Ghetto Ruff Records is an independent South Africa

South Africa

The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

n recording label specializing in kwaito

Kwaito

Kwaito is a music genre that emerged in Johannesburg, South Africa, during the 1990s. It is a variant of house music featuring the use of African sounds and samples. Typically at a slower tempo range than other styles of house music, Kwaito often contains catchy melodic and percussive loop samples,...

, hip hop

Hip hop

Hip hop is a form of musical expression and artistic culture that originated in African-American and Latino communities during the 1970s in New York City, specifically the Bronx. DJ Afrika Bambaataa outlined the four pillars of hip hop culture: MCing, DJing, breaking and graffiti writing...

, and rhythm and blues

Rhythm and blues

Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...

. Currently, Ghetto Ruff Records is home to some of South Africa's most prominent kwaito artists including Zola

Zola

Zola may refer to:People:* Zola , South African entertainer* Émile Zola , French novelist* Arlette Zola, Swiss singer* Calvin Zola , Congo DR footballer...

, Prophets of Da City

Prophets of Da City

Prophets of Da City is a hip hop crew from Cape Town, South Africa. They are composed of about eight members, though the exact membership fluctuates frequently; these include Ishmael Morabe , Mark Heuvel , Shaheen Ariefdien, Ramone and DJ Ready D. Their style uses elements of hip hop music,...

 (POC), and Ishmael

Ishmael

Ishmael is a figure in the Hebrew Bible and the Qur'an, and was Abraham's first born child according to Jews, Christians and Muslims. Ishmael was born of Abraham's marriage to Sarah's handmaiden Hagar...

.

History

Ghetto Ruff Records came to be in the late 1980s when Lance Stehr (current Managing Director of the label) formed the Cape Town based hip hop group, Prophets of Da City. POC did extremely well in South Africa as well as internationally. In many ways POC enabled Stehr to expand and grow the label into the premiere kwaito label in South Africa today. South Africa's R&B star Ishmael

Ishmael

Ishmael is a figure in the Hebrew Bible and the Qur'an, and was Abraham's first born child according to Jews, Christians and Muslims. Ishmael was born of Abraham's marriage to Sarah's handmaiden Hagar...

 was born out of POC and in 1996 he helped Ghetto Ruff Records enter the kwaito genre when the group Skeem of Waar was formed. Another product of POC was the acclaimed Afrikaans

Afrikaans

Afrikaans is a West Germanic language, spoken natively in South Africa and Namibia. It is a daughter language of Dutch, originating in its 17th century dialects, collectively referred to as Cape Dutch .Afrikaans is a daughter language of Dutch; see , , , , , .Afrikaans was historically called Cape...

 hop hop group Brasse Vannie Kapp. With this foundation, Stehr was able to discover and nurture numerous kwaito stars resulting in hundreds of thousands of record sales.

In addition to Stehr, the other directors and stakeholders are Zola

Zola

Zola may refer to:People:* Zola , South African entertainer* Émile Zola , French novelist* Arlette Zola, Swiss singer* Calvin Zola , Congo DR footballer...

, Ready D, and Kaybee.

In early 2006, mega kwaito star Pitch Black Afro

Pitch Black Afro

Pitch Black Afro is a South African Kwaito/Hip Hop MC from the Johannesburg township of Soweto. He found rapping a successful way to control his stutter, and commonly wears an Afro wig....

 left Ghetto Ruff Records to sign with rival record label Intyme Incl. This split is the source of strife between Ghetto Ruff and Pitch Black Afro chiefly over a promised final which Pitch Black supposedly owes to Ghetto Ruff.

Artists

• Amu
• Bongani
• Bravo
  Bravo (band)
  Bravo is a rock band founded in 1983 in Moscow, Russia by guitarist Evgueny Havtan.The band was one of the most popular acts in Russia in the 1980s, until the departure of original lead singer Zhanna Aguzarova , and has achieved success in later years with several different singers.- Studio albums...
  
  
• Brickz
• BVK : Brasse Vannie Kaap
• DJ Cleo
• Drencko
• Dub Vaults
• Gumshev
• Ishmael
  Ishmael
  Ishmael is a figure in the Hebrew Bible and the Qur'an, and was Abraham's first born child according to Jews, Christians and Muslims. Ishmael was born of Abraham's marriage to Sarah's handmaiden Hagar...
  
  
• Jozi
• Kyllex
• Malik
  Malik
  Malik is an Arabic word meaning "king, chieftain".It has been adopted in various other, mainly Islamized or Arabized, Asian languages for their ruling princes and to render kings elsewhere. It is also sometimes used in derived meanings...
  
  
• Mchangani
• Metswako
• Mgarimbe
• Morafe
• POC : Prophets Of Da City
• RJ Benjamin
• Skomplazi
• Slice
  Slice
  -Food:* A portion of bread, pizza, cake, or meat that is cut flat and thin, cf. sliced bread* Slice , a line of fruit-flavored drinks* Vanilla slice, a dessert* Mr. Slice, the mascot of Papa John's Pizza restaurant...
  
  
• Spykos
• Zola
  Zola
  Zola may refer to:People:* Zola , South African entertainer* Émile Zola , French novelist* Arlette Zola, Swiss singer* Calvin Zola , Congo DR footballer...