Format 12" single, CD single Label Tommy Boy Records | Recorded 1993 | |
Released March 8, 1994 (1994-03-08) Genre West coast hip hop, G-funk, gangsta rap Length 5:32 (Main version)
4:08 (Radio version) | ||
"Fantastic Voyage" is a song by American rapper Coolio. It was released in March 1994 as the third single from his debut album, It Takes a Thief. The song later featured on the album Fantastic Voyage: The Greatest Hits. The song samples "Fantastic Voyage" by Lakeside.
Contents
Content
According to Allmusic's Jason Lymangrover, "With its infectious 'Slide, slide, slippity slide' chorus, it went unnoticed that his breakthrough single, 'Fantastic Voyage,' was actually a song about escapism."
Here, as in the artists' "Gangster's Paradise," Coolio laments the realities of urban black poverty. He writes "Tryin' to find a place... where my kids can play outside without livin' in fear of a drive by."
Music video
The music video features Coolio napping on his front porch, when he gets a phone call from his friend Spoon that wakes him. Spoon asks about taking a trip to the beach, to which an annoyed Coolio responds "we ain't got no car" and hangs up on him. Suddenly a mysterious man with a 70's style suit, afro, and cane appears and turns the bicycle sitting upside down on Coolio's driveway into a convertible car. Now with a means of transportation, Coolio and his crew head to the beach. The rest of the video features Coolio at the beach helping the crowd of passengers out of the trunk of the car for a beach party, which includes people of all races and a mariachi band. At the end of the video, the car is transformed back into a bicycle on Coolio's driveway, and Coolio is woken again by a phone call from Spoon, showing that the trip was all a dream. Coolio reminds him that they have no car, tells him to quit calling, and hangs up. Then Coolio looks at the bike--to see the car's license plate hanging off the bike. This leaves him wondering if the events were really a dream and dresses the stage for the video "I Remember."
Official versions
http://www.discogs.com/Coolio-Fantastic-Voyage/master/100528
Chart performance
"Fantastic Voyage" peaked at number twelve on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks, two on Hot Rap Singles and three on the Billboard Hot 100. The song sold one million copies domestically and received a platinum certification from the Recording Industry Association of America.