"Gangsta's Paradise" | ||||||||
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Single by Coolio featuring L.V. | ||||||||
from the album Gangsta's Paradise, I Am L.V. and Dangerous Minds soundtrack | ||||||||
Released | August 8, 1995 | |||||||
Format | CD single, cassette, 12" single | |||||||
Recorded | 1994 | |||||||
Genre | West Coast hip hop, gangsta rap | |||||||
Length | 4:00 | |||||||
Label | Tommy Boy | |||||||
Writer(s) |
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Producer(s) | Doug Rasheed | |||||||
Coolio singles chronology | ||||||||
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"Gangsta's Paradise" is a song by American rapper Coolio, featuring singer L.V.. The song was released on Coolio's album of the same name, as well as the soundtrack for the 1995 film Dangerous Minds. It samples the chorus and instrumentation of Stevie Wonder's 1976 song "Pastime Paradise".
The song was listed at number 85 on Billboard's Greatest Songs of All-Time and number one biggest selling single of 1995 on U.S. Billboard. In 2008, it was ranked number 38 on VH1's 100 Greatest Songs of Hip Hop. Coolio was awarded a Grammy for Best Rap Solo Performance, two MTV Video Music Award's for Best Rap Video and for Best Video from a Film and a Billboard Music Award for the song/album. The song was voted as the best single of the year in The Village Voice Pazz & Jop critics poll.
The song has sold over 5 million copies in the United States, United Kingdom and Germany alone, and at least 5.7 million worldwide, making it one of the best-selling singles of all time. Coolio has performed this song live at the 1995 Billboard Music Awards with L.V. and Wonder, at the 38th Annual Grammy Awards with L.V., and also with Dutch singer Trijntje Oosterhuis.