Inner City Life


"Inner City Life" is a 1994 single by British electronic musician Goldie. It features vocals by British singer Diane Charlemagne. The single is taken from his acclaimed 1995 debut album, Timeless and is one of the most iconic drum and bass works of its era. It peaked at number 39 in the UK. In 2013, the song was ranked No. 30 in Mixmags list of "50 Greatest Dance Tracks of All Time".

Background and release

"Inner City Life" is a portion of the album's first track, "Timeless: Inner City Life/Pressure/Jah", which is a 21-minute opus. The song fuses the breakbeats and basslines common in jungle with orchestral textures and soul vocals by Diane Charlemagne. It has been described as a ghetto-blues ballad, 'a yearning reverie of sanctuary from "inner-city pressure"'. The track features a sample from Ike Turner's song "Funky Mule", from his 1969 album A Black Man's Soul.
"Inner City Life" peaked at No. 49 on the UK Singles Chart in 1994. In 1995, it re-entered the chart, peaking at No. 39. "Inner City Life" was performed live at The Word on Channel 4 and it was included on the soundtrack to the film Trainspotting. At the time of the release, the single didn't receive much radio play, according to Goldie. In a 2008 interview, he said:

Critical reception

Rupert Howe from Muzik wrote,
Charles Aaron from Spin noted,

Music video

The music video of "Inner City Life" was directed by Mike Lipscombe. The video has a sepia tone.

Impact and legacy

In 1996, Mixmag ranked "Inner City Life" at No. 34 in its list of the best singles of 1996, "Mixmag End of Year Lists: 1996".
In 2013, Complex included it in their list of "The 15 Best Songs From the Electronica Era". They noted, "Chock full of soul, precision breakbeat edits, and strings, "Inner City Life" helped let the mainstream know that drum & bass was more than the chin-stroking dark sounds in the corner, and was more than capable of making tracks that could move you emotionally." Same year the song was ranked No. 30 in Mixmags list of "50 Greatest Dance Tracks of All Time".
In 2018, Time Out listed the track at No. 23 in their "50 best '90s songs" list, adding, "Fusing jungle’s intricate breakbeats, sub bass and unbridled futurism with heart-aching soul soundscapes and the lamenting voice of Diane Charlemagne, this beautiful-yet-brutal piece of sonic art switched an entire generation on to the power of jungle and D&B."

Accolades

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Track listing

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Cover versions, samples and remixes