The death of American rapper Coolio on September 29 was due to an overdose of fentanyl, a very powerful opioid painkiller and also other drugs, his manager said on Thursday. Jarez Posey said the musician’s family was recently notified of the Los Angeles County medical examiner’s findings.
The artist was found dead on the bathroom floor of a friend’s house in Los Angeles six months ago. He was only 59 years old. Coolio, real name Artis Leon Ivey Jr, won a Grammy award for his legendary hit “Gangsta’s Paradise” in 1995.
The hit, which was later chosen as the soundtrack to the movie “Rebel Spirits,” became one of the most popular rap songs of all time, helping bring the genre into the mainstream. It continues to be widely viewed and has surpassed one billion views on YouTube. At the time of his death, the rapper was suffering from heart disease and asthma, CBS News revealed.
While Coolio had recently used phencyclidine, or PCP, his death was due to the effects of a cocktail of fentanyl, heroin and methamphetamines, specifies the American media CBS. The medical examiner’s office ruled that his death was “accidental”.
« Coolio Iglesias »
Born in Pennsylvania, the artist grew up in Compton, a suburb of Los Angeles, a breeding ground for US rap talent, where his career flourished and where he became one of the leading figures of the rap scene. West Coast” of the United States in the 1990s. Coolio started making music in the 1980s, but he secured his place in the hip-hop pantheon by recording “Gangsta’s Paradise”.
His nickname was born from a conversation with a friend who asked him: “Who do you think you are, Coolio Iglesias? ”, according to the website The Black Names Project. He also worked as a volunteer firefighter in the San Jose area before devoting himself to hip-hop full-time.
A talented producer and actor, a multifaceted man, he has appeared in dozens of films and television shows. He even found an outlet for his love of cooking with a book and internet series, “Cooking with Coolio.” In a career spanning four decades, he has recorded eight studio albums and won an American Music Award and three MTV Video Music Awards.
Other hits include “Fantastic Voyage”, “Rollin’ With My Homies”, “1, 2, 3, 4 (Sumpin’New)” and “Too Hot”.