The American Heritage College Dictionary defines the word "ghetto" in 3 different ways. 1) A section of a city occupied by a minority group who live there esp. because of social, economic, or legal pressure. 2) An often walled quarter in a European city to which Jews were restricted beginning in the Middle Ages. 3) Something resembling the restriction or isolation of a ghetto. However, with the ever emerging rap scene that is now so predominant in today's society, the word "ghetto" has now been changed and used as a positive word and often that of power and pride.
"No matter how far I've come, I still represent where I'm from. I'm ghetto." That's a line from Jermaine Dupri's song "Ghetto". As you can see he uses the word to represent who he is. The word has almost become that of a nationality. People refer to themselves as ghetto and often have a sense of pride about it, as you can witness by the lyrics. .
Another widely used new meaning for the word is when you refer it to an object. People will often say something is "ghetto" or even "ghetto fabulous". These words are meant in a positive way, saying that the object in reference is good, or nice.
Although the word has taken on many new positive meanings, the negative meanings are still apparent in today's society. When a car is old and run down, people will often refer to it as a "ghetto-mobile". Often people are called "ghetto" when they are acting different or "shady". One such song which exemplifies this is "Boughetto" by Murphy Lee. "She boughetto, that mean she bourgeois and ghetto. Bourgeois cuz her shoes alone cost a grand. Ghetto cuz she cuss too much and talks with her hands.".
As time moves along, different generations try to create their own identity, and one such way is by using their own slang words. Words such as "ghetto" are changed and altered to deal with today's ever changing times. However it is still rather strange how a word that used to hold so much pain can now be used as just another slang word in our language.