‘Gangsta’s Paradise’ rapper Rapper Coolio dies at 59
Los Angeles, United States, Sep 28 (EFE).- Rapper Artis Leon Ivey Jr., better known as Coolio, who was behind such 90s hits such as “Gangsta’s Paradise,” died on Wednesday, his manager said. He was 59.
The musician passed away in the afternoon at the house of a friend. He went to the bathroom but when he didn’t come out for a while and didn’t respond upon calling, his friend went in to look for him and found him unresponsive, Jarez Posey said.
“As far as what I know now is that he was at a friend’s house and was in his bathroom and had a heart attack,” Posey said, NBC News reported.
Coolio was one of hip-hop’s biggest names in the 1990s.
He is best known for the Grammy-winning 1995 hit “Gangsta’s Paradise,” released on the “Dangerous Minds” soundtrack.
The song topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart for three weeks and won a Grammy Award for best solo rap performance.
Such was its impact on pop culture that it even inspired a parody “Amish Paradise” by comedian Weird Al Yankovic.
Coolio was born in 1963 in Pennsylvania state but moved to the south of Los Angeles at the end of the 1980s to pursue his music career.
His debut album “It Takes a Thief” included tracks such as “Fantastic Voyage” and “It Takes a Thief.”
His later albums included “My Soul”, “Coolio.com”, “El Cool Magnifico” – with nods to the Latino community of Los Angeles -, “The Return of the Gangsta,” “Steal Hear” and “From the Bottom 2 the Top”.
Coolio also starred in more than 100 TV series and movies in addition to releasing the “Cookin’ with Coolio” cookbook and a web-based cooking program with the same name.
The artist is survived by four children he had with Josefa Salinas, whom he later divorced. EFE
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