However, although Coolio was extremely excited about his new song, the lukewarm response he got back from the label surprised him.

He was trying to bait me to get some recognition or something, but I wasnвЂ™t going to go there.ДЄfter finishing up a rough demo of the song that same day, Coolio sent a copy to his record label, Tommy Boy. I was ready to start some shit with L.V., but I didnвЂ™t because if we wouldвЂ™ve started something, neither one of us wouldвЂ™ve gotten hurt but one of our children or friends couldвЂ™ve gotten hurt. When I heard him say that, IвЂ™m not going to lie, I was ready to get funky. He said that he was trying to get me on the song for a couple weeks before I finally showed up. started telling some made-up new story about 'GangstaвЂ™s Paradise'В and itвЂ™s such bullshit. I should say though, about two or three years ago, L.V. I say I didnвЂ™t write 'GangstaвЂ™s Paradise' it was already there and just chose me as a vessel to come through. ThatвЂ™s the only song IвЂ™ve ever had that experience with. IвЂ™m telling you, my head stayed down the whole time and I never even picked up the pen. The first line just came right out: 'As I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I take a look at my life and realize thereвЂ™s nothing left.'В As soon as I said that, I sat down and wrote the whole thing without even having to think about it. He was excited about that, rewound the track, and I started freestyling over it. Whose track is this?'В He told me it was just something he was working on, so I said 'Really? ItвЂ™s mine now.' When the music stopped, I said to Doug, 'Wow, thatвЂ™s kind of dope. was there and he was already working on the hook not recording, just riffing with it. Now, the crazy thing is, I am a huge Stevie Wonder fan-one of the very first records I ever bought in my life was Stevie WonderвЂ™s 'Superwoman'В single-but for some reason, I donвЂ™t remember ever hearing 'Pastime Paradise.'В Anyway, I heard the music playing, so I went in to see what was happening. That day, a producer named Doug Rasheed was working on some stuff and when I walked past the studio, I heard the beginning of the track start playing. He had this nice little house at the beginning of the Hollywood Hills and he had an office and a little recording studio there. I had gone over to my managerвЂ™s house to sign for a check. recently interviewed Coolio to get the story behind the creation of his signature song, his recollections about the globe-trotting rollercoaster ride the song took him (and hip-hop itself) on, how he views his place in hip-hopВ and what he is working on these days.Д¬oolio: Honestly, my memories are still so clear of exactly how 'Gangsta's Paradise'В came to be. The special RSD edition of GangstaвЂ™s Paradise has been remastered, pressed across two heavyweight 180g red vinyl records, and features some previously unreleased bonus material on the flipside of its second disc. While Record Store Day has typically taken place on a single day in April every year since its inception in 2008, this yearвЂ™s event has been spread across three separate dates in August, SeptemberВ and October due to the COVID-19 pandemic. To celebrate the monumental milestone and acknowledge the song's expansive legacy, CoolioвЂ™s GangstaвЂ™s Paradise album is getting a special 25th Anniversary vinyl reissue for Record Store Day this Saturday (Sept. 1 in the United Kingdom, Ireland, France, Germany, Italy, Sweden, Austria, Netherlands, Norway, Switzerland, Australia, New Zealand, ScotlandВ and Zimbabwe, just to name a few. The song took off with international audiences as well, reaching No. Both albums it appeared on-first the Dangerous Minds soundtrack and then his own sophomore album GangstaвЂ™s Paradise-were quickly certified multi-platinum, while the single itself sold over three million copies on its own. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 pop charts, became the best-selling single of 1995 across all genres, and helped to mainstream hip-hop in previously uncharted ways. More than just a flash-in-the-pan genre hit, 'GangstaвЂ™s Paradise'В hit No.

However, soon enough that 'everybody'В he was excited to share his new song with would substantially grow to include millions and millions of music fans around the world, as 'GangstaвЂ™s Paradise'В became a chart-topping, multi-platinum global hit throughout the fall/winter of 1995 and well into the summer of 1996. To be clear, the 'everybody'В Coolio was initially thinking of was just his record label and his friends-'My day ones and my homies that I trusted to give me a real opinion,'В he states. 'I was so excited about sharing it with everybody.' 'My first thought when I listened back to the demo of вЂGangstaвЂ™s ParadiseвЂ™ was вЂMan, the hoodвЂ™s gonna love this shit,''В recollects Coolio.

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