Who was the first rapper to have a UK number one single?
While Vanilla Ice is credited as the first rapper to ever secure a number-one single in the American charts in 1990, it took another five years for a rapper to top the charts in the United Kingdom. That was a job for Coolio.
With ‘Gangsta’s Paradise,’ Coolio had created a real gem. The song was a global smash, becoming a chart-topper not only in America but in many other countries, too. In Australia it remained at number one for 14 weeks, which was a record it held for the next two decades.
It broke records in the UK, too, becoming the first ever rap song to top the charts in the country. Despite its clear roots in American gangsta culture, the Brits loved it.
The song debuted at number one when it was released in the summer of 1995 in the UK, and, by the year’s end, it was classified as the second best-selling single of the year, lagging behind only Robson & Jerome’s ‘Unchained Melody/White Cliffs Of Dover.’ Those were two very different songs to capture the public’s attention.
Even today, 31 years after its release, ‘Gangsta’s Paradise’ remains a classic song in the UK. It has even reappeared in the chart data several times through the years, proving its enduring, if somewhat surprising, appeal to British listeners.
The first return to the UK charts came in 2009, when Coolio appeared as a contestant on the reality show Celebrity Big Brother. He, again, proved his appeal among Brits on the show by securing a respectable third place finish, while there was a notable resurgence of interest in ‘Gangsta’s Paradise,’ too.
The song entered the charts again in 2022, but this time in tragic circumstances. That was the year Coolio died, with his passing spurring lots of people to rediscover his signature song.
Not only did the track appear again on the British charts, but it also did well in America and across the world. Listeners in Greece, Poland, Belgium, Czechia and Lithuania all drove the song back into the top 100 of their respective charts. A quarter-century after its original release, the song was back on the airwaves.
Coolio gigged in the UK many times throughout his life, once describing his “UK fans, friends and fellow artists as family.” The only issue he ever had with British people was when he did a stage-dive into a crowd in Stoke and they stole the shoes from his feet. That was the only stain on an otherwise tight bond.