Gangsta's Paradise (song)
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| “Gangsta's Paradise” | |||||
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| Single by Coolio featuring L.V. from the album Gangsta's Paradise and I Am L.V. |
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| Released | September 1995 | ||||
| Format | CD single, Cassette Single | ||||
| Recorded | 1995 | ||||
| Genre | Rap, Gangsta hip hop | ||||
| Length | 4:00 | ||||
| Label | Tommy Boy Records | ||||
| Writer(s) | Coolio Doug Rasheed Larry Sanders Stevie Wonder |
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| Producer | Doug Rasheed | ||||
| Coolio featuring L.V. singles chronology | |||||
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"Gangsta's Paradise" is a rap song by Coolio from the movie Dangerous Minds (1995) (starring Michelle Pfeiffer). The song was later released on the albums Gangsta's Paradise and Dangerous Minds soundtrack in 1995. Coolio was awarded a Grammy for the song/album. The song was voted as the best single of the year in The Village Voice Pazz & Jop critics poll. The United World Chart ranked it as the 15th most successful single of all time.[1]
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[edit] Background and writing
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. The single did not repeat the popularity of the original with Coolio.[citation needed].
[edit] Lyrics and music
The music is a reworking of Stevie Wonder's "Pastime Paradise", a song from his album Songs in the Key of Life. "Gangsta's Paradise" uses the same tune, and a different orchestration of the same backing music. Coolio changed the lyrics to be more relevant to life on the streets.
The song begins with a line from Psalm 23:4 from the Bible: 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.
Many of the lyrics are very dark and tragic and are meant to be a criticism of the violence and tragedy of the "gangsta" life. The choral lines (sung by L.V.) Tell me why are we so blind to see / That the ones we hurt are you and me offer an especially plaintive self-criticism.
[edit] Music video
The music video for the song was directed by Antoine Fuqua of Propaganda Films, and featured Michelle Pfeiffer reprising her earlier role in Dangerous Minds.
When Coolio won the Best Rap Video at the MTV Video Music Awards in 1996, he said in a press conference that Bone Thugs-n-Harmony deserved the award for "Tha Crossroads".
[edit] Chart performances
The single reached number one in the U.S., UK, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Sweden, Austria, Netherlands, Norway, Switzerland, Australia, and New Zealand, making it Coolio's most successful single ever.
The song is arguably one of the biggest Hip Hop songs of all time, reaching #1 in more than 13 countries around the world, including the UK, where it was the first rap song to sell over a million copies.
[edit] Parodies
There are some parodies of the song, including "Amish Paradise" by "Weird Al" Yankovic. 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 only does parodies by artists that he has spoken with directly, rather than through intermediaries. Photos from the XM Satellite Radio booth at the 2006 Consumer Electronics Show suggest Yankovic and Coolio may have made amends. [2]
Another parody by Paul Shanklin using Gangsta's Paradise is "Algore Paradise," in which Shanklin sings in the voices of Al Gore and Bill Clinton. The Choral Line as sung by Shanklin (as Clinton) goes, Tell me why is it / so hard to see / If he's really a man, or just a tree.
Death metal parody-group Ten Masked Men have also done a rendition of the song.
[edit] Sales records and awards
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Billboard
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MTV |
[edit] Charts
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[edit] References
- ^ All time chart on UWC www.mediatraffic.de (Retrieved May 12, 2008)
- ^ Weird and COOLIO?!?!? » Yank Blog
- ^ "Gangsta's Paradise", various Singles Chart Lescharts.com (Retrieved February 21, 2008)
- ^ Irish Single Chart Irishcharts.ie (Retrieved February 21, 2008)
- ^ Italian Single Chart Hit parade Italia (Retrieved May 30, 2008)
- ^ UK Singles Chart Everyhit.com (Retrieved February 21, 2008)
- ^ Billboard Billboard.com (Retrieved February 21, 2008)
- ^ 1995 Australian Singles Chart aria.com (Retrieved April 20, 2008)
- ^ 1995 Belgian (Flanders) Singles Chart Ultratop.be (Retrieved April 20, 2008)
- ^ 1995 Belgian (Wallonia) Singles Chart Ultratop.be (Retrieved April 20, 2008)
- ^ 1996 Austrian Singles Chart Austriancharts.at (Retrieved April 20, 2008)
- ^ 1996 Belgian (Flanders) Singles Chart Ultratop.be (Retrieved April 20, 2008)
- ^ 1996 Belgian (Wallonia) Singles Chart Ultratop.be (Retrieved April 20, 2008)
- ^ 1996 Swiss Singles Chart Hitparade.ch (Retrieved April 20, 2008)
