I Wish (Skee-Lo song)

"I Wish"
Single by Skee-Lo
from the album I Wish
ReleasedApril 10, 1995 (1995-04-10)
StudioSunshine (Hollywood, Los Angeles)
GenreAlternative hip hop
Length4:10
Label
Songwriter(s)Antoine Roundtree
Producer(s)
Skee-Lo singles chronology
"I Wish"
(1995)
"Top of the Stairs"
(1995)
Music video
"I Wish" on YouTube

"I Wish" is a song written and performed by American rapper Skee-Lo. It was released on April 10, 1995, via Scotti Brothers Records as the lead single from the rapper's debut studio album of the same name (1995). Recording sessions took place at Sunshine Studios in Hollywood, California. Production was handled by Walter "Kandor" Kahn and Skee-Lo himself.

"I Wish" peaked at number 13 on the Billboard Hot 100 and was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America for selling 600,000 copies domestically.[1] Outside of the United States, "I Wish" peaked within the top ten of the charts in Finland, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, and Switzerland, the top 20 of the charts in Canada, Germany, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom, and the top 30 of the charts in Belgium and France.

Most of the song's instruments are sampled from "Spinnin'" by Bernard Wright,[2] and the song features a vocal sample of people shouting from the track "Buffalo Gals" by Malcolm McLaren.

The song was nominated for Grammy Award for Best Rap Solo Performance at the 38th Annual Grammy Awards but lost to Coolio's "Gangsta's Paradise". Blender listed "I Wish" as number 359 on its list of "500 Greatest Songs Since You Were Born".[3]

  1. ^ "Best-Selling Records of 1995". Billboard. Vol. 108, no. 3. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. January 20, 1996. p. 56. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved February 20, 2021.
  2. ^ White, Omari (May 10, 2018). "RESPECT. Interview: Skee-Lo Reminisces on Classic Hit Song, Gives NBA Playoffs Predictions". Respect. Archived from the original on May 10, 2018. Retrieved February 20, 2021 – via Wayback Machine.
  3. ^ "Blender Magazine Greatest Songs Since You Were Born". Blender. September 12, 2005. ISSN 1534-0554. Archived from the original on January 11, 2010. Retrieved February 20, 2021.