The ghetto can either make you, or break you and there have been many great people who were raised in the ghetto. We’re celebrating four old school songs by artists Stevie Wonder, Donny Hathaway, WAR & Curtis Mayfield who didn’t get broken by the ghetto and lived to tell the tales of it through song.

Village Ghetto Land by Stevie Wonder

Taken from his 1976 SONGS IN THE KEY OF LIFE album which all instruments were played by Stevie on this one; “Village Ghetto Land” has a twist. It talks about everything that happens in the ghetto with a sophisticated orchestral arrangement. So it’s like taking dirt and putting on the well decorated dining table. Look at some of the lyrics below.

“Families buying dog food now/ Starvation roams the streets/ Babies die before they’re born/ Infected by the grief. Now some folks say that we should be/ Glad for what we have/ Tell me would you be happy in Village Ghetto Land.”