- HonorableTB
- Dec 22, 2006
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https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/28/arts/music/coolio-rapper-dead.html
NYT posted:
Coolio, ‘Gangsta’s Paradise’ Rapper, Dies at 59
Other hits by Coolio, who won a Grammy for “Gangsta’s Paradise” in the mid-1990s, included “Fantastic Voyage” and “1, 2, 3, 4 (Sumpin’ New).”
Coolio, the West Coast rapper whose gritty music and anthemic hits like “Gangsta’s Paradise” helped define hip-hop in the 1990s, died on Wednesday in Los Angeles. He was 59.
His longtime manager, Jarez Posey, confirmed his death.
Mr. Posey, who worked with the rapper for more than 20 years, said he was told that Coolio died at about 5 p.m. at a friend’s house. No cause was given.
Coolio, whose legal name was Artis Leon Ivey Jr., won the Grammy for Best Rap Solo Performance in 1996 for “Gangsta’s Paradise,” which was also nominated for Record of the Year. It was certified triple-platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America.
“Coolio still builds his raps on recognizable 1970s oldies, and he delivers intricate, syncopated rhymes as if they were conversation,” Jon Pareles wrote in a review in The New York Times, noting that “Gangsta’s Paradise” uses “the somber minor chords” of “Pastime Paradise,” by Stevie Wonder.
The song nearly did not make it into the hit film “Dangerous Minds,” the critic Caryn James wrote for The Times in 1996. She wrote that the late addition “turned a preachy Michelle Pfeiffer film about an inner-city teacher into a hit that sounded fresher than it really was.”
Coolio’s other hits included “Fantastic Voyage” — the opening song on his debut album — and “1, 2, 3, 4 (Sumpin’ New),” which were both nominated for Grammys. “C U When U Get There,” which features the duo 40 Thevz, was a standout track on his third album of the 1990s, “My Soul.”
But nothing could match the success of “Gangsta’s Paradise,” a song that, with its piercing beat and ominous background vocals, became instantly distinguishable for millions of ’90s rap fans, especially with its memorable opening verses:
“As I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I take a look at my life and realize there’s nothin’ left.”
The song would expand the commercial possibilities of hip-hop, but Coolio would later say that he sometimes lamented how the track seemed to overshadow his other bodies of work, particularly follow-up albums.
Still, he told PopkillerTV in 2018 that the song had taken him on “a great ride.” Its popularity has endured for decades, with the music video garnering a rare billion-plus views on YouTube.
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Artis Leon Ivey Jr. was born on Aug. 1, 1963. He grew up in Compton, Calif., a place known for producing some of hip-hop’s most successful artists, such as Dr. Dre and Kendrick Lamar.
He told The Independent in 1997 that as a child, he would play board games with his mother, to whom he later dedicated his success. After a turbulent youth — he told The Independent he was a teenage gangbanger, juvenile offender and drug addict — Coolio worked as a volunteer firefighter.
When he embarked on his music career, he quickly gained a following among the rapidly growing audience of hip-hop fans, who had been enraptured by the music of Tupac Shakur and the Notorious B.I.G. He went on to sell over 17 million records.
Coolio later became a fixture on reality TV, starting with “Coolio’s Rules,” a 2008 series that focused on his personal life and his quest to find love in Los Angeles.
A complete list of survivors was not immediately available. Coolio had four children with Josefa Salinas, whom he married in 1996 and later divorced.
Years after he topped the charts and solidified himself as a mainstream artist, Coolio confronted legal trouble, pleading guilty to firearms and drug charges.
The rapper, who struggled with asthma all his life, served as the spokesman for the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America, according to his official online biography. At a 2016 performance in Brooklyn, N.Y., Page Six reported, he had an asthma attack and was saved by a fan who had an inhaler.
In recent years, Coolio had become aware of his indelible mark on hip-hop. He said in 2018 that after years of lamenting over his struggles in the music industry, he had realized that “people would kill to take my place.”
“I’m sure after I’m long gone from this planet, and from this dimension,” he said, “people will come back and study my body of work.”
RIP to a real one 
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Sep 29, 2022 05:06
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ADBOT LOVES YOU
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May 8, 2024 10:14
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- HonorableTB
- Dec 22, 2006
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goddamn it
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Sep 29, 2022 05:07
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Sep 29, 2022 05:06
