Dangerous Minds may have slipped into movie obscurity but Coolio’s “Gangsta’s Paradise” video is still iconic today. Released in 1995, Dangerous Minds told the tale of a white teacher who gets a job at an inner-city high school in Palo Alto and inspires the at-risk minority teens she teaches. The film is based on the autobiography My Posse Don’t Do Homework by U.S. Marine-turned-teacher LouAnne Johnson who is played by Michelle Pfeiffer, who starred alongside Courtney B. Vance (Lovecraft Country), Lorraine Toussaint (Into The Badlands) and Con Air star Renoly Santiago.
Despite its predictably patronizing white savior narrative, Dangerous Minds was a surprise box office hit that grossed almost $180 million worldwide against a $23 million budget. A movie making a lot of money isn’t necessarily a mark of quality, however, and that was the case with Dangerous Minds, which critics concurred was hokey at best and offensive at worst. That’s probably best demonstrated by the TV spinoff of the same name starring Annie Potts (Toy Story) that was developed in the wake of the film’s success but only lasted for one season.
Since its release Dangerous Minds has slipped into relative cinematic obscurity but the video for Coolio’s song “Gangsta’s Paradise” is a different matter. “Gangsta’s Paradise” was penned by Coolio and R&B singer L.V. and featured the catchiest of hooks sampled from Stevie Wonder’s 1976 song “Pastime Paradise.” The song was released in conjunction with Dangerous Minds in August 1995 and dominated the airwaves and MTV for the rest of the year. It was a huge success that topped the charts in several countries and nabbed Coolio a Grammy for Best Rap Solo Performance.
The video for “Gangsta’s Paradise” was directed by Antoine Fuqua who would go on to direct acclaimed crime thriller Training Day. It featured Coolio facing-off against Michelle Pfeiffer - reprising her Dangerous Minds role - as the former rapped the song’s lyrics and was intercut with scenes from the movie and L.V. singing the chorus. The video was as big a hit as the song itself and won two awards – Best Rap Video and Best Video from a Film – at the 1996 MTV Video Music Awards.
“Gangsta’s Paradise” has been since covered by several artists including Austrian melodic death metal band Artas, jazz outfit Postmodern Jukebox and – most famously – Weird Al Yankovic. More than twenty years after it came out, Coolio’s song remains as quotable as the day it was released. Meanwhile, nobody is rushing to film a Dangerous Minds remake.
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