Grammy-Profitable “Gangsta’s Paradise” Rapper Was 59 – Deadline

Coolio, the Compton-raised rapper with the trademark braids who received a Grammy in 1996 for his No. 1 smash “Gangsta’s Paradise” from the soundtrack of the Michelle Pfeiffer-starring movie Harmful Minds, died Wednesday in Los Angeles, his supervisor Jarez Posey advised Deadline. He was 59.

No reason for loss of life has been decided. Posey advised TMZ that Coolio went to the lavatory at his pal’s home, however when he didn’t come out after some time he went in and located the rapper on the ground.

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Coolio had been enjoying live shows over the summer time in South America and in Europe and as just lately as final week in Chicago.

Born Artis Leon Ivey Jr. in Pennsylvania, Coolio was a volunteer firefighter for a time earlier than turning to music. Coolio launched just a few non-charting singles within the early Nineties earlier than hitting it huge in 1994 with “Improbable Voyage,” a rap remake of the 1979 Lakeside tune. It spent 5 lengthy weeks at No. 3 on the Billboard Sizzling 100 and pushed his Tommy Boy LP It Takes a Thief into the High 10. The album and single, which additionally made the High 10 in New Zealand, each went platinum.

“Gangsta’s Paradise,” the title monitor from the late-1995 album, was a world smash. The tune was a rap tackle “Pastime Paradise,” a monitor from Stevie Marvel’s Grammy-winning 1976 album Songs within the Key of Life, and topped the Billboard Sizzling 100 and different charts all over the world, together with the UK. It additionally received the Grammy for Finest Rap Solo Efficiency and scored a pair of MTV Video Music Awards.

“Gangsta’s Paradise” was featured within the 1995 film Harmful Minds, whose soundtrack spent a month at No. 1 within the U.S. Within the Disney pic, Pfeiffer performed an ex-Marine instructing at an inner-city college. Primarily based on the actual lifetime of LouAnne Thompson and tailored from her ebook, the movie directed by John N. Smith bowed in August 1995 and would gross $195.5 million on the world field workplace.

He adopted that success with one other hit single, “1, 2, 3, 4 (Sumpin’ New),” which reached No. 5 within the U.S. That very same yr, Coolio wrote and carried out “Aw, Right here It Goes,” the theme tune for Kenan & Kel, the Nickelodeon comedy starring Kenan Thompson and Kel Mitchell. It performed over the credit for greater than 60 episodes.

Coolio continued to jot down, document and tour, however wouldn’t match his earlier chart success. His 1996 single “It’s All of the Manner Dwell (Now)” — which sampled one other Lakeside hit — dented the highest 30, and the next yr’s “C U When U Get There” with 40 Thevz peaked at No. 12.

Coolio would finally add actuality TV star to his repertoire. He appeared as a housemate on Massive Brother in 2009, and a yr later appeared on Final Massive Brother, in the end leaving the home after quite a few conflicts with others in the home. He additionally was certainly one of eight celebrities who appeared on the Meals Community actuality present Rachael vs. Man: Superstar Prepare dinner-Off representing the Music Saves Lives Group; he later turned identified for his cooking and wrote a number of cookbooks, together with Cookin’ with Coolio: 5 Star Meals at a 1 Star Worth in 2009, which might be a bestseller.

He additionally was featured on ABC’s Spouse Swap and visitor starred as himself in an episode on the primary season of Sabrina the Teenage Witch, the place he helped Sabrina Spellman (Melissa Joan Hart), Zelda Spellman (Beth Broderick) and Hilda Spellman (Caroline Rhea) to search for their cat Salem, who was kidnapped by just a little boy. His different credit embrace Gravity Falls, The Nanny and the Grownup Swim present Black Jesus in an episodes titled “Gangsta’s Paradise.”

He was most just lately solid in a recurring position on 2020 HBO Max pilot Vegas Excessive. The Nineties-set coming-of-age story adopted a woman (Hyanna Simpson) who’s caught between two worlds: the fast-paced way of life of Las Vegas and her robust Mormon religion and group. Coolio performed the businessman uncle of Simpson’s character. The pilot was not picked as much as collection.

Coolio’s movie credit as an actor embrace Batman & Robin and Expensive God.

Erik Pedersen and Denise Petski contributed to this report.