Coolio, the rapper who was one of the biggest names in 1990s hip-hop with hits like “Gangsta’s Paradise” and “Fantastic Voyage,” died Wednesday at age 59, his manager said.
Coolio, whose legal name was Artis Leon Ivey Jr., died at a friend’s home in Los Angeles, longtime trainer Jarez Posey told The Associated Press. The cause was not immediately clear.
Coolio won a Grammy for Best Rap Solo Performance for “Gangsta’s Paradise,” the 1995 hit from the soundtrack to Michelle Pfeiffer’s film “Dangerous Minds” that featured Stevie Wonder’s 1976 song “Pastime Paradise”.
He was nominated for five other Grammys during a career that began in the late 1980s.
Born in Monessen, Pennsylvania, south of Pittsburgh, Coolio moved to Compton, California, where he attended community college. He worked as a volunteer firefighter and in airport security before devoting himself full-time to the hip-hop scene.
His career began with the 1994 release of his debut album on Tommy Boy Records, “It Takes a Thief.” Its opening track, “Fantastic Voyage”, would reach #3 on the Billboard Hot 100.
A year later, “Gangsta’s Paradise” would become a #1 single, with its dark opening lyrics:
“As I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I look at my life and realize that I don’t have much left, because I’ve been laughing so long, that even my mother thinks my mind is missing.”