Home | Songs By Year | Songs from 1995
Fast Life (Kool G Rap song)
Buy Fast Life (Kool G Rap song) now from AmazonFirst, read the Wikipedia article. Then, scroll down to see what other TopShelfReviews readers thought about the song. And once you've experienced the song, tell everyone what you thought about it.
Wikipedia article
{{Infobox song
| name = Fast Life
| cover = Kool G Rap - Fast Life.jpg
| alt =
| type = single
| artist = Kool G Rap featuring Nas Escobar
| album = 4,5,6
| B-side = 4,5,6
| released = November 14, 1995
| format =
| recorded = 1995
| studio =
| venue =
| genre = Mafioso rap
| length = 4:55
| label =
| writer =
* Nathaniel Wilson
* Nasir Jones
* Ed Townsend
| producer = Buckwild
| chronology = Kool G Rap
| prev_title = It's a Shame
| prev_year = 1995
| next_title = Hey Mister Mister
| next_year = 1996
| misc =
}}
'"Fast Life"' is the second single from American hip hop artist Kool G Rap's 1995 album '4,5,6', featuring Nas Escobar. Released with the song "4,5,6" as a B-side, it later also featured on the compilation album 'Greatest Hits' (2002).
Background
Produced by Buckwild, "Fast Life" is a track that glorifies the criminal lifestyle with Kool G Rap and Nas Escobar portraying themselves as powerful and wealthy cocaine kingpins, boasting of their luxurious possessions and ruthless efficiency. The Mafioso theme of "Fast Life" is set early as the song opens with a sound bite from the 1983 film 'Scarface' (Al Pacino's Tony Montana saying "The time has come, we gotta expand, the whole operation. Distribution, New York, to Chicago, L.A. We gotta set our own market, and enforce it.") and Nas later references such mob figures as Lucky Luciano, Bugsy Siegel and Frankie Yale. G Rap and Nas go line for line in the third and final verse of the song which 'Complex' has described as "mind-blowing".[http://www.complex.com/music/2011/05/the-100-best-nas-songs/kool-g-rap-f-nas-fast-life-1995 The 100 Best Nas Songs][http://www.complex.com/music/2013/02/the-50-best-nas-verses/kool-g-rap-nas-fast-life The 50 Best Nas Verses] The song's chorus goes as follows:
:Livin the fast life, in fast cars
:Everywhere we go, people know who we are
:A team from out of Queens with the American Dream
:So we're plottin' up a scheme to get the seven figure C.R.E.A.M.
Speaking of his collaboration with fellow Queens rapper Nas in a 2014 interview, Kool G Rap stated:
Music video
The music video for "Fast Life" was directed by Brian "Black" Luvar and shows Kool G Rap and Nas Escobar living lavishly as they plot the construction of a mythical "Fast Life Hotel and Casino".[http://articles.dailypress.com/1995-12-01/features/9512010169_1_kool-g-rap-hampton-roads-dj-polo The King Of Kool]
Samples
"Fast Life" samples the following songs:[http://www.whosampled.com/Kool-G-Rap/Fast-Life/ Fast Life at Who Sampled]
*"Trackin' Shoes" by A.B. Skhy
*"Happy" by Surface
And was later sampled on:
*"Jam" by A Tribe Called Quest featuring Consequence
*"Still Strugglin'" by Raekwon
*"Gunz From Italy" by Club Dogo featuring Kool G Rap
*"Fast Life" by Bassi Maestro
*"Fast Lane" by Vado featuring Raekwon
*"AutumnLeaves" by Bones (rapper)
Track listing
12"
;A-side#"Fast Life" (Original) (4:54)
#"Fast Life" (Instrumental) (4:54)
#"Fast Life" (Acapella) (3:52)
;B-side
#"4,5,6" (Original) (3:20)
#"4,5,6" (Instrumental) (3:20)
CD
#"Fast Life" (Original) (4:54)#"Fast Life" (Instrumental) (4:54)
#"Fast Life" (Acapella) (4:50)
#"4,5,6" (Original) (3:20)
#"4,5,6" (Instrumental) (3:20)
Charts
References
Buy Fast Life (Kool G Rap song) now from Amazon
<-- Return to songs from 1995