Justin Clarke, better known by his stage name Ghetts (formerly Ghetto), is a British grime MC, rapper and songwriter from Plaistow, London with Caribbean roots from Jamaica and Grenada.

I first came across Ghetts on Stormzy's Bad Boys from his first album Gang Sings & Prayers featuring J Hus as well. It takes a lot to take the shine from an artist with a feature but that's exactly what Ghetts did. I listened to that song on repeat just to hear Ghetts' verse. From there I went and looked him up. I admit I was very late getting into grime. The popularity of Stormzy was my entry point and I know a lot of purists will find fault with that but we all come in through different gates but at the end of the day we're all in the same location. When we talk about the best grime artists, the hardest lyrical dons of the game, don't put any name above Ghetts. I did my research and went through everything Ghetts put out, I was addicted. Ghetts has some very complicated rhyme schemes and hard hitting lyrics, a man with a pen that is GOATED and constantly on fire.

Conflict of Interest is Ghett's third studio album released on February 19, 2021. A lot of people have said this is the album that launched Ghetts out of the shadow of his more popular peers but anyone who knows anything will tell you he's been the sun casting shadows on them. The album covers a range of topics in his life from stealing cars as a young man, love found and lost, the tit-for-tat life on road, Ghetts walks us through moments of his life whilst still blowing our minds with the way he spits like no one else. A storyteller on a song, something we so desperately lack these days, Ghetts has given us an album that mixes strings, horns and beats with lyrical content we've come to love and expect from him.

The album is full of big names with the likes of Skepta, Stormzy, Dave, Wretch 32 and Giggs to name a few. Also, huge shoutout to Backroad Gee, the best energy to come out in ages in my eyes.

The album opens with Fine Wine, easily one of the best opening tracks I've heard on a rap album. Here, Ghetts is reminding everyone of who the fuck he is. The first track in an album is probably the most important song in my opinion. It sets the tone for what the album will be like. It needs to hit hard, be engaging and open the story you're trying to tell.

"Rudeboy, I'm the certiest
A thank you ain't enough for my services".

He takes us on a journey through the past of his struggles to get to the point where he is now, the setbacks that strengthened him and brought about the come up.

"I drive back to the housе I struggled in
(What was that like?)
The one bed with a bathroom, the kitchen in the front room
My front room had a oven in
We was suffering (we was suffering)
Still loading, just buffering"

As the song progresses, he tells us exactly who the fuck he is. This is a man that has been in the game for years and a lot of people seemed to forget just how serious man is. He makes sure to remind us all just who Ghetts is and speaks his shit loud and proud.

"'Llow me please
Just crown me please
Furthermore, I love converting the non-believers
So, yeah, go ahead and doubt me, please
All they do is talk about drip
Ooh, don't drown me, please
I've had you here for way too long now
Hear the rest of the album please (album please)"

Mozambique is the second song on the album and the first single he released from the album. It features Jaykae and Moonchild Sanelly.

Yo, what's wrong with these neeks?
Man can't tell me about these streets
Man never grew up near no damn beach
Mans got shooters from Mozambique
Shoot off nose and beak
So you lot roll in peace

This is such a unique song. It opens with Ghetts delivering a powerful monologue backed by string instrumentals and swelling backing vocals before smoothly transitioning into a smooth beat and lyrics.

I have to give special mention to Moonchild Sanelly. It's great to see our South African Queen on a record like this. Her work on the chorus flows so well and I wasn't expecting this feature but let me tell you, it's brilliant hearing some xhosa vocals where you weren't expecting them.

"Umnqundu wamapolisa sana
Ndithe umnqundu wamapolisa"

When I say this album is full of hard tracks with intense lyrical content, I'm not saying anything anyone didn't already expect when they put this on. Ghetts and Skepta bring us black excellence and impeccable flow in IC3.

"Look in the mirror, I see king, I see me
I see who? I see what? IC3"

Any song where we get to hear Skepta is a real treat and it feels like in this one he's unchained and delivering hard lyrics with incredible venom and conviction

"I feel like I'm born again
Me and Ghetts on the track and it's feeling like the rooftop all again
Yeah, we're firing that corn again
Get the toe tags and the bodybags in
Soon as they told me about the power that came with the black skin
Unlocked it, then I tapped in
Alchemist, when I feel the pressure I make diamonds
I cannot stop getting the racks in"

Ghetts gives us one of the best set of bars I've heard that really showcase the mind of strong black man seeing past the bullshit that modern Britain tells a young black person

"Don't tell me go back where I came from
While the queen sits there in stolen jewels
Cool, I'll go back with a chain on
And light up the place like Akon

Autobiography is a song that charts the journey of Ghetts, from his beginnings in Nasty Crew which was massive in it's time with names like Kano, Jammer and D Double E to name a few, and paints a picture of how and why he became the great he is today.

The song opens with a monologue about him as a young child, a sure sign he was destined for greatness.

"I remember when Justin was around three, we were at a church concert
After watching one of the performances
I turned away for a moment, when I looked up
Justin, my three-year-old
Had managed to find himself on stage
In front of thousands of people
As if he was ready to perform next
From that moment
I knew Justin would be headin'
For platforms bigger than that stage
I knew he would stand tall in this world"

As someone who loved Ghetts and what he had to offer from the first time I heard him, I love this album. With the so many great artists giving us excellent music these days, I appreciate that not only is he still giving us music after all these years but also that it doesn't feel aged or laboured. Ghetts gives us an album that can rival anything out here at the moment and cements his place in the history of Grime. His crown never fell, it's firmly on his head still.