The song was listed at number 85 on Billboard's Greatest Songs of All-Time and number one biggest selling single of 1995 on U.S. Billboard. It was ranked number 38 on VH1's 100 Greatest Songs of Hip Hop. Coolio was awarded a Grammy for Best Rap Solo Performance, two MTV Video Music Award's for Best Rap Video and for Best Video from a Film and a Billboard Music Award for the song/album. The song was voted as the best single of the year in The Village Voice Pazz & Jop critics poll.
The song first appeared on the Dangerous Minds film as a soundtrack. The video took a novel approach, with Coolio appearing in a dialogue with Michelle Pfeiffer, who was in character as the teacher she portrayed in the film.
