Coolio, the rapper who was among hip-hopB次元官网网址檚 biggest names of the 1990s with hits including B次元官网网址淕angstaB次元官网网址檚 ParadiseB次元官网网址� and B次元官网网址淔antastic Voyage,B次元官网网址� died Wednesday at age 59, his manager said.

Coolio, whose legal name was Artis Leon Ivey Jr., died at the Los Angeles home of a friend, longtime manager Jarez Posey told The Associated Press. The cause was not immediately clear.

Coolio won a Grammy for best solo rap performance for B次元官网网址淕angstaB次元官网网址檚 Paradise,B次元官网网址� the 1995 hit from the soundtrack of the Michelle Pfeiffer film B次元官网网址淒angerous MindsB次元官网网址� that sampled Stevie WonderB次元官网网址檚 1976 song B次元官网网址淧astime Paradise.B次元官网网址�

He was nominated for five other Grammys during a career that began in the late-1980s.

READ MORE:

Born in Monessen, Pennsylvania south of Pittsburgh, Coolio moved to Compton, California, where he went to community college. He worked as a volunteer firefighter and in airport security before devoting himself full-time to the hip-hop scene.

His career took off with the 1994 release of his debut album on Tommy Boy Records, B次元官网网址淚t Takes a Thief.B次元官网网址� ItB次元官网网址檚 opening track, B次元官网网址淔antastic Voyage,B次元官网网址� would reach No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100.

A year later, B次元官网网址淕angstaB次元官网网址檚 ParadiseB次元官网网址� would become a No. 1 single, with its dark opening lyrics:

B次元官网网址淎s I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I take a look at my life and realize thereB次元官网网址檚 not much left, B次元官网网址榗ause IB次元官网网址檝e been blastinB次元官网网址� and laughinB次元官网网址� so long, that even my mama thinks that my mind is gone.B次元官网网址�

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Like us on and follow us on