music.wikisort.org - Composition

"The World Is a Ghetto" is a song written and performed by War. The song was produced by Jerry Goldstein,[2]and was featured on their 1972 album The World Is a Ghetto.[3]

"The World Is a Ghetto"
Single by War
from the album The World Is a Ghetto
B-side	"Four Cornered Room"
Released	October 1972 (1972-10)
Genre	Funk psychedelic soul[1]
Length	3:59 (single version) 10:10 (album version)
Label	United Artists
Songwriter(s)	War
Producer(s)	Jerry Goldstein
War singles chronology
"Slippin' into Darkness" (1971) "The World Is a Ghetto" (1972) "The Cisco Kid" (1973)

Background

The single version radio edit was less than 4 minutes. The album version, nearly 11 minutes long, featured a third verse, a longer intro, a saxophone solo in the instrumental section, and an extended coda featuring an electric guitar solo while War repeatedly sang the song's title before the fade.

Chart performance

It reached #3 on the U.S. R&B chart and #7 on the U.S. pop chart in 1973.[4] It also reached the Top 40 in Canada.[5] The song ranked #94 on Billboard magazine's Top 100 singles of 1973.[6]

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
United States (RIAA)[7]	Gold	1,000,000^
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

Other charting versions

• Will Downing released a version of the song as a single in 1991 which reached #83 on the UK Singles Chart.[8]

Other versions

• Ahmad Jamal released a version of the song as a single in 1973, but it did not chart.[9]
• Charles Kynard released a version of the song on his 1973 album Your Mama Don't Dance.[10]
• James Moody released a version of the song on his 1973 album Sax & Flute Man.[11]
• Sonny Stitt released a version of the song on his 1973 album Mr. Bojangles.[12]
• George Shearing released a version of the song on his 1974 album The Way We Are.[13]
• George Benson released a version of the song as a single in 1977, but it did not chart.[14]
• The Sax Pack released a version of the song on their 2008 album The Sax Pack.[15]
• DJ Spinna released a version of the song on his 2009 compilation album The Boogie Back: Post Disco Club Jams.[16]
• The Paragons released a version of the song on their 2015 re-release of the album On the Beach with The Paragons.[17]
• Kandace Springs released a version of the song on her 2016 album Soul Eyes.[18]

Sampling

• War's version was sampled in the 1996 song "The World Is a Ghetto" by Geto Boys on their album The Resurrection.
• ASAP Mob, ASAP Nast and Method Man sampled the song of their 2013 single, Trillmatic.

References

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