"Gangsta's Paradise" is a single by American rapper

Coolio Artis Leon Ivey Jr. (August 1, 1963 – September 28, 2022), known by his stage name Coolio, was an American rapper. He was best known for his single "Gangsta's Paradise" (1995), which won a Grammy Award, and was credited for changing the cours ...

, released on August 1, 1995, by Tommy Boy,

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and MCA. Interpolating

Stevie Wonder Stevland Hardaway Morris (; Judkins; born May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American and Ghanaian singer-songwriter, musician, and record producer. He is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th c ...

's song " Pastime Paradise" (1976), "Gangsta's Paradise" features vocals from American singer L.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 by

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and featured

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. The song is taken from Pfeiffer's movie ''

Dangerous Minds ''Dangerous Minds'' is a 1995 American drama film directed by John N. Smith, written by Ronald Bass, and produced by Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer. It is based on the 1992 autobiography ''My Posse Don't Do Homework'' by retired U.S. Mar ...

'', and the music video is also themed around the movie. The song was the top-selling single of 1995 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and the first rap single ever to go straight to number one in Britain. In 2008, it was ranked number 38 on

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's "100 Greatest Songs of Hip Hop". ''

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'' listed the song at number 100 in their ranking of "100 Best Songs of the 1990s" in 2012 and ''

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'' magazine ranked it among the "500 Best Pop Songs of All Time" in 2023. Coolio was awarded a

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for Best Rap Solo Performance, two

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s for Best Rap Video and Best Video from a Film and a ''Billboard'' Music Award for the song. The song was voted as the best single of the year in ''

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''s

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critics' poll. The song has sold over five million copies in the United States, United Kingdom, and Germany. Coolio performed this song live at the 1995 ''Billboard'' Music Awards with L.V. and Wonder, and at the

38th Annual Grammy Awards The 38th Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 28, 1996, at Shrine Auditorium, Los Angeles. The awards recognized accomplishments by musicians from the previous year. Alanis Morissette was the main recipient, being awarded four trophies, in ...

with L.V.

Background and writing

Coolio, L.V. and Doug Rasheed composed "Gangsta's Paradise" and wrote its lyrics, with Rasheed also serving as the song's producer.

received crediting for the composition and lyrics due to the interpolation of his song " Pastime Paradise" from his 1976 album '' Songs in the Key of Life''. 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 nothing left.''" Adding to some of the religious overtones are choral vocals in the background. 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." 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. Due to the sampling of Wonder's music, "Gangsta's Paradise" is one of the few Coolio tracks that did not contain any

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, 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."

Chart performance

The single reached number one in the

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, and New Zealand, making it Coolio's most successful single. In Australia, the song stayed at No. 1 for 14 weeks, a record that would only be broken 22 years later by

Ed Sheeran Edward Christopher Sheeran ( ; born 17 February 1991) is an English singer-songwriter. Born in Halifax, West Yorkshire, and raised in Framlingham, Suffolk, he began writing songs around the age of eleven. In early 2011, Sheeran independently r ...

's "

Shape of You "Shape of You" is a song by English singer Ed Sheeran. It was released on 6 January 2017 as one of the lead single, double lead singles from his third studio album ''÷ (album), ÷'' (2017), along with "Castle on the Hill". The Dancehall pop, ...

". Following Coolio's appearance on '' Celebrity Big Brother 6'', it re-entered the UK singles chart peaking at No. 31. In the United Kingdom, "Gangsta's Paradise" is the first rap single to sell over a million copies as well as the first rap single ever to go straight to Number One. 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. 1 and nine at No. 2. The song was certified triple platinum by the

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on February 23, 1996, indicating 3 million copies sold. It has sold a further 1.8 million downloads in the US in the digital era . As of September 2022, the song had sold 1.9 million downloads in US and had accumulated 763.1 million streams. 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, and reentered the Official Singles Chart Top 100 on 7 October 2022 at number 55.

Critical reception

Bill Lamb of

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described the song as "riveting and atmospheric".

James Masterton James Masterton (born 2 September 1973) is a British music critic and columnist, his work focusing on the UK Singles Chart having been an online fixture on various sites since the 1990s. Masterton is also a producer for talkSPORT, and has worke ...

for ''

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'' noted its "undoubted brilliance". David Browne from ''

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'' 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." ''

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'' praised it as "complete pop greatness". '' Idolator'' called it a "rap rhapsody", naming it one of The 50 Best Pop Singles of 1995. David Bennun from ''

Melody Maker ''Melody Maker'' was a British weekly music magazine, one of the world's earliest music weeklies; according to its publisher, IPC Media, the earliest. In January 2001, it was merged into "long-standing rival" (and IPC Media sister publicatio ...

'' wrote, "That single. F*** me, it's good. The slow pulse of strings, the heavenly choir. Puts me in mind of prime

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, 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". Another ''Melody Maker'' editor,

Taylor Parkes Taylor Parkes (born 30 April 1972) is a British journalist. He is best known for his music journalism which appeared in ''Melody Maker'' from 1993 to 1998. Parkes was a champion of Saint Etienne, Pulp, Manic Street Preachers and the Romo scen ...

, 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 on ''

America's Top 10 ''America's Top 10'' (commonly abbreviated to ''AT10'') was a popular weekly syndicated music television chart show that began airing in 1980 and ran until 1992. The show was hosted by Casey Kasem throughout its run, with Charlie Tuna announci ...

''." Pan-European magazine ''

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'' commented, "Last year, this rapper hit paydirt with a reworking of Lakeside's "

Fantastic Voyage ''Fantastic Voyage'' is a 1966 American science fiction adventure film directed by Richard Fleischer and written by Harry Kleiner, based on a story by Otto Klement and Jerome Bixby. The film is about a submarine crew who is shrunk to microsco ...

". This time around, he pulls off the same trick with this tall tale founded on

'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." A reviewer from ''

Music Week ''Music Week'' is a trade publication for the UK record industry distributed via a website and a monthly print magazine. It is published by Future. History Founded in 1959 as ''Record Retailer'', it relaunched on 18 March 1972 as ''Music We ...

'' gave it four out of five, saying, "An infectious release from

-nominated rapper that challenges the assumed form of the genre. Number one in the US and could do big things here." ''Music Week'' editor Alan Jones deemed it "a brooding and menacing track". Dele Fadele from ''

'' 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".

Music video

The accompanying music video for the song was directed by American film director

and featured

reprising her earlier role as

U.S. Marine The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines or simply the Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for conducting expeditionar ...

LouAnne Johnson in the movie ''

''. The video also includes scenes from the movie. Initially Coolio was concerned with the video's treatment stating, "I wanted some low-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. For the music video, Coolio won the Best Rap Video at the

MTV Video Music Awards The MTV Video Music Awards (commonly abbreviated as the VMAs) is an award show presented by the cable channel MTV to honor the best in the music video medium. Originally conceived as an alternative to the Grammy Awards (in the video category ...

in 1996. The music video hit one billion

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views in July 2022.

Cast and credits

* Directed by:

* Sound editor: Jeff Clark

Impact and legacy

In December 1995, ''

'' ranked "Gangsta's Paradise" number 13 in its list of "''NME'' Writers' Top 50 Singles of 1995". In 1996, it was named Best Rap 12-inch at the International Dance Music Awards in Miami. In 1999, ''

'' ranked the song number four on its list of "Top Singles of the '90s". In 2008, it was ranked number 38 on

's "100 Greatest Songs of Hip Hop". In 2009, it was ranked number 91 on ''

''s "The 100 Greatest Summer Songs", saying, "Slinky

samples and somber lessons about the price of a life of crime. If that doesn't scream ''summer jam'' to you, then clearly you've never been a member of a violent gang or seen ''Dangerous Minds''...fool." In 2012, ''NME'' ranked the song 100th in its list of "100 Best Songs of the 1990s". In 2019, ''

'' magazine ranked it number 20 in its list of "''Billboard''s Top Songs of the '90s". Same year, ''Stacker'' ranked it number 19 on its list of "Best 90s pop songs". In July 2020, digital publication '' The Pudding'' carried out a study on the most iconic songs from the '90s and songs that are most known by

millennials Millennials, also known as Generation Y or Gen Y, are the demographic cohort following Generation X and preceding Generation Z. Researchers and popular media use the early 1980s as starting birth years and the mid-1990s to early 2000s a ...

and the people of

Generation Z Generation Z (often shortened to Gen Z), also known as zoomers, is the demographic cohort succeeding Millennials and preceding Generation Alpha. Researchers and popular media use the mid-to-late 1990s as starting birth years and the early 2 ...

. "Gangsta's Paradise" was the song with the twelfth highest recognisability rate. In October 2023, ''Billboard'' magazine ranked it 166th on its "500 Best Pop Songs of All Time". 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 PureWow is an American digital media company that publishes women's lifestyle content. Acquired by Gary Vaynerchuk in 2017 as part of Gallery Media Group, PureWow tailors lifestyle topics for Millennials and Generation X, including fashion, bea ...

'' ranked it number two in their list of "The 53 Best 90s Songs of All Time".

Parodies, covers, and sampling

There are several parodies of the song, including " Amish Paradise" by

"Weird Al" Yankovic Alfred Matthew "Weird Al" Yankovic ( ; born October 23, 1959) is an American comedy musician, writer, and actor. He is best known for writing and performing Comedy music, comedy songs that often Parody music, parody specific songs by contempo ...

, 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)", further stating in a ''Rolling Stone'' retrospective that objecting to the parody "was probably one of the least smart things I've done over the years." 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. In 1996, the song was covered by Battery for the

electro-industrial Electro-industrial is a music genre that emerged from industrial music in the early 1980s. While EBM (electronic body music) has a minimal structure and clean production, electro-industrial tends to have a grittier, complex and layered sound ...

various artists compilation '' Operation Beatbox'' and their 1996 album, ''Distance''. American

post-hardcore Post-hardcore is a punk rock music genre that maintains the aggression and intensity of hardcore punk but emphasizes a greater degree of creative expression. Like the term " post-punk", the term "post-hardcore" has been applied to a broad conste ...

band In Fear and Faith covered the song in 2008. Austrian

melodic death metal Melodic death metal (also referred to as melodeath) is a subgenre of death metal that employs highly melodic guitar riffs, often borrowing from traditional heavy metal (including New Wave of British Heavy Metal). The genre features the heavines ...

band Artas covered the song in 2008 on the album ''The Healing''. In 2014, post-hardcore band

Falling in Reverse Falling in Reverse is an American rock music, rock band that formed in 2008 by lead vocalist Ronnie Radke. The band's original name was From Behind These Walls, but it was renamed Falling in Reverse shortly after formation. They are currently s ...

covered the song for the compilation album '' Punk Goes 90s Vol. 2''. The video included an appearance by Coolio. In 2015, Postmodern Jukebox produced a version in a 1920s jazz style. That same year, New Zealand

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a heavier subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and Distortion (music), distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the Garage rock, garage, Psychedelic rock, psychedelic and blues ...

band Like a Storm covered the song on their second studio album, ''Awaken the Fire''. The song's chorus and bridge were prominently sampled by British singer

Ella Henderson Gabriella Michelle Henderson (born 12 January 1996) is a British singer and songwriter. She competed in the ninth series of '' The X Factor UK'' in 2012, being the eighth contestant eliminated despite being a strong favourite to win. She sign ...

for her 2024 single "Alibi".

In other media

*It was first used in the 1995 drama film ''

'' and was featured in its soundtrack. * In 2011, the song featured in the comedy film ''

Bad Teacher ''Bad Teacher'' is a 2011 American comedy film directed by Jake Kasdan and written by Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky. The film stars Cameron Diaz, Justin Timberlake, Lucy Punch, John Michael Higgins, and Jason Segel, and follows a cynic ...

''. * The song featured in the superhero film ''

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''. * The song appears in the 2013 action comedy film '' Pain & Gain''. * The song was also featured in various official trailers for the 2014 US comedy film '' Tammy'', which stars

Melissa McCarthy Melissa Ann McCarthy (born August 26, 1970) is an American actress, comedian, screenwriter, and producer. She is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Melissa McCarthy, numerous accolades, including two Primetime Emmy Award ...

. * In 2019, the song was used in the original trailer for ''

Sonic the Hedgehog is a video game series and media franchise created by the Japanese developers Yuji Naka, Naoto Ohshima, and Hirokazu Yasuhara for Sega. The franchise follows Sonic the Hedgehog (character), Sonic, an anthropomorphic blue hedgehog who battle ...

''. * The song appears in Season 1 Episode 1 of the 2019 show '' Raising Dion''. * UFC fighter Oban Elliott uses the song as his entrance music when he makes his walk to the Octagon.

Accolades

Billboard * Billboard Year-End Chart-Toppers 1995 ** Top Hot 100 Single number one ** Top Hot 100 Single Sales number one (2.5 million copies) (2× platinum)

Grammy Awards The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious a ...

* Best Rap Solo Performance *

Record of the Year The Grammy Award for Record of the Year is presented by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to "honor artistic achievement, technical proficiency and overall excellence in the recording industry, without re ...

(nominated) MTV *

1996 ** Best Rap Video

Track listings

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Decade-end charts

All-time charts

Certifications and sales

References

External links