Ghetto Concept - History

History

Kwajo Cinqo (Kwajo Boateng) and Dolo (Lowell Frazier) formed Ghetto Concept in 1989, hailing from the Rexdale and Lawrence Heights neighbourhoods of Toronto. Their first single "Certified" was released in 1993, by independent label Groove-a-Lot Records. In 1995, they released "E-Z On Tha Motion", which introduced their newest member, Infinite (Desmond Francis). The group won Juno Awards in 1995 and 1996 for "Certified" and "E-Z On Tha Motion", respectively.

In 1995, Infinite's brother was murdered, and he left Ghetto Concept shortly after. Before he left, Ghetto Concept recorded a tribute to his brother entitled "Much Love", and it was released as a single and video in 1996. Infinite re-emerged as a solo artist in 1997, with the Juno-nominated track "Gotta Get Mine", featuring Divine Brown. Between 1997 and 1999, he released five singles, each of which were accompanied by a music video. In 1998, he released an EP, entitled 360 Degrees, which featured his previous singles. In 1999, he won a MuchMusic Video Award for "Take a Look". That year, he contributed three songs to the Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike game soundtrack. He also made an appearance in the film In Too Deep.

Ghetto Concept created 7Bills Entertainment in 1996. The remaining duo released their self-titled debut album Ghetto Concept in 1998, and released the singles "Krazy World" and "Precious Metals"; Sticky Fingaz was featured on the remix "Heavy Metals". Their most popular single was a 2001 remix of their track "Too Much", entitled "Still Too Much", which featured Maestro, Kardinal Offishall, Red-1, Ironside, and Snow. In 2002, they released a second album, Ghetto Concept Presents...7 Bills All-Stars: Da Album.

In 2005, Infinite was featured on a single by Maestro called "A Criminal Mind", which is a remake of rock singer Lawrence Gowan's 1985 single of the same name. He also appears in the music video with Maestro and Gowan.

Recently, Ghetto Concept has formed a new label called G7 Records. It appears they are also going by the moniker GC (short for Ghetto Concept), and they are planning to release an album, tentatively titled Times Up.

Kwajo Cinqo performed again with Ghetto Concept on March 29, 2011 at CBC's Hip-Hop Summit, along with fellow Canadian artists Maestro Fresh Wes, Michie Mee, and Dream Warriors at an event that was the first of its kind in Canada. The concert was staged at CBC's Glenn Gould Studio and hosted by CBC Radio 2. Additionally, the event was also highlighted in Love, Props and the T.Dot a documentary which was hosted by CBC Toronto's Dwight Drummond, with Kwajo Cinqo featured in the documentary.