Tell me why are we so blind to see That the ones we hurt are you and me?
Social struggle, mortality, and the cycle of street life.
The track is famously built on a sample from Stevie Wonder's 1976 song "Pastime Paradise". Coolio often noted that the lyrics felt as though they "wanted to be born," claiming he wrote the majority of the song in one sitting after freestyling the initial lines. Song Overview Coolio feat. L.V. Album: Gangsta's Paradise (1995)
The song's emotional core is delivered through the haunting chorus performed by :
"I'm 23 now, but will I live to see 24?"—a line Coolio wrote while actually in his early 30s. Primary Lyrics (Chorus & Hook)