'Gangsta's Paradise' rapper Coolio dies at age 59, says manager – Saanich News

Coolio, the rapper who was among hip-hop’s biggest names of the 1990s with hits including “Gangsta’s Paradise” and “Fantastic Voyage,” died Wednesday at age 59, his manager said.

Coolio, whose legal title was Artis Leon IIvey Jr., passed away at the Los Angeles home a longtime manager Jarez Posey reported to The Associated Press. The cause of the death was not immediately known.

Coolio won a Grammy for best solo rap performance for “Gangsta’s Paradise,” the 1995 hit from the soundtrack of the Michelle Pfeiffer film “Dangerous Minds” that sampled Stevie Wonder’s 1976 song “Pastime Paradise.”

During a career that began late in the 1980s, he was nominated five more Grammys.

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Coolio was born in Monessen, Pennsylvania, south of Pittsburgh. He then moved to Compton (California) where he attended community college. Coolio worked as a volunteer firefighter, and in airport security, before he decided to devote his full-time efforts to the hip-hop scene.

His career took off with the 1994 release of his debut album on Tommy Boy Records, “It Takes a Thief.” It’s opening track, “Fantastic Voyage,” would reach No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100.

A year later, “Gangsta’s Paradise” would become a No. With its dark opening lyrics, "Gangsta's Paradise" would become a No. 1 single.

“As I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I take a look at my life and realize there’s not much left, ‘cause I’ve been blastin’ and laughin’ so long, that even my mama thinks that my mind is gone.”

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