The accompanying music video for the song was directed by Antoine Fuqua and featured Michelle Pfeiffer reprising her earlier role in Dangerous Minds. It has sold a further 1.8 million downloads in the US in the digital era as of September 2017. The song was certified triple platinum by the RIAA on February 23, 1996, indicating 3 million copies sold. 2, putting "Gangsta's Paradise" in joint fourth place for the most weeks spent at No. In the United States, the single spent twelve weeks in the top two of the Billboard Hot 100, of which three were spent at No. In the United Kingdom, "Gangsta's Paradise" is the first rap single to sell over a million copies. Following Coolio's appearance on Celebrity Big Brother 6, it re-entered the UK singles chart peaking at No. 1 for 14 weeks, a record that would be broken 22 years later by Ed Sheeran's " Shape of You". The single reached number one in the United States, United Kingdom, Ireland, France, Germany, Italy, Sweden, Austria, Denmark, Netherlands, Norway, Switzerland, Australia, and New Zealand, making it Coolio's most successful single. Number one in the US and could do big things here." The magazine's Alan Jones deemed it as "a brooding and menacing track". Unlike the original, which surprisingly never was a hit, this one was a US number 1 and has every chance of succeeding in Europe." A reviewer from Music Week rated it four out of five, adding, "An infectious release from Grammy-nominated rapper that challenges the assumed form of the genre. This time around, he pulls off the same trick with this tall tale founded on Stevie Wonder's Pastime Paradise. Pan-European magazine Music & Media commented, "Last year, this rapper hit paydirt with a reworking of Lakeside's Fantastic Voyage. Mike Wood from Idolator called it a "rap rhapsody". David Browne from Entertainment Weekly said 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." Tom Ewing of Freaky Trigger declared it as "complete pop greatness". James Masterton for Dotmusic noted "the undoubted brilliance" of the track. Critical reception īill Lamb from described the song as "riveting and atmospheric". Once he heard it, he thought it was incredible." This song is written in the key of C minor. Coolio said, "I had a few vulgarities.and he wasn't with that. 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." ĭue to the sampling of Stevie Wonder's music, "Gangsta's Paradise" is one of the few Coolio tracks that does not contain any profanity, as Wonder didn't appreciate his song being paired with profanity.
Coolio freestyled the first couple of lines, with the rest of the lyrics coming to him quickly in one sitting. The song begins with a line from Psalm 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 nothin' left." Adding to some of the religious overtones are choral vocals in the background. The artists co-wrote the song with their producer Doug Rasheed, with Stevie Wonder receiving writing credits for the sampling of his song " Pastime Paradise" from his album Songs in the Key of Life. and Wonder and at the 38th Annual Grammy Awards with L.V.
Coolio performed this song live at the 1995 Billboard Music Awards with L.V. The song has sold over five million copies in the United States, United Kingdom, and Germany. The song was voted as the best single of the year in The Village Voice Pazz & Jop critics' poll. Coolio was awarded a Grammy for Best Rap Solo Performance, two MTV Video Music Awards for Best Rap Video and Best Video from a Film and a Billboard Music Award for the song/album. NME listed the song at number 100 in their ranking of "100 Best Songs of the 1990s" in 2012. In 2008, it was ranked number 38 on VH1's 100 Greatest Songs of Hip Hop. The song was listed at number 85 on Billboard 's Greatest Songs of All Time and was the number one biggest-selling single of 1995 on U.S. It samples the chorus and instrumentation, and includes some of the lyric of Stevie Wonder's 1976 song " Pastime Paradise". The song was released on Coolio's second album of the same name (1995), as well as the soundtrack for the 1995 film Dangerous Minds. " Gangsta's Paradise" is a song by American rapper Coolio, featuring American singer L.V.
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