Little Ghetto Boy

"Ghetto Boy"
"Ghetto Boy"
Single by Lalah Hathaway featuring Snoop Dogg and Robert Glasper
from the album Live
Released	January 22, 2016
Recorded	2015
Genre	R&B; hip hop;
Label	eOne Music
Songwriter(s)	Lalah Hathaway, Calvin Broadus Jr., Robert Glasper
Producer(s)	Terrace Martin
Lalah Hathaway singles chronology

"Little Ghetto Boy"
"Little Ghetto Boy"
Song by Donny Hathaway
from the album Live and Come Back, Charleston Blue
Released	February 1972
Recorded	1971
Genre	Soul
Label	Atlantic
Songwriter(s)	Earl DeRouen; Edward Howard;
Producer(s)	Jerry Wexler; Arif Mardin;

"Little Ghetto Boy" is a soul song composed by Earl DeRouen and Edward Howard, and first recorded in 1971 by Donny Hathaway for his 1972 Live album. The song also appeared on the Come Back, Charleston Blue soundtrack later that year, in studio quality.

Forty-three years later, the song was then covered by Hathaway's daughter Lalah Hathaway for her 2015 Live album. The cover was then remixed in January 2016 under the title "Ghetto Boy" with a guest appearance from Snoop Dogg and Robert Glasper, and was released via eOne Music.^[3]

Meaning

The song depicts the devastation of those underprivileged,^[1] while speaking^[3] about the courage and resilience in the state of struggle, inspiring one to rise above their circumstances.

Inspiration

When speaking on her cover version, Lalah Hathaway stated that the inspiration came from her father, saying: "The truth of the song rings the same today as it did forty years ago. The fact that I can deliver this truth with the same conviction my father felt all those years ago is extraordinary.^[3]"