Why Stevie Wonder Earns 95% Of The Royalties From A Hit Song He Didn’t Even Write

Summary

• Stevie Wonder claimed 95% of the royalties for "Gangsta's Paradise".
• Stevie Wonder made Coolio re-record the lyrics to the song to remove explicit content before clearing the sample.
• Stevie Wonder continues to profit from "Gangsta's Paradise" through streaming, even after Coolio's death in 2022.

There's nobody in the world who would question Stevie Wonder's credentials. He's one of the most revered and versatile musicians of his era, and despite not releasing new music in over two decades, he remains one of the best-selling musicians of all time as well.

Stevie Wonder's hands-on approach to recording means that he usually collects the royalties for writing all his own songs, but there's one notable instance in which this wasn't the case. In fact, Wonder managed to work out a deal in which he would be credited as a songwriter and collect 95% of the royalties for a song that he didn't even work on. It remains one of his most successful earners to this day.

Stevie Wonder Claimed Most Of The Royalties For 'Gangsta's Paradise' Because It Sampled Him

Stevie Wonder hit his commercial peak with Songs In The Key Of Life, a sprawling double album that won the Grammy Award for Album of the Year in 1977. The album contained lots of classic singles, but "Pastime Paradise", one of the mid-tempo songs on the second half, failed to generate much attention.

That was, until rapper Coolio and producer Doug Rasheed decided to sample it for their rap single "Gangsta's Paradise" in 1995. The single was not only a hit, it was the single-biggest hit of 1995, with a list of accomplishments that includes:

• Selling five million copies worldwide
• Topping the Billboard Hot 100 for multiple weeks
• Winning the Grammy for Best Rap Solo Performance

The only problem was, "Gangsta's Paradise" borrowed quite a bit from Stevie Wonder's "Pastime Paradise." The songs have similar instrumentals, and the chorus, which is sung by L.V., interpolates Wonder's original chorus and simply changes a few words.

Stevie Wonder and his legal team held all the power, and they decided to wield it. According to Financial Times, the musician decided to claim 95% of the song royalties for "Gangsta's Paradise", which meant there would only be 5% to split between Coolio and the other writers.

Coolio recounted the deal to Rolling Stone in 2015:

"He wanted 95 percent of the publishing! Had I known that, I’m not sure I would have went ahead with that — but I don’t know, maybe I would have."

The sizable downgrade in profit, especially for such a popular song, led to tension between Coolio and the other songwriters: Doug Rasheed and L.V.. Doug Rasheed sued Coolio for $400K in 1997, claiming that the rapper took the money needed to clear the Stevie Wonder sample out of his portion of the paycheck. The suit was settled out of court.

Stevie Wonder Made Coolio Re-Record The Lyrics To The Song Before Clearing The Sample

Stevie Wonder had multiple problems with "Gangsta's Paradise." For one, the musician was upset that Coolio did not approach him and ask for permission prior to making the song, as is customary within the recording industry. Then there were the lyrics. The original version of "Gangsta's Paradise" had explicit lyrics, which was something Wonder was fundamentally against.

Coolio told Rolling Stone that Stevie Wonder refused to clear the sample after hearing the original version, and made it clear that he didn't want his music aligned with something that was overtly negative:

"When Stevie heard it, he was like, 'No, no way. I’m not letting my song be used in some gangster song.' So that was a problem."

Coolio was unsure of what to do, but thankfully, his wife at the time, Josefa Salinas, knew Stevie Wonder's brother, and she worked out an arrangement in which Wonder would clear the sample as long as Coolio re-recorded the lyrics without cursing.

Some historians and music critics have theorized that Wonder's request actually helped to broaden the appeal, and the ultimate success of "Gangsta's Paradise."

Stevie Wonder did not appear to hold a grudge against Coolio, however, and he appeared alongside the rapper and L.V. when they performed "Gangsta's Paradise" at the Billboard Music Awards in 1995.

The irony, of course, is that Stevie Wonder took a backseat to Coolio and L.V. during the performance, when, in reality, he was making significantly more from the song than either of them.

Stevie Wonder Continues To Profit From 'Gangsta's Paradise' After Coolio's Death In 2023

Stevie Wonder has an estimated net worth of $200 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth, and most of this comes from royalties and album sales. He has an enormous catalog of hits that continue to be licensed and used in commercials, and yet, "Gangsta's Paradise" is the song that has made him the most money from streaming.

That's right, the man who wrote "Superstition" and "Sir Duke" actually makes more from the Spotify streams of "Gangsta's Paradise", despite not being in the room when the song was created. A quick look at the most-streamed songs in which Wonder is a credited writer show just how relevant "Gangsta's Paradise" remains to listeners in the modern day:

That is a significant gap, and its one that Wonder continues to profit from despite the fact that the lead artist on "Gangsta's Paradise", Coolio, died in 2022. Coolio actually considered selling his music publishing in 2013, according to The Guardian, and the rapper was offering a price range of $134-$224K.

As noted by Billboard, however, Coolio's death led to a major boost in his streaming numbers. Lesser-known songs like "Fantastic Voyage" and "C U When U Get There" rose in popularity, but the biggest spike was, of course, reserved for "Gangsta's Paradise", which saw a sizable 14% streaming increase the day that the rapper's death was reported.

The outlet lamented the fact that Coolio could not benefit from the financial boost that his death caused (as is customary when a notable artist passes), but Stevie Wonder did in fact profit greatly, given that nearly all the "Gangsta's Paradise" royalties go to him.

The bizarre capper to the Stevie Wonder and Coolio saga is that Coolio died on September 29, 2022, which was 46 years to the day that Wonder released Songs In The Key Of Life, and fans heard "Pastime Paradise" for the first time.