One day, I pulled out the Stevie Wonder record, Songs in the Key of Life, because that’s one of my favorite albums. He had a record collection and I had a record collection, so we used to see who could pull the hottest sample out. L.V., singer: Oh, that scene was beautiful, man! The Pharcyde, Tha Alkaholiks, King T, South Central Cartel, me, Coolio, the 40 Thieves - we all used to hang out there at Doug and Paul’s place in Hollywood and just kick it, you know, have fun and produce music. Everybody used to come to our house all the time - it was a hangout spot.Ĭoolio: There was a studio at the house, so my manager’s clients could come and work for free. On the 20th anniversary of the song’s release, we asked some of the major players in the “Gangsta’s Paradise” story to look back on what was not just a defining moment in Coolio’s career, but also in the history of rap music and popular culture.ĭoug Rasheed, producer: I was roommates at the time with Paul Stewart, Coolio’s manager. alone, earning triple-platinum status and inspiring the popular “Weird Al” Yankovic parody “Amish Paradise.” ( Coolio failed to share the public’s appreciation for the spoof at the time, though that particular beef has long been quashed.)
The song also went on to sell over 3 million copies in the U.S. “Gangsta’s Paradise” won the 1996 Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance (it lost out to Seal’s “Kiss From a Rose” for Record of the Year), and its video - directed by Antoine Fuqua, whose subsequent list of Hollywood credits includes the new Jake Gyllenhall film Southpaw - won MTV Video Music Awards for Best Rap Video and Best Video From a Film. The single soared to the top of the pop charts in 16 countries, including the U.S., eventually becoming Billboard’s Number One song for 1995 - the first time that a rap song had ever held the distinction of being a year-end chart-topper on the Hot 100.īut the accomplishments didn’t stop there. Released in August 1995 in conjunction with the Michelle Pfeiffer vehicle Dangerous Minds, and boosted by a memorable video that featured the actress and various clips from the film, “Gangsta’s Paradise” not only transcended its original soundtrack tie-in, but also managed to transcend the widely-perceived stylistic and commercial limitations of hip-hop. Distinguished by Coolio‘s thoughtful lyrics and distinctive verbal flow, L.V.’s gospel-tinged wail and Doug Rasheed’s starkly funky production, the song is a deeply affecting listening experience - and its hook, lifted from Stevie Wonder‘s 1976 track “Pastime Paradise,” was absolutely impossible to shake. During the last five months of 1995, it was virtually impossible to go anywhere without hearing the soulful, streetwise strains of “Gangsta’s Paradise” blasting out of somebody’s radio.
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