"The Ghetto" is a socially conscious, mostly instrumental jazz-flavored anthem, released as the first single off American soul singer Donny Hathaway's debut album, Everything Is Everything, released as a single in 1969 on Atlantic Records.
The song was a 6-minute and 50 second extravaganza which built upon a cinematic feel with its lengthy instrumental though it did feature vocal ad-libs from Hathaway, who played Wurlitzer electronic piano on the song, and constant chants of the song's title.
The song also featured additional background dialogue from what sounds like men talking on a street corner and a baby crying – that baby being Hathaway's own daughter Lalah before Hathaway ended the song with frenetic hand claps.
When originally released in 1969, the song became a modest charted single, peaking at number 87 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 23 on the Billboard Hot Soul Singles chart.
Co-writer Leroy Hutson recorded a version of the song entitled "The Ghetto '74" for his album The Man!