Gangsta’s Paradise rapper Coolio dies at age 59

Coolio, the rapper who was amongst hip-hop’s largest names of the Nineties with hits together with Gangsta’s Paradise and Implausible Voyage, died on Wednesday (Sep 28) at age 59, his supervisor mentioned.

Coolio, whose authorized identify was Artis Leon Ivey Jr, died on the Los Angeles house of a good friend, longtime supervisor Jarez Posey advised The Related Press. The trigger was not instantly clear.

Coolio gained a Grammy for greatest solo rap efficiency for Gangsta’s Paradise, the 1995 hit from the soundtrack of the Michelle Pfeiffer movie Harmful Minds that sampled Stevie Marvel’s 1976 track Pastime Paradise.

He was nominated for 5 different Grammys throughout a profession that started within the late-Eighties.

Born in Monessen, Pennsylvania south of Pittsburgh, Coolio moved to Compton, California, the place he went to neighborhood faculty. He labored as a volunteer firefighter and in airport safety earlier than devoting himself full-time to the hip-hop scene.

His profession took off with the 1994 launch of his debut album on Tommy Boy Data, It Takes A Thief. It is opening monitor, Implausible Voyage, would attain No 3 on the Billboard Scorching 100.

A 12 months later, Gangsta’s Paradise would turn into a No 1 single, with its darkish opening lyrics:

“As I stroll by means of the valley of the shadow of dying, I check out my life and realise there’s not a lot left, ‘trigger I’ve been blastin’ and laughin’ so lengthy, that even my mama thinks that my thoughts is gone.”