Rapper Coolio's Gangsta's Paradise lyrics shone light on his turbulent life

dailystar.co.uk:

READ MORE: Gangsta's Paradise rapper Coolio dies aged 59 in his 'mate's bathroom'The rapper crafted his lyrics to help convey the feelings of the youngsters living in the shadow of gang life with little or no hope for a way out as they grew older.The song takes on a religious theme, opening with a line from Psalm 23:4: "As I walk through the valley of the shadow of death," before diverting into the freestyle lyrics that set the tempo for the rest of track: "I take a look at my life and realise there's nothin' left."Coolio admitted that the lyrics came to him very quickly in just one sitting, and he would later claim that the song was a creation from outside his own control even, saying: "Gangsta’s Paradise wanted to be born; it wanted to come to life, and it chose me as the vessel."The single was one of the only songs released by Coolio to contain no swearing due to it featuring a sample of Stevie Wonder's 1976 track Pastime Paradise.Coolio previous explained how Stevie did not want profanities used on the soundtrack of his song.He said: "I had a few vulgarities...

and he wasn't with that. So I changed it. Once he heard it, he thought it was incredible."While the chart-topper grew up in the poverty-stricken Californian city of Compton, he insisted the song was not written about him, but instead about the kids in Dangerous Minds whose lives are out of control and torn apart by gang culture.However, Coolio – real name Artis Leon Ivey Jr – could certainly have drawn comparisons to the movie's young stars from his own youth.Having struggled as a young man growing up in a poor neighbourhood he found himself becoming a gangbanger and ultimately a juvenile offender in his teens.The violent and demeaning lifestyle led to him.