In 2008, he created a cooking reality show called ' Cookin’ With Coolio ' and became a spokesperson for Environmental Justice and Climate Change, helping to start a dialogue with students at historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) about global warming.Īs news of his passing made the rounds on social media, fans and peers alike paid tribute to the late rapper, including fellow West Coast rap legend Ice Cube. After the release of his debut album, It Takes A Thief, in 1994, Coolio enjoyed immense success on global music charts, and wins at the GRAMMYs, American Music Awards and MTV Music Awards before his career began to simmer down in the 2000s.īut Coolio did not stop. With his life back on track, the rapper was free to focus on his music and never looked back. I wasn’t drinking or smoking or doing the stuff I usually did.' In firefighting, training was discipline I needed. 'It was going to kill me and I knew I had to stop.

'I wasn’t looking for a career I was looking for a way to clean up a way to escape the drug thing,' he told the LA Times in 1994. 'Back in those days, people didn’t have big album collections, at least not in the ghetto, but we did.'īefore making a full-time commitment to music, the 'Fantastic Voyage' rapper worked a range of jobs, including airport security he credited his work as a volunteer firefighter with helping him kick an addiction to crack cocaine. 'My mom and stepfather was listening to Miles Davis, Stevie Wonder, the Supremes, the Dramatics, Marvin Gaye, Curtis Mayfield ,' Coolio told Rolling Stone in 1995. Coolio's parents introduced him to classic R&B hits from their youth, and those songs became inspiration for his future sound.

He is survived by his six children.īorn Artis Leon Ivey Jr., Coolio spent his early years in Monessen, Pennsylvania before relocating with his family to Compton, California - the birthplace of West Coast rap. The rapper is best known for his 1995 smash hit 'Gangsta’s Paradise,' which became the top-selling single of the year thanks to its melodic sample, energetic flow and catchy hook. GRAMMY-winning rapper Coolio passed away on Sept.

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