"Ghetto Heaven" is a song by American

soul The soul is the purported Mind–body dualism, immaterial aspect or essence of a Outline of life forms, living being. It is typically believed to be Immortality, immortal and to exist apart from the material world. The three main theories that ...

and R&B group

the Family Stand The Family Stand is an American soul and R&B group based in New York City, active since the late 1980s, consisting of Sandra St. Victor, Peter Lord Moreland, and Vernon Jeffrey Smith. Early career ''Chain'' brought them their international h ...

, released in 1990 by

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over the course of its first two decades, starting from the release of its first recor ...

as the group's debut single, from their second album, ''

Chain A chain is a serial assembly of connected pieces, called links, typically made of metal, with an overall character similar to that of a rope in that it is flexible and curved in compression but linear, rigid, and load-bearing in tension. A ...

'' (1989). The song features vocals by lead-singer Sandra St. Victor, who also co-wrote it, and was an international hit, peaking at number ten in the UK in April 1990. Eight years later, in January 1998, the song again charted on the UK Singles Chart, peaking at number 30. Additionally, it was a top-10 hit in Luxembourg and a top-20 hit in New Zealand. Its accompanying music video featured the group performing in an urban city setting. American band

Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam were a United States urban contemporary band and one of the first freestyle music groups to emerge from New York City in the 1980s. Cult Jam consisted of vocalist Lisa Lisa, born Lisa Velez, guitarist/ bassist Alex "Sp ...

sampled "Ghetto Heaven" on their 1991 hit "

Let the Beat Hit 'Em "Let the Beat Hit 'Em" is a song by American urban contemporary band Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam, released as the first single from their fourth and final studio album, ''Straight Outta Hell's Kitchen'' (1991). The song spent one week at number-one on ...

Chart performance

"Ghetto Heaven" charted in several countries, in both Europe and Oceania. In Luxembourg, it peaked at number nine in its second week on the

Radio Luxembourg Radio Luxembourg was a multilingual commercial broadcaster in Luxembourg. It is known in most non-English languages as RTL (for Radio Television Luxembourg). The English-language service of Radio Luxembourg began in 1933 as one of the earlies ...

singles chart in April 1990, after debuting at number 19. It then dropped to number 15, 17, 16, 14 and 16. In the Netherlands, it reached number 23 on

Dutch Top 40 The Dutch Top 40 () is a weekly music chart compiled by ''Stichting Nederlandse Top 40''. It started as a radio program titled "Veronica Top 40", on the offshore radio, offshore station Radio Veronica in 1965. It remained "The Veronica Top 40" ...

, while reaching number 22 on the

Single Top 100 The Dutch Single Top 100 or Single Top 100 is a Dutch chart, based on official physical single sales, legal downloads and since July 2013 streaming and composed by Dutch Charts. It is one of the three official charts, the other two being the Du ...

. In New Zealand, the song charted for eight weeks at the

Recorded Music NZ Recorded Music NZ (formerly the Recording Industry Association of New Zealand (RIANZ)) is a non-profit trade association of record producers, distributors and recording artists who sell recorded music in New Zealand. Membership of Recorded ...

singles chart, peaking at number 20 in its first week, on July 1, 1990. In the UK, "Ghetto Heaven" debuted at number 24 on the UK Singles Chart on March 25. It climbed to number 13, staying there for two weeks, then climbing to number 12, before peaking at number ten on April 22. It stayed at that position for two weeks, before dropping to number 12, 17, 19, 37 and 57. On the

Eurochart Hot 100 The European Hot 100 Singles was compiled by ''Billboard'' and ''Music & Media'' magazine from March 1984 until December 2010. The chart was based on national singles sales charts in 17 European countries: Austria, Belgium (two charts separately f ...

, the single reached its highest position as number 24 on May 12, 1990.

Critical reception

Andrew Hamilton from

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

commented, "The much ballyhooed 'Ghetto Heaven' attempts to capture the power of

Marvin Gaye Marvin Pentz Gaye Jr. (; April 2, 1939 – April 1, 1984) was an American Rhythm and blues, R&B and soul singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. He helped shape the sound of Motown in the 1960s, first as an in-house session player an ...

and

Curtis Mayfield Curtis Lee Mayfield (June 3, 1942 – December 26, 1999) was an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer. Dubbed the " Gentle Genius", he is considered one of the most influential musicians of soul and socially conscious Afric ...

in social significancy but has the impact of a

mosquitoe Mosquitoes, the Culicidae, are a family of small flies consisting of 3,600 species. The word ''mosquito'' (formed by '' mosca'' and diminutive ''-ito'') is Spanish and Portuguese for ''little fly''. Mosquitoes have a slender segmented body, ...

." Bill Coleman from ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' magazine stated, "This multitalented

outfit Clothing (also known as clothes, garments, dress, apparel, or attire) is any item worn on a human body. Typically, clothing is made of fabrics or textiles, but over time it has included garments made from animal skin and other thin sheets of ma ...

stands to win on its own terms this time out with an aggressively funky R&B track of considerable merit." He also named it "brilliant", and "music with a message" with a groove enhanced by mixes by

Jazzie B Trevor Beresford Romeo OBE (born 26 January 1963), better known as Jazzie B, is a British DJ and music producer. He is the founder of music collective Soul II Soul. Life and career Jazzie was born in London UK to parents of Antiguan descent ...

Nellee Hooper Paul Andrew "Nellee" Hooper (born 15 March 1963) is a British record producer, remixer and songwriter known for his work with many major recording artists beginning in the late 1980s. He also debuted as a motion picture music composer with Scot ...

Soul II Soul Soul II Soul are a British musical collective formed in London in 1988. They are best known for their two major hits; 1989's UK number five and US number eleven " Keep On Movin'", and its follow-up, the UK number one and US number four " Back to ...

Greg Sandow Greg Sandow (born June 3, 1943) is an American music critic and composer. Education Sandow is a graduate of Harvard University, with a bachelor's degree in government. He is also a graduate of Yale University, with a master's degree in compositi ...

from ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American online magazine, digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, ...

'' viewed it as "a look at how people use love, liquor, and religion to escape the troubles of life". A reviewer from ''

Music & Media ''Music & Media'' was a pan-European magazine for radio, music and entertainment. It was published for the first time in 1984 as ''Eurotipsheet'', but in 1986 it changed name to ''Music & Media''. It was originally based in Amsterdam, but later m ...

'' wrote, "A

hip-hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hi ...

number with a classic

vocal. Soul II Soul meets early 70s

Tamla Motown Motown is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. Founded by Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on January 12, 1959, it was incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau of ''motor'' ...

with a hint of

Chaka Khan Yvette Marie Stevens (born March 23, 1953), better known by her stage name Chaka Khan ( ), is an American singer. Known as the " Queen of Funk", her career has spanned more than five decades beginning in the early 1970s as the lead vocalist of ...

. Highly recommended." British magazine ''

Music Week ''Music Week'' is a trade publication for the UK record industry distributed via a website and a monthly print magazine. It is published by Future. History Founded in 1959 as ''Record Retailer'', it relaunched on 18 March 1972 as ''Music We ...

'' ranked the song number five in their Top 10 list 'Pick of the Year - Dance'. Carol Irving from ''

Smash Hits ''Smash Hits'' was a British music magazine aimed at young adults, originally published by EMAP. It ran from 1978 to 2006, and, after initially appearing monthly, was issued fortnightly during most of that time. The name survived as a brand ...

'' complimented it as "a brooding, deeply groovy work of genius" and "so brilliant". Frank Owen from ''

Spin Spin or spinning most often refers to: * Spin (physics) or particle spin, a fundamental property of elementary particles * Spin quantum number, a number which defines the value of a particle's spin * Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thr ...

'' described "Ghetto Heaven" as "Soul II Soul/'

Funky Drummer "Funky Drummer" is a song by James Brown recorded in 1969 and released as a single in 1970. Its drum break, Musical improvisation, improvised by Clyde Stubblefield, is one of the most frequently sampling (music), sampled music recordings. Recor ...

'-ish". Mitch Potter from ''

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part of Torstar's Daily News Brands (Torstar), Daily News Brands division. ...

'' remarked the "percolating

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African-American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African-Americans in the ...

" of the song, "a portrait of oppressive street life that describes three escape routes (drugs, love, religion)".

Track listing

* 7" single, UK #"Ghetto Heaven" (Remix Edit) #"Ghetto Heaven" (Original Version) * 12" single, Europe #"Ghetto Heaven" (Remix) — 4:55 #"Ghetto Heaven" (Original Version) — 4:00 #"Ghetto Heaven" (Original Version) — 4:51 * CD maxi, Europe #"Ghetto Heaven" (The Remix) — 4:50 #"Ghetto Heaven" (The Dub) — 4:50 #"Ghetto Heaven" (The Original) — 3:56

Charts

References

1990 songs 1990 debut singles 1998 singles Atlantic Records singles Songs written by Sandra St. Victor Acid jazz songs Soul songs {{1990s-Dance-song-stub