There aren’t many songs like Coolio’s “Gangsta’s Paradise” (1995), which perfectly encapsulates the decade and all its flaws. After finding a worthy cultural partner in Michelle Pfeiffer’s film Dangerous Minds, the song skyrocketed to international fame. Midway through the 1990s, you couldn’t take a step down the street without hearing this song blaring from someone’s stereo system.
- Check out the tribute to Coolie from Michelle Pfeiffer And Snoop.
This was true whether you were in Los Angeles or Lyme Regis. It became a rallying cry and is widely regarded as among the best hip hop scores ever composed for a motion picture.
Coolio’s evocative lyrics and L.V.’s (the project’s vocalist) soulful refrain had a cinematic quality that was not lost on anyone who heard them. Will Smith and Martin Lawrence were interested in using the song as the title track for their upcoming action movie Bad Boys but Coolio went with the highest bidder because, well, money talks.
Despite appearances, Coolio’s decision to work with Pfeiffer and company was motivated by more than just financial gain. It made perfect sense for the Compton rapper to have an MTV video featuring a slew of famous faces.
By releasing the song through Dangerous Minds, he was able to film a music video featuring megastar Michelle Pfeiffer and cinematic legend Antoine Fuqua. The spotlight was now on Coolio.
The movie it was featured in was a huge success as well as the song which has become an iconic hip-hop anthem. In this school-based drama, Pfeiffer played a teacher who struggles to connect with her class full of misbehaving students.
She hopes that with the help of Bob Dyan and other unconventional pedagogical techniques, she can inspire a lifelong passion for learning in them and get them to the point where they can earn their diplomas.
Coolio spits some sage advice over a banging beat in this remake of Stevie Wonder’s timeless classic “Pastime Paradise.” As much of a fan of Stevie Wonder as Coolio was, he “wasn’t familiar with “Pastime Paradise,” he told Rolling Stone.
The album featuring “Superwoman” was the first record I ever purchased. (The album “Music of My Mind,” released in 1972) I got that and the Isley Brothers’ Fight the Power for my 12th birthday. My mom had the album Songs in the Key of Life, so it was strange that I didn’t recognize the title.
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I sat down and I started writing,” Coolio recalled of his creative process. The song’s opening chords, chorus and hook blew my mind. The lines “As I walk through the valley of the shadow of death/ I take a look at my life and I see there’s nothing left” are improvised. They dropped from the sky and I jotted them down.
He continued, “After giving it some thought for a minute, I wrote the rest of the song in one continuous sitting, from the first verse to the third.” I’d like to think that maybe God had a hand in it. As the author himself puts it, “Gangsta’s Paradise” “wanted to be born, it wanted to come to life and it chose me as the vessel.”
The song has become a staple at decade-themed parties and a landmark in the hip-hop community. It was also one of the few songs of the era to achieve widespread popularity beyond voyeuristic curiosity.
The single spent a record-breaking 14 weeks at the top of the Australian singles chart and it also topped the charts in the United States, Ireland, the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Germany, Sweden, Austria, Denmark and across Australasia. Over a million copies of the single were sold, making it the first rap song to do so.
For these and many other reasons, the late rapper Coolio’s legacy is present in every beat of “Gangsta’s Paradise.”