Coolio’s manager announced on Wednesday September 28 the death of the American rapper, who was 59 years old. He did not mention the causes of death.
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Coolio, real name Artis Leon Ivey Jr, is dead. The 59-year-old American rapper died on Wednesday September 28 at the age of 59. It was Jarez Posey, his manager, who formalized the sad news with Agence France-Presse (AFP), without however specifying the causes of death. Coolio, who became world famous in 1995 with his hit Gangsta’s Paradisewon the Grammy Award for Best Rap Solo Performance in 1996.
The manager, also a longtime close friend of the rapper, had told TMZ – publication specializing in celebrity coverage – finding him unconscious in a friend’s bathroom. Coolio began his career in California in the late 1980s, but soared to the heights of stardom with Gangsta’s Paradisein 1995, which appeared in the soundtrack of the film rebel spirits. The hit won him a Grammy Award the following year. He took up the refrain and the music of Pastime Paradisea song by Stevie Wonder released in 1976.
Born August 1, 1963 as Artis Leon Ivey Jr in Pennsylvania, the artist spent most of his life in Compton, California, where he was educated and held various jobs, including security airport, before finding success thanks to rap. Coolio began his music career in California in the late 1980s, putting down roots in Los Angeles in 1994 after signing with Tommy Boy Records.
Son single Fantastic Voyagetaken from his first studio album It Takes a Thiefrose to third place on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. But it is with Gangsta’s Paradise, the following year, that Coolio made a name for himself. In addition to offering a Grammy to Coolio, this song earned him the title of the best single of the year. With a melody taken from the title Pastime Paradise by Stevie Wonder, published in 1976 in his album Songs In The Key of Life, the hit sold millions of copies worldwide, reaching the top of the pop music charts in 16 countries. ” Gangsta’s Paradise is about life, because we also live in gangster heaven,” Coolio said of his song in 1995, a guest on the radio show Howard Stern Show.
“She wrote to me”
In an interview given more than ten years later to the British broadcast The Voice, Coolio said he had no idea the song would stick around for so many years. ” I have not written Gangsta’s Paradise. She was the one who wrote to me… It was her own entity, out there in the spirit world, trying to make its way out into the world, and she chose me as her vessel,” he said. . “I never thought it would spread the way it did, reaching all ages, races, genders, countries and generations,” he said.
Coolio subsequently never replicated the success of his flagship title, but released hits like 1, 2, 3, 4 (Sumpin’ New) et Too Hot. An endearing gangsta rap star, Coolio has seen his popularity grow thanks to colorful music videos. He then embarked on an acting career, notably landing a role in Batman and Robin in 1997 and making several appearances on television, notably in the seminal series of the 1990s A nanny from hell. “Go in peace, my brother. #Coolio,” the musician Questlove wrote.