Coolio
|
Coolio during the concert in Baku in 2004. |
Coolio (born
Artis Leon Ivey, Jr. on
August 1,
1963 in
Compton, California) is an
American rapper perhaps best known for the hit song "
Gangsta's Paradise" from the
Dangerous Minds soundtrack.
He originally got the name "Coolio" from his mates in Compton when he was younger, who compared his musical talent to that of
Julio Iglesias but since he rapped instead of sang, and had a fresh cool mellow feel, he was given the name Coolio Iglesias.
Despite his much-troubled childhood, he learned how to read from the Pelton Power Program for Kids at age 12, founded by
Texas jazz musician
Aaron Pelton. He began performing after graduating
high school. He was part of the hip-hop group
WC and the Maad Circle, appearing on their 1991 debut
Ain't a Damn Thang Changed, but he left shortly thereafter to pursue a solo career. After releasing one single, "Watcha Gonna Do", an addiction to
crack cocaine derailed his career. After working as an airport security guard for a brief period, Coolio was able to kick his habit and then returned to performing and recorded his debut album.
It Takes a Thief was released in 1994. The signature track was "Fantastic Voyage", which sampled the
Lakeside song of the same name and became a massive nationwide hit. [
1]
In 1995, "Gangsta's Paradise", a track written to the tune of
Stevie Wonder's "Pastime Paradise" from
Songs in the Key of Life, was placed on the soundtrack to
Dangerous Minds because executives at
Tommy Boy Records felt it would not sell. It ended up being a Grammy-winning #1 pop hit in the US, and became the first rap single to sell over a million copies in the UK, while becoming the first gangsta-rap single to top the UK charts. The video, which featured
Minds star
Michelle Pfeiffer and was directed by
Antoine Fuqua, received heavy airplay on MTV.
"Weird Al" Yankovic parodied the song with "
Amish Paradise", from his 1996 album
Bad Hair Day, which mocked the rapper's distinctive hairstyle on the cover as well. Coolio claimed that he was unaware that Weird Al's record label had gotten permission from Tommy Boy Records for Al to do a parody of the song. During his Grammy acceptance speech, Coolio made no secret of his discontent, which led to discord between the singer and the record company. A series of photos taken at the
XM Satellite Radio booth at the 2006
Consumer Electronics Show suggests that Al and Coolio may have made amends. [
2]
After his 1995 hit album
Gangsta's Paradise, Coolio continued touring and started acting. He contributed another Lakeside-sampled single,
It's All the Way Live (the band even appeared in the video), to the soundtrack of the 1996
Whoopi Goldberg film
Eddie, which flopped in theaters. His third album, 1997's
My Soul, sold poorly despite the success of the single
C U When U Get There, whose melody lines are based on
Pachelbel's Canon. It was featured on the soundtrack to the 1997
Martin Lawrence film
Nothing To Lose, and landed Coolio a spot on
The Tonight Show. After leaving Tommy Boy, he appeared in a few films and set up his own
record label, Crowbar Records. In 1998, he teamed up with country music legend
Kenny Rogers to record a track for Coolio's next album, an updated version of Rogers' 1978 hit
The Gambler. But the record,
El Cool Magnifico, did not hit shelves until 2002, It had great songs and his wife Josefa Salinas help co-write a lot of songs It had some song that was great but didn't receive radio play on the CD like Shake It Up, Sunshine, Hear Me Now, Knockout Kings, Gangbangers, and Pop Ya Colla.
Coolio has appeared on songs alongside 2Pac, Busta Rhymes, Method Man, LL Cool J, B-Real, along with regular collaborators LV and the 40 Thevz. LV, who performed backup vocals on
Gangsta's Paradise, released a solo effort in 1996, while 40 Thevz did likewise the next year under Coolio's Crowbar label, but neither proved successful.
In January-February 2004, Coolio tried to win a record deal on the "Comeback Show" contest on German television, but eventually the group Smokie won it instead of him.
In September 2005, he signed a worldwide record contract for three albums with Subside Records of the Italian producer
Giovanni Giorgilli. Vanni G, as he is better known in the Italian dance scene, will be Coolio's new manager and
producer. The first
collaboration is "
Gangsta Walk" featuring
Snoop Dogg. The new album, "The Return of the Gangsta", that was released in August 4, 2006.
Coolio
guest starred in the hit series
Charmed, as a Lazarus demon, in the episode
Marry Go Round, he also voiced
Kwanza-bot, a one-off character featured in the
A Tale Of Two Santas episode of
Futurama. In fact, according to the
DVD commentary, the producers of Futurama were so impressed by his range of voices, that they said he could do voice-over work professionally. He also performed the
Kenan and Kel theme song.
*Coolio suffered from a case of indecisiveness when it came to the titles of his first two albums. His debut,
It Takes a Thief, was originally named
'N Da Closet, while
Gangsta's Paradise was first titled
Geto Highlites, the latter which Coolio confirmed on the TV show
Yo! MTV Raps in June 1995, following the premiere of the
Paradise video. However, it was later changed to capitalize on the immense success of the single prior to its November release.
*
Jerry Bruckheimer also appeared on the same episode of the show, during which he declared that the film
Bad Boys II would soon be going into production. The movie hit theaters in 2003.
*Coolio's recordings also appeared on the soundtracks to
Clueless (1995) and
New Jersey Drive (1997).
*
Gangsta's Paradise No.1 (1995)
*Too Hot
No.9 (1996)
*1234 (Sumpin' New)
No. 13 (1996)
*It's All The Way Live (Now)
No.34 (1997)
*Hit 'Em High (The Monstars' Anthem)
No.8 (1997)
*
C U When You Get There No.3 (1997)
*Ooh La La
No.14 (1998)
*1994 : MTV Video Music Award Nomination for Best Rap Video. "Fantastic Voyage"
*1995 : Grammy Award Nomination for Best Rap Solo Performance. "Fantastic Voyage"
*1995 : Billboard Music Award
Win for Top Hot 100 Single Sales Single of the Year. "Gangsta's Paradise"
*1995 : Billboard Music Award
Win for Top Hot 100 Single of the Year. "Gangsta's Paradise"
*1996 : American Music Award
Win for Favorite Rap/Hip Hop Artist.
*1996 : Grammy Award
Win for Best Rap Solo Performance. "Gangsta's Paradise"
*1996 : Grammy Award Nomination for Record of the Year. "Gangsta's Paradise"
*1996 : MTV Video Music Award
Win for Best Rap Video. "Gangsta's Paradise"
*1996 : MTV Video Music Award
Win for Best Video from a Film . "Gangsta's Paradise"
*1996 : MTV Video Music Award
Win for Best Dance Video. "1, 2, 3, 4 (Sumpin' New)")
*1996 : MTV Video Music Award Nomination for Best Male Video. "1, 2, 3, 4 (Sumpin' New)")
*1997 : Grammy Award Nomination for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals. "Stomp"
*1998 : Grammy Award Nomination for Best Rap Performance. "C U When U Get There"
*
It Takes a Thief (1994)
*
Gangsta's Paradise (1995)
*
My Soul' (1997)
* El Cool Magnifico (2002)
* The Return Of The Gangsta'' (2006)
*
Coolio official site
*
Coolio videos on
Yahoo! Music
