Originally recorded for the “Dangerous Minds” soundtrack and not intended for an album, “Gangsta’s Paradise” was an unlikely if engineered hit. Although his 1994 Tommy Boy debut “It Takes a Thief” was a chart success given the popularity of the single “Fantastic Voyage,” it still would have been hard to forecast the multiplatinum smash that was “Gangsta’s Paradise.”
Coolio’s balance could probably best be labeled a product of his reaching a hip hop audience before a pop one, unlike, say, Skee-Lo and Paperboy. The dichotomy between street credibility and commercial success is tenuous, well-explored, and hard to formulate. With his contribution to Ras Kass’ 1995 debut “Soul on Ice,” he became his coast’s Method Man - the sole guest rapper on his coast’s most lyrically conceptual masterpiece.
As fans will be quick to point out, though, he was far from a corporate creation, first gaining fame as a member of WC and the Maad Circle, an acclaimed Los Angeles outfit prior to WC’s success as a member of Westside Connection. Coolio recorded the theme song for Nickelodeon’s “Kenan and Kel,” rapped with Kermit on “Muppets Tonight,” and guested on “All That,” “The Nanny,” and “Sabrina the Teenage Witch” during his superstardom, cementing his status as a family-friendly MC with gravity-defying braids and a rather loud wardrobe. The pop culture lexicon is likely to recall him as somewhat of a West Coast Fresh Prince - a squeaky-clean rapper with mega-hits and a massive television presence. It does not store any personal data.Coolio managed to straddle the line between pop success and rap legitimacy as well as anyone who preceded or succeeded him. The cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance". This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary". The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional". The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics". These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously. Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This is a great, great song right here people. Gangsta’s Paradise won a Grammy Award for Best Rap Solo Performance, two (2) MTV Video Music Awards for Best Video from a Film and Best Rap Video and a a Billboard Music Award for the song & album. The song peaked at number one (1) on the US Billboard Hot 100 and almost in every other country. It was listed at number eighty five (85) on Billboard’s Greatest Songs of All Time. Having sold more than six (6) million copies globally, Gangsta’s Paradise is one of the best-selling singles of all time.
#Coolio gangsta paradise soundtrack movie#
Gangsta’s Paradise samples Stevie Wonder‘s 1976 song Pastime Paradise and was popularly used as the soundtrack for the movie Dangerous Minds (1995). Gangsta’s Paradise is a 1995 hip hop song performed by American rapper Coolio, released as the third (3 rd) track on his second (2 nd) studio album, Gangsta’s Paradise.The song was produced by Doug Rasheed and features American R&B singer L.V.