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". 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. The accompanying music video for the song was directed by Antoine Fuqua and featured Michelle Pfeiffer reprising her earlier role in Dangerous Minds. In 2019, Stacker placed it at number 19 in their list of "Best 90s pop songs". In 2012, NME listed the song at number 100 in their ranking of "100 Best Songs of the 1990s". In 2008, it was ranked number 38 on VH1's "100 Greatest Songs of Hip Hop". In 1999, The Village Voice listed the song number 4 in their list of "Top Singles of the 90's". In 1996, "Gangsta's Paradise" was named Best Rap 12-inch at the International Dance Music Awards in Miami. 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. The song has sold over 5 million copies in the United States, United Kingdom and Germany alone, Coolio performed this song live at the 1995 Billboard Music Awards with L.V. 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. Coolio apparently deplores an ostensibly paradisiacal but factually dangerous and time-wasting 'gangsta' lifestyle. Stevie Wonder apparently used 'past-time paradise' in an ironic reference to squandering of the present on nostalgically 'living in the past'. It samples the chorus and instrumentation, and includes some of the lyric, with altered meaning, of Stevie Wonder's 1976 song " Pastime Paradise". The song was released on Coolio's second album of the same name, 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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