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Gangsta’s Paradise Crooner Coolio Passes On At 59

By Chinelo Eze
29 September 2022   |   9:44 am
The Grammy-winning rapper Coolio passed away on Wednesday after being discovered unconscious at a friend's Los Angeles residence, according to the New York Times. He was 59. The single "Gangsta's Paradise," from the 1995 album of the same name, is what made Coolio, real name Artis Leon Ivey Jr., famous. The next year, that song,…

(FILES) This file photo taken on August 31, 2015 shows rapper/actor Coolio as he attends producer Wade Martin’s premiere of music videos by Flavor Flav and Coolio, the first ever to use full-HD virtual reality technology, at STK at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, Nevada. US rapper Coolio was given community service on October 26, 2016 after admitting carrying a handgun in a backpack at Los Angeles International Airport. The weapon was discovered in the bag as a member of the 53-year-old’s entourage went through a security screening checkpoint on September 17, Los Angeles Superior Court heard at a previous hearing.<br />Ethan Miller / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / AFP

The Grammy-winning rapper Coolio passed away on Wednesday after being discovered unconscious at a friend’s Los Angeles residence, according to the New York Times. He was 59.

The single “Gangsta’s Paradise,” from the 1995 album of the same name, is what made Coolio, real name Artis Leon Ivey Jr., famous.

The next year, that song, a huge smash that was used in the movie Dangerous Minds, received a Grammy Award for best rap solo performance.

According to his manager Jarez Posey, the rapper passed away at a nearby hospital at around 5 p.m. Pacific time (8 p.m. EDT). Ivey had previously been discovered unconscious in a friend’s restroom, Posey told the newspaper.

The cause of death wasn’t immediately known.

Ivey, who was born in Pennsylvania in 1963, started performing in Compton, California, as a part of the West Coast hip-hop culture.

He had a Top Ten hit with the song “Lakeside” off of his 1994 first album, “It Takes a Thief.”

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