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. 'Silence of the Lambs': 'It Broke All the Rules'īut the accomplishments didn’t stop there. 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. 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. Think about it: when we’re young, music gives us a window into experiences we are yet to have, as adults we are able to assign value to the actual experiences themselves rather than sonic imaginings of them.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.
Psychologists call this the ‘reminiscence bump’ because it takes us back to a time when everything was new and meaningful. Music was there for it all like an invisible yet dependable confidant during a time when every song felt like it was written for or about us.
And who could forget that intoxicating feeling of freedom that came from driving around with friends, P plates proudly on display, as we blasted our favourite tunes like we were the stars of our own road trip movie even though we had no place to go. Subscribing to the importance of picking “our song” when in the throes of our first relationships and listening to sad songs on repeat when those same relationships end. Reciting the lyrics of Top 40 hits at house parties arms thrown over each other’s shoulders in angsty camaraderie.
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