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Ghetto Supastar (That Is What You Are)

"Ghetto Supastar (That Is What You Are)" is the hit single by American hip-hop artist Pras. The song appeared on his debut album, Ghetto Supastar released in 1998, and on the Bulworth soundtrack. It reached #15 in the U.S. It features Ol' Dirty Bastard and Mýa, who sings the chorus. In 1999 it was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group.

Chorus

The chorus is a slightly modified reworking of the chorus of the 1983 Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton hit "Islands in the Stream". The production is sampled from Love Unlimited Orchestra - Under the Influence of Love.

Music video

Francis Lawrence directed the video, which features actress Halle Berry and actors Warren Beatty and Oliver Platt. In a play on the theme of the film, which is a prominent white politician acting like an African-American, Bulworth (Beatty's character) in the music video actually begins to stretch his mouth, pulling his face off to show it's really a mask, and revealing himself to be Pras, who is really the first African-American U.S. president in disguise. Wyclef Jean also appears on the set playing the bass guitar riff at the end of the song. It was nominated for an MTV Video Music Award for Best Rap Video and Best Video from a Film. Another three nominations on the 1998 Billboard Video Music Awards for Best New Artist Clip (Pop), Best New Artist Clip (Rap), and Best New Artist Clip (R&B/Urban). It won an 8th Annual MVPA Award in 1999.

Cultural references

This song was used in "Weird Al" Yankovic's polka medley, "Polka Power!" from his album Running with Scissors. The song was also one of the anthems of "Tenerife '98".

In 2001, the Bee Gees released a version of "Islands in the Stream" on a greatest hits compilation in which the chorus from "Ghetto Supastar" replaces the last chorus of the song.

Credits

"Ghetto Superstar" written by P. Michel, W. Jean, R. Jones, B. Gibb, M. Gibb, R. Gibb, J. Brown, B. Byrd, R. Lenhoff
Contains an interpolation of "Islands In The Stream" by The Bee-Gees and samples "Get Up, Get Into It, Get Involved" by James Brown
Taken from the soundtrack of Bulworth

Engineered by Chris Theis and Phil Blackman
Soundtrack executive producer: Karyn Rachtman

Original sound recordings owned by Interscope Records
Universal Music (UK) Ltd. are exclusive licensees for the UK
Distributed by BMG Records (UK) Ltd.

Pras appears courtesy of Refugee Camp Entertainment / RuffHouse / Columbia Records
ODB appears courtesy of Elektra Entertainment Group
Mýa appears courtesy of University Music Entertainment / Interscope

Charts

Chart	Position
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	15
U.S. US R&B / Hip-Hop	8
U.S. Hot Rap Singles	16
UK Top 75	2
Radio & Records Airplay - Pop	24
Radio & Records Airplay - Urban	6
Radio+Records Airplay - Rhythmic	2
Rhythmic Top 40	2
Hot Latin Tracks	37
Top 40 Mainstream	21
Canada Top 50	4
UK Top 40 R&B	1
Australia Top 100	2
Eurochart Hot 100	1
French Top 100	1
Germany Top 100	1
Tokio Hot 100	24
Sweden Top 60	2
Top selling UK singles Jan.1990 - Dec.1999	68
UK 1998 single end of the year chart	9