Songfacts®:

• Jamel Bousbaa, known professionally as Potter Payper, is a rapper of British-Irish and Algerian heritage. During this heartfelt track, he reflects on his troubled childhood on the Gascoigne Estate in Barking, London, and the sacrifices he's made.
  
  Payper describes "Gangsteritus" as "an affliction where one feels the need to live a lie. That lie is a life that only ends one way, and that's with the afflicted demise." I've suffered with it since before I care to remember. Broken homes, social services, young offenders institutes, mental health, Her Majesty's prison services and the police themselves have disrespected, neglected and ultimately infected us."
• South London-Tanzanian singer Tiggs Da Author croons the hook. Tiggs previously collaborated with Nines on his UK Top 75 singles "Oh My" and "NIC."
• Scottish producer Show N Prove supplied the instrumentation. He's also worked with KSI ("Keep Up") and Anne-Marie ("Do It Right").
• At first, Payper disliked the track, but when Show N Prove hired a live band to play around the vocals, his attitude changed. "I've never heard my song sound like that," he told Complex. "Sonically, it's crazy."
  
  After the addition of a live band, Payper wrote his spoken word piece about gangsteritus, giving the song a new lyrical depth and fresh meaning.
• Payper recorded "Gangsteritus" for Thanks For Waiting, his first mixtape after signing to Def Jam. It gave him his second Top 10 on the UK albums chart, peaking at #8.
• Potter Payper and Tiggs Da Author performed "Gangsteritus" for Apple Music's The Agenda Live video series on December 21, 2021. Speaking about his performance, Payper said: "I want people to look past my past, help me accept my future and never look back. Everyone has to sacrifice something to progress to the next stage."
• In April 2022, "Gangsteritus" became Payper's first song to reach the UK Top 40 after its use at the end of Netflix's Top Boy series 2.
• British filmmaker Shan Phearon directed the music video, which features Potter in the passenger seat of a glowing 1992 Volkswagen Golf MK1 flatbed truck driven on a long, dark road. The clip uses innovative UV drone light technology.
  
  Phearon also shot the video for Tiggs Da Author's Nines featuring track "Fly Em High."
• Potter Payper dropped "Gangsteritus Part 2" on April 22, 2022. A new version of "Gangsteritus," featuring a laid-back verse from Nines, it was Nines' first new music since being released from prison on March 24, 2022. He'd served six months after pleading guilty to trying to import £280,000 of weed into Britain.