Gangsta's Paradise

"Be it wrong or right...these are the geto highlites". In that one line lies the genius of Coolio (even if he can't spell "ghetto"). From this disc's first track--a short dialogue that sums up both the violent, inexorable sameness and the strange attraction of ghetto life--to the Grammy-winning title track, Coolio and his crew take an unflinching look at life on the streets of America. The music--sampled from, and made possible by, the likes of Stevie Wonder, the Evasions and Kool And The Gang--stays compelling throughout. Despite his hard-edged stance, Coolio shows a decided preference for summertime cruising grooves, the kind that make you wanna put your arm up on a hot aluminum door strip and watch the underworld go by.