Thursday, August 29, 2013

Musical Interlude: Gangster's Paradise (1995)

Our look back at school-themed (sort of) videos continues with Coolio's breakout hit of 1995, "Gangster's Paradise", which was used in the movie, "Dangerous Minds". That, of course, explains why the film's star, Michelle Pfieffer, appears with Coolio, reprising her role from the movie as real-life ex-Marine-turned-teacher LouAnne Johnson. L. V. , who performs the chorus, later re-recorded "Paradise" himself as a soloist, adding new lyrics.

Most folks know that Coolio wasn't too thrilled with the way "Weird" Al Yankovic went about creating his satire, "Amish Paradise", which came out a year later, as some miscommunication led to Al recording "Amish" without consulting Coolio first. These days, Coolio's better known for his acting than his rapping. Go figure.

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