On the 20th anniversary of the songвЂ™s release, we asked some of the major players in the вЂњGangstaвЂ™s ParadiseвЂќ story to look back on what was not just a defining moment in CoolioвЂ™s career, but also in the history of rap music and popular culture.Дoug Rasheed, producer: I was roommates at the time with Paul Stewart, CoolioвЂ™s manager. alone, earning triple-platinum status and inspiring the popular вЂњWeird AlвЂќ Yankovic parody вЂњAmish Paradise.вЂќ ( Coolio failed to share the publicвЂ™s appreciation for the spoof at the time, though that particular beef has long been quashed.) The song also went on to sell over 3 million copies in the U.S. вЂњGangstaвЂ™s ParadiseвЂќ won the 1996 Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance (it lost out to SealвЂ™s вЂњKiss From a RoseвЂќ for Record of the Year), and its video - directed by Antoine Fuqua, whose subsequent list of Hollywood credits includes the new Jake Gyllenhall film Southpaw - won MTV Video Music Awards for Best Rap Video and Best Video From a Film.

The single soared to the top of the pop charts in 16 countries, including the U.S., eventually becoming BillboardвЂ™s Number One song for 1995 - the first time that a rap song had ever held the distinction of being a year-end chart-topper on the Hot 100.Д«ut the accomplishments didnвЂ™t stop there. Released in August 1995 in conjunction with the Michelle Pfeiffer vehicle Dangerous Minds, and boosted by a memorable video that featured the actress and various clips from the film, вЂњGangstaвЂ™s ParadiseвЂќ not only transcended its original soundtrack tie-in, but also managed to transcend the widely-perceived stylistic and commercial limitations of hip-hop.

Distinguished by CoolioвЂs thoughtful lyrics and distinctive verbal flow, L.V.вЂ™s gospel-tinged wail and Doug RasheedвЂ™s starkly funky production, the song is a deeply affecting listening experience - and its hook, lifted from Stevie WonderвЂs 1976 track вЂњPastime Paradise,вЂќ was absolutely impossible to shake. During the last five months of 1995, it was virtually impossible to go anywhere without hearing the soulful, streetwise strains of вЂњGangstaвЂ™s ParadiseвЂќ blasting out of somebodyвЂ™s radio.

The mine song gangsta rap made me do it