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- How was coolio gangsta paradise made cracked#
- How was coolio gangsta paradise made tv#
- How was coolio gangsta paradise made crack#
There is actually a backup singer, faint in the background, attempting subliminal messaging: “listen to Coolio /the message comes from Coolio.” (Peep the video, though, for some groundbreaking people-disappearing CGI.) And it’s not the last time he dips full-force into cliché: Both “Smilin’,” a tribute to his kid, and “For My Sistas,” a female-empowerment ballad, are uninspired and execrable.
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Could he stay that engaging for the rest of the album? Nope! The screamingly nineties HIV-cautionary-tale “Too Hot” is up next, and it’s the kind of well-intentioned, yawningly simplistic material that makes you thank higher forces it’s 2011. Coolio isn’t a particularly deft emcee, but at least on the title track, he’s solid and focused and rapping with conviction. Pure storyteller, that guy).Īnd all of a sudden, I had actual hopes for Gangsta’s Paradise. Just try not to root for the guy when he asks, “If they can’t understand it, how can they reach me?!” (Also, while he raps “I’m 23, but will I live to see 24?” on the track, Coolio was actually at the relatively advanced age of 32 at the time. No one considers Coolio a reputable source on the corrosive nature of inner-city life anymore, but he’s striving to sound pained here - straining his voice, emphasizing the really messed-up bits - and he doesn’t totally miss. Then there’s a sudden, sharp transition, and those familiar dark snyths kick in, and, okay, maybe my heart jumped a bit. It’s the third track on the album, following a standard the-hood-sure-is-messed-up-but-it’s-home-skit and “Geto Highlites,” which mines similar material over a fluffy groove. That’s why I’m happy to report that hearing it again, after all these years - well, it was no small thing. And it’s safe to say I still haven’t listened to any particular track on Liquid Swords as many times as I’ve listened to “Gangsta’s Paradise.” Louis’s iconoclastic opinions aside, we all loved “Gangsta’s Paradise.” We paid money to see Dangerous Minds purely because of “Gangsta’s Paradise.” We knew (um, still know?) every single word to “Gangsta’s Paradise.” It’d be quite a few years, though, before I personally would hear it. Appropriately, GZA’s universally acknowledged classic Liquid Swords was released only a few weeks before Gangsta’s Paradise. The problem, Louis explained, was that I self-identified as a rap fan but didn’t know about the real good stuff, like the Genius, a.k.a GZA from the Wu-Tang Clan. My most immediate memory of the subject matter is walking to my friend Louis’s house after school and having him call me a “foolio” (or telling me that people were calling me a “foolio” behind my back?) for liking Coolio.
How was coolio gangsta paradise made crack#
Nostalgia Fact-Check: First, some Coolio fun facts uncovered during the Fact-Check process: Pre-fame, he was both a firefighter and a crack addict for brief periods of time also, his stage name originates from a run of talent-show performances as Coolio Iglesias. Also, presumably, at least a few Pfeiffer fanatics? Nostalgia Demo: “Gangsta’s Paradise” was a rap song of the celebrated “crossover” variety, so most people who were listening to pop radio in the mid-nineties probably have something invested in this one. It would be Coolio’s most accomplished moment: In the decade-plus since, the rapper’s relevancy and reputation have devolved mightily, cratering first in a 2009 Celebrity Big Brother appearance, then this purposefully misspelled Insane Clown Posse tattoo.
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Anchored by its title track and follow-up singles “Too Hot” and “1, 2, 3, 4 (Sumpin’ New),” Gangsta’s Paradise would sell over 2 million copies in the U.S.
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The song would become a massive success, topping charts worldwide and nabbing Coolio the Best Rap Solo Performance Grammy.
How was coolio gangsta paradise made cracked#
The next year, though, Coolio dropped “Gangsta’s Paradise” - first via the soundtrack to Michelle Pfeiffer’s hero-teacher movie Dangerous Minds, then on his sophomore album, Gangsta’s Paradise - and cracked a whole new echelon. Our latest installment: Gangsta’s Paradise.īackground: Coolio, the Compton rapper born Artis Leon Ivey Jr., released his debut album, It Takes a Thief, in 1994, and quickly saw its single “Fantastic Voyage” become a sizable radio hit.
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Now, years later, we will take a look at these classics in a more objective, unforgiving adult light: Are they really the best ever? How do they hold up now? We’ve already reconsidered Heathers, Ally McBeal, Ace of Base’s The Sign, Ghostbusters, Dinosaurs, and Adam Sandler.
How was coolio gangsta paradise made tv#
The Nostalgia Fact-Check is a recurring Vulture feature in which we revisit a seminal movie, TV show, or album that reflexively evinces an “Oh my God, that was the best ever!” response by a certain demographic, owing to it having been imprinted on them early.
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