“Gangsta’s Paradise” by Coolio

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Tone and Themes
Poetic Devices
The Close Reading of the Song’s Text
Conclusion
References

Introduction

Coolio’s“Gangsta’s Paradise” is one of the most popular rap songs ever, and it is even listed among the best songs of all times by Billboard (Rubin 86). The song is largely derived from Stevie Wonder’s song “Pastime Paradise”. The chorus and the music of Coolio’s song are taken from Stevie Wonder. However, the verses are written by Coolio himself. This song is a tribute of what life is like in the ghetto. In this song, Coolio openly shares his own problems that were his real life issues when he lived in Compton, California (Rubin 86). The success of this song is explained by the riches of its contents as it has an appealing message both for those who never knew about the problems of the inhabitants of the ghetto, and for those who had to go through a variety of terrible hardships of living there. In the following paper, I aim to do a close reading of “Gansta’s Paradise” by Coolio to see the depth of ideas, peculiar to rap and hip hop music in it. Overall, the key idea that Coolio is trying to narrate to his audience is the necessity to overcome the problem of violence in the ghetto.

Tone and Themes

The overall tone of “Gangsta’s Paradise” is rather pessimistic and gloomy. It is dark, self-criticizing, and tragic. This is explained by the fact that the author of the song is preoccupied with all the pain and sufferings, that life in the ghetto offers to people, and that he wants to bring the message about the necessity to change the situation to the other people. This is a traditional tone and mood for rap songs as it can be seen from a variety of sources (Brooks A29; Dimitriadis 426; Cobb 109).

The main themes reveled in this piece of music are life on the streets, criticism of violence and gangs, and the appeal to the audience to really think about the fact that “the ones we hurt, are you and me” (“Hip-hop & rap: complete lyrics” 52). These are traditional themes and the traditional aesthetics for the rap music genre (Cobb 110; Schloss 102).

Poetic Devices

Coolio applies a number of effective poetic devices in order to make his lyrics more appealing. The techniques used by Coolio are peculiar for rap and hip hop singers as they try to emphasize their message to the public by means of strong language means. Thus, their importance is in having a stronger appeal to the audience. Among them are internal rhyme and end rhyme, rhyming couplets, alliteration, assonance, consonance, and repetition. Internal rhyme is a poetical device, which is in rhyming a word in the beginning of the line with the word in the ending of the line or in the next lines. The examples of internal rhyme in the song are “talking” and “walking”, “in the night” and “in the streetlight”, etc. (Hip-hop & rap: complete lyrics” 52). End rhyme is the poetical device, which is in rhyming the ending syllables in lines. The example of internal rhyme in the song is:

Tell me why are we, so blind to see
That the ones we hurt, are you and me (Hip-hop & rap: complete lyrics” 52).

Rhyming couplets are two lines of the same length that complete the only thought or idea. The example of such phenomenon in the song is:

They say I gotta learn, but nobody’s here to teach me
If they can’t understand it, how can they reach me (Hip-hop & rap: complete lyrics” 53).

Alliteration is a literary means of stressing the importance of the author’s message by using the same sound in the beginning of a number of words. The example of this device is “minute after minute, hour after hour” (Hip-hop & rap: complete lyrics” 52). Assonance is a literary device used for emphasizing ideas, which is in repeating similar vowel sounds in a poetic line. The example of this device in the song is “I take a look at my life and realize” (Hip-hop & rap: complete lyrics” 52). Consonance is similar to assonance, but it is made up by consonant sounds. The example of it in the song is “even my mama thinks that my mind is gone” (Hip-hop & rap: complete lyrics” 52). Finally, repetition is commonly used by poets and the writers of rap music lyrics for highlighting the main idea of their works. The example of repetition in the song is:

Been spending most their lives, living in the gangsta’s paradise
Been spending most their lives, living in the gangsta’s paradise
Keep spending most our lives, living in the gangsta’s paradise
Keep spending most our lives, living in the gangsta’s paradise (Hip-hop & rap: complete lyrics” 52).

The Close Reading of the Song’s Text

The song begins with “As I walk through the valley of the shadow of death” (“Hip-hop & rap: complete lyrics” 51). This line is the allusion to the Biblical verse in Psalm 23. By means of making connections with the text of the Bible, the author adds religious and philosophic overtones to his piece of art. This creates a special atmosphere that enables the listeners to see the depth of Coolio’s ideas that he has incorporated into the text.

Next we read: “I take a look at my life and realize there’s notin left cause I’ve been blastin’ and laughin so long that even my ma’ma thinks that my mind is gone” (“Hip-hop & rap: complete lyrics” 51). In these words, Coolio shows that he has been involved into empty works such as violence and inanity to such a great extent that even his mother believes that he has lost his mind. In the line “You better watch how you talkin, and where you walkin”, Coolio warns young people, inhabiting dangerous territories such as the ghetto, against ill-conceived acts or otherwise they may be ‘crossed’ or will loose their propriety (“Hip-hop & rap: complete lyrics” 52).This means that being in the inappropriate location, saying something wrong, or even, being considered a member of a certain group of people may cost a young man his life. This is a typical message revealed in rap songs (Brooks A29).

In the lines “I really hate to trip, but I gottaloc’- as they croak I see myself in the pistol smoke”, Coolio says that he hates this kind of life when he has to ‘trip’ and experience constant gun smoke signifying the smell of death (“Hip-hop & rap: complete lyrics” 52). In terms of rap music, ‘trip’ means to be high on the reason of drugs. This term also suggests the idea of being crazy under the influence of drugs or on the other reason. The suffix ‘loc’ is also of interest because it suggests the idea of being a crip or an insignificant creature that is not able to change the state of affairs. In these lines, Coolio also explains that weapons, and especially pistols, are something that the inhabitants of the ghetto have to face on a daily basis, but he hates it, and wants to find a way out to a better way of living. “On my knees in the nightsayin’ prayers in the street light” lines suggest that the author’s desire to escape from this sad place is so huge that he is constantly praying to God to ask him to save him, and his prayers are desperate as he stands on his knees (“Hip-hop & rap: complete lyrics” 52). Definitely, these lines are some of the most eloquent in explaining how badly the narrator wants to have a better chance in life. To make an emphasis on his desperate mental disposition, the author utilizes repetition in the following lines:

Been spending most their lives living in the Gangsta’s Paradise
Been spending most their lives living in the Gangsta’s Paradise
Keep spending most our lives living in the Gangsta’s Paradise
Keep spending most our lives living in the Gangsta’s Paradise (“Hip-hop & rap: complete lyrics” 52).

The use of repetition is by far the most effective way, which one may use to get across the audience’s minds, and in this part of the song, the application of this poetic means is really approved by the need to highlight the general idea that the author aims to reveal in the song.

In the sequent lines “They got the situation, they got me facin’I can’t live a normal life, I was raised by the strip so I gotta be down with the hood team”, the narrator makes an accent on the fact that he would like to change his life, but he has no options to do so as the community around him is trying to eat him up alive. In these lines, he also explains that the crowd around him pushes him to act like they do, and they leave no space for a choice to any individual. This is a common phenomenon that takes place in districts, inhabited by poor black people as those who feel themselves leaders there always impose their rules of bad conduct to all the other inhabitants of the place. Thus, despite the fact that Coolio hates this kind of life and does not want to engage in bad practices, his neighbors do not leave him a chance to escape bad deeds.

The words “too much television watchin’ got me chasin’ dreams” suggest that the narrator has his bright dreams regarding future (“Hip-hop & rap: complete lyrics” 52). Television often shows an imaginary world that people adore, but they have no idea about the fact that the world created by television artisans is only a fake reality. However, Coolio shares that he is caught in this trap of illusions, and has to suffer on the reason of his own fuzzy thinking. Coolio’s dreams are related to “money” as we see in the next line, but further we read that bright dreams are just dreams. The narrator explains that dreams are forgotten because he has to think about something else: “I’m livin life do-or-die-a, what can I say?I’m twenty-three now, but will I live to see twenty-fow’?” (“Hip-hop & rap: complete lyrics” 52). So, his main concern is simply to stay alive.

The concluding part of the song’s lyrics is even more dramatic. We read, “Tell me why are we, so blind to see that the ones we hurt, are you and me” (“Hip-hop & rap: complete lyrics” 52). Here, the narrator asks his principal question regarding the sense of living in the modern society where neighbors hurt each other. Coolio wants his audience to really think about this antinomy – why do people harm their close ones, those who surround them, and are supposed to be protected, but not harmed. His question is the real essence of the whole song, and it still continues to affect people minds and hearts even after decades after the release of the song. To emphasize this idea, the author uses repetition in the next four lines again. Next, he explains what is really important for people instead of their close ones: “money” and “power”. Then he regrets that although people say, “I got ta learn”, there is no one around him to teach him (“Hip-hop & rap: complete lyrics” 53). Coolio stresses this paradox by means of four more lines with repetition. Finally, we see his principal appeal to the wide public:

Tell me why are we, so blind to see
That the ones we hurt, are you and me
Tell me why are we, so blind to see
That the ones we hurt, are you and me (“Hip-hop & rap: complete lyrics” 53).

Conclusion

Coolio’s “Gangsta’s Paradise” is certainly an outstanding piece of rap music. The amazing fact about this song is that it appeals not only to the lovers of rap, but to the other people as well. This is explained by the depths of ideas and thoughts reveled in the song. “Gangsta’s Paradise” is full of philosophical aesthetic regarding the meaning of life, and the importance to change modern world. It is an appeal against violence and hatred, materialism and egoism; and a call to action aiming to change the state of affairs in the world.

References

Brooks, David. “Gangsta, in French”.New York Times (2005): A29. Print.

Cobb, WilliamJelani. To the Break of Dawn.A Freestyle of the Hip Hop Aesthetic, New York: New York University Press, 2006. Print.

Dimitriadis, Greg. “Hip-Hop: From Live Performance to Mediated Narrative”. The Hip-Hop Studies Reader (2004): 421-435. Print.

Hip-hop & rap: complete lyrics for 175 songs. Milwaukee, Wisconsin: Hal Leonard, 2003. Print.

Rubin, Mike. “Fantastic Voyage. Coolio’s pop-friendly hip-hop may seem bouncy and innocent, but his past was no gangsta’s paradise.”Spin 11.12 (1996): 86. Print.

Schloss, Joseph. “Sampling Ethics”.Making Beats. The Art of Sample-Based Hip-Hop. Middletown, Connecticut: Wesleyan University Press, 2004. 101-133. Print.

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