Ghetto White and his passion for music

Saturday, January 29, 2011

MUSIC ... music ... Who doesn't love it? Even babies inside the womb of their mothers love to listen to it. But let's face it, not everyone is gifted with nice voices. Though there are a few who are given not only with golden voices but also with kind hearts.

And Mr. Monte Carl Luttrell is one of them.

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Mr. Luttrell, popularly known by his nickname Ghetto White, is an American who loves music and composes songs that would literally send us into a contemplative mood. He has been traveling from his hometown in California to Cagayan de Oro to share his talent in music and give his album to those who care to listen to his compositions - for free.

Just recently, he is here in the city again to meet some old friends and talk about his earlier plan of putting up a recording studio for Kagay-anons who have talents in music.

For the years that Mr. Luttrell lives in Cagayan de Oro, he admits he loves the city and its culture, which pushes him to compose the song "Cagayan de Oro," one of the cuts from his international album titled "Love for the World" that he launched here in June last year.

Other cuts in the album include the songs "Beauty I'm Your Beast," "Time Heals the Pain," "Asian Girl," "Angel From Above," "Sara," "Can't Be Just Friends," "Won't Get To Heaven," "Pretty Girl" and "Cagayan."

Mr. Luttrell recorded his album at his Ghetto White Recording Studio in California under Luttrell Universal Sounds Inc.

CAGAYAN DE ORO. Monte Luttrell a.k.a Ghetto White (right) with Filipino boxing champ Manny Pacquiao at the Congressman's office in Manila. (Contributed photo)

A pop singer by heart, Mr. Luttrell gets fascinated with the Filipino culture as he considers himself as one. In fact, he is a fan of boxing champion Manny Pacquiao, now a representative of Sarangani province.

Proof of his being a fanatic of Pacquiao is the song he personally composed for him, titled "Super Pac Man."

"The song talks about Manny Pacquiao as the world's greatest, the Superman of the Philippines," says Ms. Luttrell, a brother of Guitar King Jimmy Luttrell.

His being a die-hard fan pushed him to fly to Manila from his home in California to meet Pacquiao and personally give him a copy of the song, against his doctor's advice.

"I recently had a heart attack and had undergone my second heart operation. But I traveled to the Philippines against my doctor's advice just to give a copy of the song to Manny Pacquiao," he shares. All in all, he had had 17 heart attacks and two major heart operations. But that didn't stop him from pursuing his commitment to share his music to Filipinos.

Mr. Luttrell says he met Pacquiao at his office at the House of Representatives after more than 10 hours of waiting.

But he says the boxing champ is worth the wait as the latter promised to listen to the song and give his comments when he returns from his trip abroad soon.

"But I'm sure he would like the song," Mr. Luttrell says.

The 59-year-old pop singer also did a little revision of his song "Cagayan de Oro" and mentioned Pacquiao in it, another proof of his penchant for the country's boxing icon.

Hardships

Becoming a pop singer is not all glory to Mr. Luttrell, having born and raised in Easter Hill in the east bay area of Northern California where he often rub elbows with gangsters, addicts and robbers.

He admits he was once a gangster, a robber, drug user and dealer, and was involved in motorcycle gang activities after being constantly exposed to "bad elements" in his neighborhood.

"In the neighborhood where I was raised, there were vicious beasts and murderers who were black. They hated me because I am white. I grew up very poor. My father died when I was 12 years old. I supported myself. I have no model, no teacher, no father figure to follow. I was exposed to bad people because we were poor and my mother was not strong enough to control me," he once shares.

Mr. Luttrell says he was once a multi-million dollar drug lord. He served 17 years in federal prison and attended a 60-day therapeutic drug program.

"But that was a thing of the past. Now I'm trying to help talented Kagay-anons shine. I hope to share my music with them," he says.

With his passion for music paired with his commitment and kind heart, Mr. Luttrell is definitely a welcome figure in the city's music industry.