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Coolio’s ‘Gangsta’s Paradise’ Video Hits 2 Billion Views on YouTube
Coolio's 'Gangsta's Paradise' music video reached 2 billion views on YouTube, the first of his videos to do so. Directed by Antoine Fuqua, the 1995 single was a three-week No. 1 and won a 1996 Grammy.
The music video for Coolio’s 1995 hit ‘Gangsta’s Paradise’ reached 2 billion views on YouTube. It is the first video by the late rapper to cross that mark. Antoine Fuqua directed the visual.
‘Gangsta’s Paradise’ was recorded for the 1995 film Dangerous Minds and features vocals by L.V. The track was the lead single from Coolio’s second studio album, also titled ‘Gangsta’s Paradise’.
The single spent three weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1995. The album spent 62 weeks on the Billboard 200 and peaked at No. 9. The song topped the Hot 100 Year-End chart in 1995.
In 1996 ‘Gangsta’s Paradise’ won the Grammy for Best Rap Solo Performance. It also earned two MTV Video Music Awards and a Billboard Music Award.
Billboard included the song on its 2023 list of the 500 best pop songs.
The track was parodied by ‘Weird Al’ Yankovic as ‘Amish Paradise’ in 1996, which has accumulated millions of streams. Artists who have covered the original include Måneskin, Brittany Snow, and Falling in Reverse.
Watch the ‘Gangsta’s Paradise’ music video below.
