American rapper Coolio died of a suspected heart attack at 59 on Wednesday afternoon in a friend’s home in Los Angeles.
Medics found American rapper Artis Leon Ivey Jr., famously known as Coolio, passed out in the home of long-time friend and manager Jarez Posey. Paramedics attempted resuscitation, but ultimately determined Coolio was dead, according to Eric Scott, the captain of the Los Angeles Fire Department.
Coolio’s career was marked with great success starting with his first album, “It Takes a Thief.” Produced by Tommy Boy Records, the 1994 album featured the popular song “Fantastic Voyage.” The 59-year-old rapper was best known for his 1995 hit “Gangsta’s Paradise,” from the soundtrack of Michelle Pfeiffer’s 1996 Grammy-winning film, “Dangerous Minds.” Pfeiffer honored Coolio’s legacy in an Instagram post.
Heartbroken to hear of the passing of the gifted artist @coolio. A life cut entirely too short. As some of you may know, I was lucky enough to work with him on Dangerous Minds in 1995. He won a Grammy for his brilliant song on the soundtrack—which I think was the reason our film saw so much success. I remember him being nothing but gracious. [Thirty] years later I still get chills when I hear the song. Sending love and light to his family. Rest in Power, Artis Leon Ivey Jr.
— @michellepfeifferofficial on Instagram
Following the release of his 1995 hit, Coolio’s popularity continued to soar in the mid-1990s during the East Coast and West Coast hip hop rivalry, which involved other big names like Notorious B.I.G. and Tupac.
The Compton native came a long way from where he began, having suffered through a cocaine addiction in the mid 80s, to getting clean and becoming the only rapper to have been a firefighter by the mid 90s. In an interview with the Los Angeles Times in 1994, Coolio reflected on his time getting clean in firefighter training.
“I wasn’t looking for a career. I was looking for a way to clean up—a way to escape the drug thing,” he said. “It was going to kill me and I knew I had to stop. In firefighting, training was [the] discipline I needed. We ran every day. I wasn’t drinking or smoking or doing the stuff I usually did.”
Students today still recognize the thumping melody of Coolio’s hit song. Steven Parson, a junior studying philosophy, politics and law, recalls not only hearing the rapper throughout his youth but also out on the town in Los Angeles even now calling Coolio “longstanding and beyond generational.”
“I remember sitting in my parent’s car with ‘Gangsters’ Paradise’ blasting on the radio,” Parson said. “It’s super unfortunate to see him pass away so soon knowing the kind of impact that he’s had on not only just Black culture but also American culture as well.”
Streaming of Coolio’s “Gangsta’s Paradise” has gained new traction in recent years. Thanks to TikTok, the song began trending with nearly 600,000 videos made, reaching one billion views on YouTube last July.
Coolio’s legacy lives on in his ten children.