"Gangsta's Paradise" is a single by American rapperCoolio, released on August 1, 1995,[3] byTommy Boy,Warner Bros. andMCA Records.InterpolatingStevie Wonder's song "Pastime Paradise" (1976), "Gangsta's Paradise" features vocals from American singerL.V., who served as a co-composer and co-lyricist with Coolio and Doug Rasheed, with Wonder also being credited for the composition and lyrics. Certified Platinum in October, the song was included on Coolio's second album,Gangsta's Paradise, in November 1995. Its music video was directed byAntoine Fuqua and featuredMichelle Pfeiffer. The song is taken from Pfeiffer's movieDangerous Minds, and the music video is also themed around the movie.
The song has sold over five million copies in the United States, United Kingdom, and Germany.[3][9][10] Coolio performed this song live at the 1995Billboard Music Awards with L.V. and Wonder, and at the38th Annual Grammy Awards with L.V.
Coolio, L.V. and Doug Rasheed composed "Gangsta's Paradise" and wrote its lyrics, with Rasheed also serving as the song's producer.[11]Stevie Wonder received crediting for the composition and lyrics due to the interpolation of his song "Pastime Paradise" from his 1976 albumSongs in the Key of Life.
The song begins with a line fromPsalm 23:4: "As I walk through the valley of the shadow of death", but then diverges with: "I take a look at my life and realize there's nothing left." Adding to some of the religious overtones are choral vocals in the background.[12] Coolio freestyled the first couple of lines, with the rest of the lyrics coming to him quickly in one sitting. He would later claim that the song ultimately came from a source outside himself, saying: "'Gangsta's Paradise' wanted to be born; it wanted to come to life, and it chose me as the vessel."[2]
The chorus of the song, "Been spending most their lives living in a gangsta’s paradise,” was created by L.V. by stacking the vocals many times to make it sound like a choir.[13]
Due to the sampling of Wonder's music, "Gangsta's Paradise" is one of the few Coolio tracks that did not contain anyprofanity, as Wonder did not appreciate his song being paired with it. Coolio said, "I had a few vulgarities... and he [Wonder] wasn't with that. So I changed it. Once he heard it, he thought it was incredible."[14]
In the United States, the single spent twelve weeks in the top two of theBillboard Hot 100, of which three were spent at No. 1 and nine at No. 2. The song was certified triple platinum by theRIAA on February 23, 1996, indicating 3 million copies sold.[3] It has sold a further 1.8 million downloads in the US in the digital era as of September 2017[update].[16] As of September 2022, the song had sold 1.9 million downloads in US and had accumulated 763.1 million streams.[17]
Following Coolio's death on September 28, 2022, "Gangsta's Paradise" debuted two days later at number 5 on the UK Official Singles Sales Chart Top 100,[18] and reentered theOfficial Singles Chart Top 100 on 7 October 2022 at number 55.[19]
Bill Lamb ofAbout.com described the song as "riveting and atmospheric".[11]James Masterton forDotmusic noted its "undoubted brilliance".[20]David Browne fromEntertainment Weekly felt it "may be the bleakest tune ever to top the pop singles chart". He added, "With its ghostly choir and lyrics about a gun-toting 23-year-old who kneels in the streetlight wondering if he’ll live to see 24, it examines the abyss with journalistic coolness."[21]Freaky Trigger praised it as "complete pop greatness".[22]Idolator called it a "rap rhapsody", naming it one of The 50 Best Pop Singles of 1995.[23]David Bennun fromMelody Maker wrote, "That single. F*** me, it's good. The slow pulse of strings, the heavenly choir. Puts me in mind of primeSisters of Mercy, of all things. Coursing at the rate of a slow heartbeat, point being, it's life as it is lived, it's in the blood. Like all the best rap, you feel the meaning, you sense it, before you even listen to the lyrics".[24] AnotherMelody Maker editor,Taylor Parkes, said, "An oddly reserved, frustratingly MEAGRE moment. Coolio is, generally speaking, among the lusher, more intriguing gangsta rappers... "Gangsta's Paradise" limps a bit. Nice ominous, looped choir. Fits a little too comfortably onAmerica's Top 10."[25]
Pan-European magazineMusic & Media commented, "Last year, this rapper hit paydirt witha reworking ofLakeside's "Fantastic Voyage". This time around, he pulls off the same trick with this tall tale founded onStevie Wonder's "Pastime Paradise". Unlike the original, which surprisingly never was a hit, this one was a US number 1 and has every chance of succeeding in Europe."[26] A reviewer fromMusic Week gave it four out of five, saying, "An infectious release fromGrammy-nominated rapper that challenges the assumed form of the genre. Number one in the US and could do big things here."[27][failed verification]Music Week editor Alan Jones deemed it "a brooding and menacing track".[28]Dele Fadele fromNME named it Single of the Week, writing, "And what a breathtaking doleful and melancholy record 'Gangsta's Paradise' is. [...] Stabbing strings, a keyboard drone, a massed gothic chorus of gospel voices and a beat ticking time to the bitter end, are all weaved together into this solemn theme tune".[29]
The accompanying music video for the song was directed by American film directorAntoine Fuqua and featuredMichelle Pfeiffer reprising her earlier role asU.S. MarineLouAnne Johnson in the movieDangerous Minds.[30] The video also includes scenes from the movie. Initially Coolio was concerned with the video's treatment stating, "I wanted somelow-riders and some shit in it; I was trying to take it 'hood'." Despite this, he trusted Fuqua and was ultimately pleased with the final result.[2]
For the music video, Coolio won theBest Rap Video at theMTV Video Music Awards in 1996. It was also nominated for Best Clip in the category for R&B/Urban at the 1995Billboard Music Video Awards.[31]
The music video hit one billionYouTube views in July 2022.[32]
In December 1995,NME ranked "Gangsta's Paradise" number 13 in its list of "NME Writers' Top 50 Singles of 1995".[33] In 1996, it was named Best Rap 12-inch at the International Dance Music Awards in Miami.[34] In 1999,The Village Voice ranked the song number four on its list of "Top Singles of the '90s". In 2008, it was ranked number 38 onVH1's "100 Greatest Songs of Hip Hop".[6] In 2009, it was ranked number 91 onEntertainment Weekly's "The 100 Greatest Summer Songs", saying, "SlinkyStevie Wonder samples and somber lessons about the price of a life of crime. If that doesn't screamsummer jam to you, then clearly you've never been a member of a violent gang or seenDangerous Minds...fool."[35] In 2012,NME ranked the song 100th in its list of "100 Best Songs of the 1990s".[7]
In 2019,Billboard magazine ranked it number 20 in its list of "Billboard's Top Songs of the '90s".[36] Same year,Stacker ranked it number 19 on its list of "Best 90s pop songs".[37] In July 2020, digital publicationThe Pudding carried out a study on the most iconic songs from the '90s and songs that are most known bymillennials and the people ofGeneration Z. "Gangsta's Paradise" was the song with the twelfth highest recognisability rate.[38] In October 2023,Billboard magazine ranked it 166th on its "500 Best Pop Songs of All Time".[8] The magazine praised its "magic moment"; "The song's climactic and heartbreaking final verse, when Coolio, born Artis Leon Ivey Jr., calls out, "They say I gotta learn, but nobody’s here to teach me/ If they can't understand me, how can they reach me? I guess they can't. I guess they won't … That's why I know my life is out of luck, fool." Same year,PureWow ranked it number two in their list of "The 53 Best 90s Songs of All Time".[39]
There are several parodies of the song, including "Amish Paradise" by"Weird Al" Yankovic, which was released the following year, reaching number 53 on the U.S. chart. Coolio claimed that he did not give permission for the parody, which led to disagreements between the two. Yankovic claimed that he had been told Coolio had given the go-ahead through his record label, and apologized. Because of this incident, Yankovic now seeks approval for song parodies through the artists themselves, rather than communicating through intermediaries. Coolio himself said in a 2011 interview that he had since "apologized to him (Yankovic)",[40] further stating in aRolling Stone retrospective that objecting to the parody "was probably one of the least smart things I've done over the years."[2]
L.V. released a solo version of the single in 1996 on his debut album,I Am L.V. This version did not feature Coolio, and featured additional lyrics written by L.V. himself, with rap lyrics written by Scarface and Dani Blooms.
* Sales figures based on certification alone. ^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. ‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. † Streaming-only figures based on certification alone.
^"Coolio :: Gangsta's Paradise :: Tommy Boy/Warner Bros".www.rapreviews.com.Archived from the original on August 29, 2011. RetrievedJune 12, 2021."Gangsta's Paradise" was an unlikely if engineered hit. A sample-driven g-funk number in the tradition of "Nuthin' But a G Thang," "Gin and Juice," and "Regulate," it features an inescapable hook, slow-burning groove, and general, broad-world philosophy from the perspective of an urban Californian.
^Foundas, Scott; Debruge, Peter; Chang, Justin (April 25, 2013)."3-View: 'Pain & Gain'".Variety.Archived from the original on October 13, 2022. RetrievedOctober 13, 2022.
^"ČNS IFPI". IFPI ČR. Note: Select SK SINGLES DIGITAL TOP 100 and insert 202239 into search.Archived from the original on December 17, 2021. RetrievedOctober 3, 2022.
^"1995 The Year in Music"(PDF).Billboard. Vol. 107, no. 51. December 23, 1995. p. YE-38.Archived(PDF) from the original on June 28, 2021. RetrievedAugust 27, 2021.
