghettotech-the-bluffers-guide.htm "Ghettotech, The Bluffer's Guide"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090609043657/http://www.stylusmagazine.com/articles/weekly_article/ghettotech-the-bluffers-guide.htm |date=2009-06-09 }} article at Stylus Magazine.
* [http://www.globaldarkness.com/articles/ghettotech1.htm "Ghettotech"] article at Global Darkness.
* [https://www.yumpu.com/en/document/view/29390472/ghetto-tech-ethan-brown "Ghetto tech"] by Ethan Brown article.
* {{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7yoEAAAAMBAJ&q=dj%2520assault%2520ghetto&pg=PA75 |title=CMJ New Music Monthly |date=December 2000 |publisher=CMJ Network, Inc. |language=en}}

==External links==

{{hiphop}}
{{House music-footer}}
{{Techno}}

[[Category:Music of Detroit]]
[[Category:Music of Chicago]]
[[Category:Bass (sound)]]
[[Category:House music genres]]