INTERVIEWER: Congratulations on winning the Pioneer Award at the 2024 MOBOs. That must have been a significant moment for you.
Ghetts: Thank you. It definitely felt like a landmark, a checkpoint in my career. Something inspiring to leap off, towards something else. I was gonna go up [to collect the award] by myself, but I just looked at my parents and went, “Mum, do you wanna come up?” I knew that maybe if my mum didn’t come up with me, I would regret that later in life. It’s something amazing to look back on.
INTERVIEWER: Let’s dive into your new album, On Purpose, With Purpose. The sequencing feels very deliberate. What was your approach?
Ghetts: I always want the music to feel like a movie, to provide the listener with a unique understanding of my thought processes or what’s going on in my life. Once again, I got my longtime collaborator and friend TJ Amadi on the sequencing. He knows me beyond the music, which is important when we’re working together. Sometimes, we work off assumptions of how somebody might be, but it’s often far from the truth.
INTERVIEWER: The first eight tracks of the album seem like a continuation of Conflict of Interest, but then things take a different turn. How do you see the relationship between the two albums?
Ghetts: There’s definitely a connection between them. I never stopped recording after Conflict of Interest. I was in the studio when it was at Number 2, already working on new music. But I didn’t want to recreate Conflict of Interest; I wanted to do something different that told a new story and was sonically distinct. It’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking, “Let’s do that again, it worked,” but creatively, that’s a dangerous place to be.
INTERVIEWER: Where does your drive to create cohesive bodies of work come from?
Ghetts: It comes from listening to great albums before I even started my own career. The album was the pinnacle back then, before the singles era took over. It was all about creating a cohesive body of work that showed different emotions and sides of the individual. I’m talking about albums like Dr Dre’s The Chronic, 50 Cent’s Get Rich or Die Trying, and Jay Z’s The Blueprint.
INTERVIEWER: The album closes with two deeply emotive tracks, ‘Street Politics’ ft. Tiggs da Author and ‘Jonah’s Safety’ ft. Pip Millet. Could you share the story behind the latter?
Ghetts: ‘Jonah’s Safety’ came about one day when I was moving from room to room at the studio. My long-time collaborator and friend Reiss Nicholas played me a loop, and within the first minute, I had the first two lines. I knew there was a powerful concept there, but I wanted to be respectful. Postnatal depression is a hard topic for a man to fully grasp. I’m probably just scratching the surface, as much as a male could understand, but I wanted to push my writing to a new place.
INTERVIEWER: You mentioned feeling like UK rap has been in a “safe space” lately. How did that influence your approach to this album?
Ghetts: I’ve felt like, for the last few years, rap has been very safe. There’s this mentality of “This is cool, this is what works.” I wanted to be more fearless, to talk about something real without making it sound super preachy or boring.
INTERVIEWER: ‘Double Standards’ strikes that balance well. There’s a line that stands out: “Steve Jobs won’t let his children use an iPad / And my kids think that I’m bad, mad.” How do you prepare your kids for the world?
Ghetts: I’m still learning. With my 11-year-old, I try to have conversations with her rather than just telling her things. I explain why I think a certain way and ask her what she thinks. Kids are much brighter and more alert than we give them credit for. Their brains are like sponges; they absorb everything.
INTERVIEWER: You recently donated the video budget for ‘Laps’ to your local athletics club in Newham. How has the area changed since you grew up there?
Ghetts: Newham’s changed a lot. It’s aesthetically different, but the vibe has also shifted. It’s a much darker place now. If I’m in a position to help, I want to help. We need to adopt that attitude more. The system isn’t broken; it’s working just fine for those it’s meant to work for. We’ve been divided by race and religion, arguing among ourselves while the rich get richer. My approach is simple: Let’s help ourselves.
INTERVIEWER: You’ve talked about the strangeness of only gaining widespread appreciation 15 or 16 years into your career. What are the benefits of that wait?
Ghetts: The saying “the cream always rises to the top” applies here. My career is a testament to consistency. Maybe I was just ahead of my time, and people needed time to catch up. That’s fine because everything is as it should be, and it all happens when it’s meant to.
INTERVIEWER: One thing that marks you out as an artist is how you use your voice as an instrument. How did you develop that skill?
Ghetts: It came from studying great singers and instrumentalists. I looked at my voice and thought, “How can I push this?” Just like a singer can change keys, why can’t I do that with my voice? In the studio, I push myself. I’ll do a verse 100 times, not because it’s not good, but because there are 1,000 ways to say it that the listener could appreciate.
INTERVIEWER: Your vocal tone on this album feels calmer. What led to that change?
Ghetts: My tone has definitely changed. I’m working with that, going through the gears. I feel like I’ll find a new version of Ghetto at some point, with the same rage but more beauty in the sound. I’m still figuring it out. ‘Laps’ is the closest I got to that on this album — it’s got that energy but is still sonically pleasing.
INTERVIEWER: You’re heading on tour at the end of March. How are you feeling about it?
Ghetts: I’m just starting to think about the tour now, putting together the show in my head. We’ve got big shoes to fill after the Roundhouse on the last tour, but we’re gonna do it. It’s gonna be amazing because of the time and effort we’re putting into it.
INTERVIEWER: Ghetts’ new album On Purpose, With Purpose is out now. Thanks for your time today.
Ghetts: Thank you.