Coolio, the West Coast rapper who is known for the street anthem “Gangsta’s Paradise” has died. The rapper died on Wednesday in Los Angeles. He was 59.
Coolio, real name Artis Leon Ivey Jr., achieved mainstream recognition wit the Billboard top song of 1995 and the Grammy winner for Best Rap Solo Performance in 1996 of “Gangster’s Paradise”.
The song is certified triple-platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. Its dark and Smokey music video won Best Rap Video and Best Video From a Film at the MTV Video Music Awards.
Coolio’s other hits included “Fantastic Voyage” — the opening song on his debut album — and “1, 2, 3, 4 (Sumpin’ New),” which were both nominated for Grammys. “C U When U Get There,” which samples Pachelbel’s “Canon in D Major,” was a standout track on his third album of the 1990s, “My Soul.”
Fellow West Coast rapper Ice cube expressed sympathies as he reflected of his front row seat to Coolio’s rise. he said he “witnessed first hand this man’s grind to the top of the industry.”
Coolio sold over 17 million records throughout his career with writing and performing credits on the theme song for “Kenan & Kel,” a Nickelodeon staple in the late 1990s. Coolio later became a fixture on reality TV, starting with “Coolio’s Rules,” a 2008 series that focused on his personal life and his quest to find love in Los Angeles.
The rapper said in a 2018 interview that “I’m sure after I’m long gone from this planet, and from this dimension,” he said, “people will come back and study my body of work.”
Coolio’s longtime manager said the rapper was at a friend’s house in LA when he went to the bathroom — and never returned according to NY Times reporter McKenna Oxenden.
