"Inner City Life" is a song by British

electronic Electronic may refer to: *Electronics, the science of how to control electric energy in semiconductors * ''Electronics'' (magazine), a defunct American trade journal *Electronic storage, the storage of data using an electronic device *Electronic c ...

musician

Goldie Clifford Joseph Price MBE (born 19 September 1965), better known as Goldie, is an English music producer, DJ, and actor. Initially gaining exposure for his work as a graffiti artist, Goldie became well known for his pioneering role as a musi ...

featuring vocals by British singer Diane Charlemagne, released in November 1994 by

FFRR Records FFRR Records (sometimes credited as Full Frequency Range Recordings) is a dance music label founded as a subsidiary of London Records in 1986, with A&R run by the British DJ Pete Tong. Originally a part of London Records' label roster, F ...

as the first single from his acclaimed debut album, '' Timeless'' (1995). The song was written by Goldie with Rob Playford, and is widely considered one of the most iconic

drum and bass Drum and bass (commonly abbreviated as DnB, D&B, or D'n'B) is a genre of electronic dance music characterised by fast Break (music)#Breakbeat (element of music), breakbeats (typically 165–185 Tempo, beats per minute) with heavy Bass (music) ...

works of its era. Accompanied by a music video directed by Mike Lipscombe, it peaked at No. 39 on the UK Singles Chart and No. 6 on the

UK Dance Chart The Dance Singles Chart and the Dance Albums Chart are music charts compiled in the United Kingdom by the Official Charts Company from sales of songs in the electronic dance music, dance music genre (e.g. house music, house, trance music, trance, ...

. ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...

'' ranked "Inner City Life" No. 11 in their list of the "50 Best Songs of 1994". In 2022 and 2025, ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'' and ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' magazine included it in their lists of the best dance songs of all time.

Background and release

"Inner City Life" is a portion of Goldie's album '' Timeless''' first track, "Timeless: Inner City Life/Pressure/Jah", which is a 21-minute opus. The song fuses the breakbeats and basslines common in

jungle jungle is land covered with dense forest and tangled vegetation, usually in tropical climates. Application of the term has varied greatly during the past century. Etymology The word ''jungle'' originates from the Sanskrit word ''jaṅgala'' ...

with orchestral textures and soul vocals by Diane Charlemagne. Goldie was a fan of her band 52nd Street and had sampled a record by them. He told in an interview with ''

DJ Mag ''DJ Magazine'' (also known as ''DJ Mag'') is a British monthly magazine dedicated to electronic dance music and DJs. Founded in 1991, the magazine is adapted for distribution in the United Kingdom, the United States, Spain, France, Italy, Lati ...

'' in 2024, "I'm hearing this voice of an angel. Oh my goodness, it's the same singer from 52nd Street, I really want to work with her. I want to make this beautiful song vicariously through her." "Inner City Life" has been described as a ghetto-

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and song of Great Britain and Ireland from the Late Middle Ages until the 19th century. They were widely used across Eur ...

, 'a yearning reverie of sanctuary from "inner-city pressure"' and features a sample from

Ike Turner Izear Luster "Ike" Turner Jr. (November 5, 1931 – December 12, 2007) was an American musician, bandleader, songwriter, record producer, and talent scout. An early pioneer of 1950s rock and roll, he is best known for his work in the 1960s and ...

's song "Funky Mule", from his 1969 album, '' A Black Man's Soul''. Goldie/Metal Heads became the first jungle act to make the Radio One playlist, albeit the N-list, with the track. Before the release on 21 November 1994, Goldie said, "A lot of the original underground

rave A rave (from the verb: '' to rave'') is a dance party at a warehouse, club, or other public or private venue, typically featuring performances by DJs playing electronic dance music. The style is most associated with the early 1990s dance mus ...

tracks had a very euphoric feel about them, I wanted to give my track a euphoria so wide you had to be drawn into it." "Inner City Life" peaked at No. 49 on the UK Singles Chart same year. In 1995, it re-entered the chart, peaking at No. 39. "Inner City Life" was performed live at '' The Word'' on

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

and it was included on the soundtrack to the film ''

Trainspotting Trainspotting may refer to: * Trainspotting (hobby), an amateur interest in railways/railroads * ''Trainspotting'' (novel), a 1993 novel by Irvine Welsh ** ''Trainspotting'' (film), a 1996 film based on the novel *** ''Trainspotting'' (soundt ...

'' ('' Trainspotting 2: Music from the Motion Picture, Vol. 2''). At the time of the release, the single didn't receive much radio play, according to Goldie.

Critical reception

Andy Kellman from

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

described the song as "emotive".

Larry Flick Larry Flick is an American journalist, former dance music columnist, single reviewer, and Senior Talent Editor for ''Billboard'' magazine, where he worked for 14 years. Now he produces and hosts Sirius XM radio shows. Flick started in the musi ...

from ''

'' magazine named it a "flawless gem". Ben Turner from ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' stated, "'Inner City Life' perhaps said it all – the sound of an intense and explosive urban city under a hot beautiful sunlight. The kind of feeling that something is about to blow. And that was jungle."

Simon Reynolds Simon Reynolds (born 19 June 1963) is an English music journalist and author who began his career at ''Melody Maker'' in the mid-1980s. He subsequently worked as a freelancer and published a number of books on music and popular culture. Reynold ...

from ''

Melody Maker ''Melody Maker'' was a British weekly music magazine, one of the world's earliest music weeklies; according to its publisher, IPC Media, the earliest. In January 2001, it was merged into "long-standing rival" (and IPC Media sister publicatio ...

'' felt the "gorgeous jazzy vocals and Goldie's angelic/demonic strings could well make 'Inner City Life' the '

Unfinished Sympathy "Unfinished Sympathy" is a song by the English trip hop group Massive Attack. It was released on 11 February 1991 under the temporary group name Massive. The song was written by the three band members Robert "3D" Del Naja, Andrew "Mushroom" Vow ...

' of jungle". Another ''Melody Maker'' editor,

Sarra Manning Sarra Manning is an English writer and journalist. She attended the University of Sussex and took an English with media studies degree. She became a freelance writer after submitting her work to '' Melody Maker''. She worked as the entertainmen ...

, praised the "caramel cream vocals" of Diane Charlemagne, "melting out urban angst platitudes over some more bass-heavy, bubbling fat noises." Dom Phillips from ''

Music & Media ''Music & Media'' was a pan-European magazine for radio, music and entertainment. It was published for the first time in 1984 as ''Eurotipsheet'', but in 1986 it changed name to ''Music & Media''. It was originally based in Amsterdam, but later m ...

'' noted its "vocal future jungle delights", while Maria Jimenez remarked the "soulful

breakbeat Breakbeat is a broad type of electronic music that uses drum breaks, often sampled from early recordings of funk, jazz, and R&B. Breakbeats have been used in styles such as Florida breaks, hip-hop, jungle, drum and bass, big beat, breakbeat ...

", complimenting it as a high quality track of its dance sub-genre. Andy Beevers from ''

Music Week ''Music Week'' is a trade publication for the UK record industry distributed via a website and a monthly print magazine. It is published by Future. History Founded in 1959 as ''Record Retailer'', it relaunched on 18 March 1972 as ''Music We ...

'' gave it a score of four out of five and named it Pick of the Week in the category of dance, stating, "This is the most creative jungle tune yet. Diane Charlemagne's superb vocal soars over the plunging bass, galloping beats and almost ambient synth sweeps. It is a powerful combination that is earning DJ plays from unlikely quarters and deserves to cross over." In August 1995, Rupert Howe from ''

Muzik ''Muzik'' was a British dance music magazine published by IPC Media from June 1995 to August 2003. ''Muzik'' was created by two former ''Melody Maker'' journalists, Push and Ben Turner. Push was the editor of ''Muzik'' from its launch until he ...

'' wrote, "This is a masterpiece of melancholy, with all the dark/light, bass/melody contrasts in jungle thrown into kaleidoscopic relief. The spectral strings move disturbingly in and out of focus, the low frequencies seem to open up underneath you, and the eerie mutations of Diane Charlemagne's vocals float in the ether, utterly lost in space. Emotionally, it's all over the place - joyful one minute, intense enough to suck the daylight out of you the next. Anything to make you feel more alive." In a separate review for ''

'' in November 1994, Howe said, "This is it. Metalhead Goldie has finally fashioned a sound fusing so many of the present's finer elements that is timeless. As the track unfolds through Diane Charlemagne's spellbinding vocal hex and the splintered breakbeats you get flash-frames from a parallel landscape — fragments of

soul The soul is the purported Mind–body dualism, immaterial aspect or essence of a Outline of life forms, living being. It is typically believed to be Immortality, immortal and to exist apart from the material world. The three main theories that ...

, jungle, iced-out ambience — all encased in a holographic production that looms up like a physical presence. A soundtrack for life, wherever you choose to live it." ''NME'' editor Ted Kessler felt "it's like something from the first

Soul II Soul Soul II Soul are a British musical collective formed in London in 1988. They are best known for their two major hits; 1989's UK number five and US number eleven " Keep On Movin'", and its follow-up, the UK number one and US number four " Back to ...

album cross-pollinated with a ferocious breakbeat programmed by

Captain Kirk James Tiberius Kirk, often known as Captain Kirk, is a fictional character in the ''Star Trek'' media franchise. Originally played by Canadian actor William Shatner, Kirk first appeared in ''Star Trek'' serving aboard the starship USS ''Enterp ...

. Very space-age, very new but not quite fully realised this time." Simon Reynolds for ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. First published in 1791, it is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper. In 1993 it was acquired by Guardian Media Group Limited, and operated as a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' ...

'' said it "could turn out to be jungle's breakthrough masterpiece". Brad Beatnik from the '' RM'' Dance Update named it Tune of the Week and considered it "perhaps the most talked about record of this month". He added, "The use of the strings and strong female vocals are the defining characteristics on a tune that deserves a standing ovation." Another ''RM'' editor,

James Hamilton James Hamilton may refer to: Dukes *James Hamilton, 1st Duke of Hamilton (1606–1649), heir to the throne of Scotland *James Hamilton, 4th Duke of Hamilton (1658–1712), Scottish nobleman *James Hamilton, 5th Duke of Hamilton (1703–1743), Sco ...

, noted that Charlemagne "calmly wails in

jazz samba ''Jazz Samba'' is a bossa nova album by Stan Getz and Charlie Byrd released by Verve Records in 1962. ''Jazz Samba'' signaled the beginning of the bossa nova craze in America. Stan Getz was the featured soloist and the tracks were arranged by C ...

style through swirling shrill strings and explosively skittering 0-155-0bpm jungle beats, weird and atmospheric". Andrew Diprose from ''

Smash Hits ''Smash Hits'' was a British music magazine aimed at young adults, originally published by EMAP. It ran from 1978 to 2006, and, after initially appearing monthly, was issued fortnightly during most of that time. The name survived as a brand ...

'' also gave it four out of five, writing, "Goldie is the closest we have to a jungle pop star and 'Inner City Life' is the tune that put him there! A soft, haunting track with the infamous rolling jungle beats, hard yet, erm, soft."

Charles Aaron Charles Aaron is an American music journalist and editor, formerly for ''Spin'' magazine, where he worked for 23 years. Personal life Charles Aaron was born in Rockingham, North Carolina, and raised in Asheboro, North Carolina and Rome, Georgia ...

from ''

Spin Spin or spinning most often refers to: * Spin (physics) or particle spin, a fundamental property of elementary particles * Spin quantum number, a number which defines the value of a particle's spin * Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thr ...

'' commented, "Like

Marvin Gaye Marvin Pentz Gaye Jr. (; April 2, 1939 – April 1, 1984) was an American Rhythm and blues, R&B and soul singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. He helped shape the sound of Motown in the 1960s, first as an in-house session player an ...

ruminating while rushing, he fades a breathtaking vocal by Diane Charlemagne (plus muted trumpet) in and out of ethereal beats. Fraught with dub's tensely apocalyptic vision and

techno Techno is a genre of electronic dance music (EDM) which is generally produced for use in a continuous DJ set, with tempos being in the range from 120 to 150 beats per minute (bpm). The central rhythm is typically in common time ( ) and often ...

's hopeful twitch, this is finally the sound of an urban pulse that acknowledges both black and white expressions and tensions, and the feeling of coming up, going down, and needing to keep dancing forever. No other jungle I've heard has sounded like this. Or any other dance music, for that matter." Shane Danielsen from ''

The Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published in Sydney, Australia, and owned by Nine Entertainment. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuous ...

'' noted the "swirling strings" of the track, "underpinned by complex poly-rhythms and booming subsonics."

Music video

The accompanying music video of "Inner City Life" was directed by Mike Lipscombe. In the video, different residents of high-rise blocks appears in an urban city setting. Some scenes are filmed in a club. It features Goldie's grlfriend at the time, Tracy. Goldie told in an interview, "It was kind of special because it was shot inside Paradise Club, the double bed that we're sitting on, rolling around with Conrad, rolling around with Tracy, which is my girlfriend at the time, with Randall while the rest of the underground pass in a club, Men with a sticker with Paradise on it. While Randall was on the decks with his

BMW Bayerische Motoren Werke AG, trading as BMW Group (commonly abbreviated to BMW (), sometimes anglicised as Bavarian Motor Works), is a German multinational manufacturer of vehicles and motorcycles headquartered in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. Th ...

in the video doing a 360." In one scene, a shopping trolley is falling in slow-motion from the top of one of the blocks. Goldie told, "You know, Mike Lipscombe at the time was a brilliant director. And he said to me when I met him, 'I'll do it on one condition. That I can have a shopping trolley in it falling.' Great video." It has interchangeable

indigo InterGlobe Aviation Limited (d/b/a IndiGo), is an India, Indian airline headquartered in Gurgaon, Haryana, India. It is the largest List of airlines of India, airline in India by passengers carried and fleet size, with a 64.1% domestic market ...

and

sepia tone In photography, toning is a method of altering the color of black-and-white photographs. In analog photography, it is a chemical process carried out on metal salt-based prints, such as silver prints, iron-based prints ( cyanotype or Van Dyke ...

and was later digitall
remastered
and made available on Goldie's official

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

channel in 2020.

Impact and legacy

Upon the re-release of the song in November 1995, Mark Sutherland from ''NME'' wrote, "The smooth urban soul of 'Inner City Life' is, of course, his finest moment." Same year, ''

'' ranked it No. 4 in their list of the 20 best singles of 1995. In 1996, British clubbing magazine ''

Mixmag ''Mixmag'' is a British electronic dance and clubbing magazine published in London. Launched in 1983 as a print magazine, it has branched into dance events, including festivals and club nights. History The first issue of ''Mixmag'' was printe ...

'' ranked "Inner City Life" No. 34 in its list of the best singles of 1996, "''Mixmag'' End of Year Lists: 1996". British

DJ and producer

Fabio Fabio is a given name descended from Latin ''Fabius'' and very popular in Italy and Latin America (due to Italian migration). The name is written without an accent in Italian and Spanish, but is usually accented in Portuguese as ''Fábio'' (with t ...

named it one of his Top 10 tracks in July 1996, saying, "This track showed the scope of the music and it shocked so many people: before this record people thought drum & bass was good dance music and nothing else. This showed that the music could be as deep as

Massive Attack Massive Attack are an English trip hop collective formed in 1988 in Bristol, England, by Robert Del Naja, Robert "3D" Del Naja, Daddy G, Grant "Daddy G" Marshall, Tricky (musician), Adrian "Tricky" Thaws and Andrew Vowles, Andrew "Mushroom" ...

or anything. It's good and bad all wrapped up in one." In 2010, David Crawford called the track "epic" in his book ''10,001 Songs You Must Hear...'', adding that it "boasted swirling strings, a clattering break beat that evolved throughout the track, and Diane Charlemagne's sweet, soulful vocals on top." In 2013, ''

Complex Complex commonly refers to: * Complexity, the behaviour of a system whose components interact in multiple ways so possible interactions are difficult to describe ** Complex system, a system composed of many components which may interact with each ...

'' included it in their list of "The 15 Best Songs from the

Electronica Electronica is both a broad group of electronic-based music styles intended for listening rather than strictly for dancing and a music scene that came to prominence in the early 1990s in the United Kingdom. In the United States, the term is mos ...

Era", noting, "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 ''Mixmag''s list of "50 Greatest Dance Tracks of All Time". In 2018, '' Time Out'' ranked the track No. 23 in their "50 Best '90s Songs" list, writing, "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." In October 2022, ''

'' ranked it No. 78 in their list of the "200 Greatest Dance Songs of All Time". In March 2025, ''

'' magazine ranked it No. 12 in their "The 100 Best Dance Songs of All Time".

Accolades

(*) indicates the list is unordered.

Track listing

* 12"-single, Goldie Presents Metalheads – "Inner City Life" (1994) #"Inner City Life" #"Jah" * 12"-single, Goldie Presents Metalheads – "Inner City Life" (Remixes) (1994) #"Inner City Life" (

Roni Size Ryan Owen Granville Williams (born 29 October 1969), better known by his stage name Roni Size, is an English DJ and record producer. He came to prominence in 1997 as the founder and frontman of Roni Size & Reprazent, a drum and bass collective. ...

Instant Mix) #"Inner City Life" (Nookie Remix) * Maxi-single, Goldie Presents Metalheads – "Inner City Life" (1994) #"Inner City Life" (Radio Edit) – 3:50 #"Inner City Life" (Full-Length) – 7:00 #"Inner City Life" (4 Hero Mix Pt. 1) – 8:24 #"Inner City Life" (Roni Size Instant Mix) – 5:47 * CD-single, Goldie – "Inner City Life" (1995) #"Inner City Life" (Original Version) – 7:00 #"Inner City Life" (

Peshay Paul Pesce (born 18 December 1970), better known as Peshay, is a British drum and bass and electronic music producer and DJ. Early life Peshay is of British and Italian heritage. His first introduction to music was at an early age through h ...

Mix) – 9:41 #"Inner City Life" (Doc Scott Mix) – 8:14 * 12"-single, Goldie vs. Rabbit in the Moon – "Inner City Life" (The Remixes) (1996) #"Inner City Life" (Rabbit in the Moon's Vocalic City) – 11:20 #"Inner City Life" (Rabbit in the Moon's Escape from Vocalic City) – 7:58 #"Inner City Life" (Rabbit in the Moon's Return to Vocalic City) – 7:06 * Maxi-single, Goldie – "Inner City Life" (The Remixes) (1996) #"Inner City Life" (Original Edit) – 3:13 #"Inner City Life" (Baby Boy's Edit) – 3:34 #"Inner City Life" (Rabbit's Short Attention Span Edit) – 4:20 #"Inner City Life" (Goes to Miami Mix) – 5:39 #"Inner City Life" (4 Hero Mix Pt. 1) – 8:22 #"Inner City Life" (Rabbit in the Moon's Vocalic City) – 11:20 #"Inner City Life" (Rabbit in the Moon's Escape from Vocalic City) – 7:58 #"Inner City Life" (Peshay Mix) – 9:40 #"Inner City Life" (Baby Boys) – 6:49 #"Inner City Life" (Rabbit in the Moon's Return to Vocalic City) – 7:06

Charts

Cover versions, samples and remixes

* German jazz band e:jazzcovered "Inner City Life" on their 2004 album, ''Point of View''. * English rapper Wiley sampled "Inner City Life" on his song "I Need to Be" from the 2008 album, '' See Clear Now''. * Aaron Jerome and his musical project Sbtrkt sampled the song on the song "Timeless", in 2009. * It was sampled on "Strictly (Kassem Mosse 'Need to Feel edit' remix)" by

Commix Commix is an English drum and bass project from Cambridge, now solely composed of George Levings. History Based in Cambridge, Commix originally composed of George Levings, Guy Brewer and Conrad Whittle. As a DJ/production team, they began workin ...

in 2010. * British band Hackney Colliery Band covered "Inner City Life" on their 2013 album, ''Common Decency''. * British DJ

Om Unit Jim Coles (born c. 1980), professionally known as Om Unit, is an English, Bristol-based electronic producer and DJ, known for his work in electronic music and drum and bass. Career Originally producing jungle as a teenager in the 1990s, he then ...

sampled "Inner City Life" on his song "Parallel" from the 2014 album, ''Inversion''. * Goldie remastered the song in 2017. *In 2020, Goldie announced a project on 25 years of project with interviews, archives, re-masters, remixes and re:jazz version.

References

{{Authority control 1994 singles 1995 singles 1994 songs Goldie songs FFRR Records singles Music videos directed by Mike Lipscombe Music videos shot in the United Kingdom