The hip hop-inspired song was written by American singer and songwriter Lana Del Rey, Roy Kerr and Anu Pillai, with production helmed by the latter two under the name Kid Gloves.
Music critics were divided in their response to "Ghetto Baby", stating that the track is a highlight on the album, despite Cole sounding too much like Del Rey.
An accompanying music video was directed by Rankin, and features Cole and her then boyfriend and back-up dancer Tre Holloway indulging in a public display of affection while performing the track.
[7] Written by Elizabeth Grant, Roy Kerr and Anu Pillai, the song's lyrics were considered by Laurence Green of musicOMH "classic Lana Del Rey"; a beat-heavy number "woven from kisses, stilettos and sultry speak-singing,"[8] with lines such as "When he's bad he's bad / But when he's good no one's better / Cos we're a match made in heaven / And this kind of love's forever.
"[14] Elena Gorgan of Softpedia considered "Ghetto Baby" a solid song, despite being "less dance-inspired" than the other tracks on the album, "which could mean it never sees the light of day as a single.
"[15] When reviewing A Million Lights, Alexis Petridis said the song "is actually the handiwork of Lana Del Rey, who, in a volte-face designed to confound critics who've noted that all her songs are about exactly the same thing – doomed love for a beautiful bad boy on the run – has alighted on the radical new topic of her doomed love for a beautiful bad boy on the run.