From Gangsta’s Paradise to actuality TV, Coolio was a stone-faced rapper who softened hearts

Coolio’s coiffure was considered one of a sort: trademark twists sat atop his head like Medusa’s snakes. It was a glance that outlined Nineties hip-hop as a lot as Tupac’s nostril piercing and Flavor Flav’s clock chain, even when nobody ever imitated it (maybe solely Coolio had the dexterity to string these skinny braids by the holes of his baseball cap).

On Wednesday, the rapper – actual identify Artis Leon Ivey Jr – died at a pal’s home in Los Angeles, his supervisor mentioned. The 59-year-old was a crucial determine in establishing west coast hip-hop’s Seventies-flavored R&B sound – the type that may come to be often called G-funk – within the mainstream.

As a pure emcee, he had a manner with phrases and delivered them with the urgency of a person cruising round city in a lowrider – one other favourite pastime of his. And but for all of Coolio’s apparent talent, which actually exhibits up in his early work (he recorded his first single in 1987), he’s simply summed up in a single tune: Gangsta’s Paradise.

That single, which headlined a sophomore album of the identical identify and was additionally featured on the soundtrack for the 1995 Michelle Pfeiffer movie Dangerous Minds, owned the airwaves. It was arguably the start of rap music really going pop. It topped the charts in 14 international locations and locked out the highest two spots on Billboard’s US Hot 100 record on the best way to going triple platinum. The music video, directed by The Equalizer’s Antoine Fuqua and in addition that includes Pfeiffer, dominated music tv and has since surpassed 1bn YouTube views.

The tune, which interpolates Stevie Wonder’s Pastime Paradise and a swelling church choir, arguably showcases probably the most doleful model of Coolio. And but it was too hypnotic to flee. “It chose me as the vessel,” Coolio would say of his signature tune – which Entertainment Weekly dubbed “the bleakest tune to ever top the pop charts”. Idolator went one higher, calling it “rap rhapsody”.

Gangsta’s Paradise didn’t simply crush the competitors and win Coolio a Grammy. Even the “Weird Al” Yankovic parody, Amish Paradise (which featured the bespectacled satirist on the quilt along with his hair styled like Coolio’s) made it to No 53 on the Hot 100 record in 1996. That this send-up grew to become the sore spot of his most public rap beef is, in some methods, so Coolio – who initially felt he was being clowned. It didn’t assist that Dangerous Minds, with its heavy-handed white savior themes, would go on to be considered one thing of a joke, too.

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Coolio performs in Belgium 2000. Photograph: Gie Knaeps/Getty Images

But in time – after cashing many royalty checks, says Yankovic, who remained reverential of Coolio all through – the rapper got here to see Amish Paradise as the final word tribute. “I mean, he did Michael Jackson. He did Prince. You know, people who were definitely more talented than I am,” Coolio mentioned in a 2016 look on the YouTube present Hot Ones.

Coolio, who churned out eight studio albums and collaborated with everybody from Janet Jackson to Kenny Rogers, doesn’t get sufficient credit score for setting the tone for individuals like Snoop Dogg and Busta Rhymes. And he doesn’t get sufficient love for making Fantastic Voyage, 1, 2, 3, 4 (Sumpin’ New) and different G-funk classics that also flip a celebration out at the moment. With that hair, his bouncing lowriders and his usually chill vibe, he proved {that a} rapper might be gangster and gregarious.

Since information of his demise broke late on Wednesday, condolences have poured in from all corners. On Instagram, Pfeiffer mentioned she was “heartbroken” to study of Coolio’s passing, whereas Hillary Clinton pronounced his demise “a big loss”. “I witness [sic] first hand this man’s grind to the top of the industry,” tweeted Ice Cube. The rocker Bret Michaels remembered him as an “awesome guy who will be missed”.

When he wasn’t topping the charts, he was strolling on to awards exhibits, movie star basketball video games, sitcoms, movies and even youngsters’ exhibits – offering the theme tune for the Nickelodeon selection present Kenan & Kel. Every time Coolio confirmed up, whether or not on display over a speaker, he left you smiling. It hardly mattered that almost all occasions he’d be enjoying himself. Who else may?

In his later years he had change into a creature of actuality TV, with appearances on Big Brother UK and Marriage Boot Camp – all whereas remaining a sturdy live performance draw. He has additionally been candid about overcoming poverty and substance abuse on his rise to fame and contrite about previous crimes – not least, a number of gun possession costs that sophisticated previous worldwide excursions.

Medusa might need turned her onlookers to stone, however Coolio did simply the other. He was a stone-face who softened hearts and by no means took himself too significantly, snake hair and all.



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