plans to release a studio album later this year that the Grammy-winning hitmaker had been working on in the days before he died.
BԪַLong Live CoolioBԪַ will be the first posthumous album release from the BԪַGangstaBԪַs ParadiseBԪַ star and the first single, dropped Friday featuring Too $hort and DJ Wino.
The raunchy singleBԪַs video BԪַ that begins with Coolio and Too $hort in a boxing ring as various women gyrate BԪַ marks the last piece of visual content Coolio appeared in before his death from cardiac arrest on Sept. 28, 2022, at age 59.
Coolio won a Grammy for best solo rap performance for the 1995 hit from the soundtrack of the Michelle Pfeiffer film BԪַDangerous MindsBԪַ that sampled Stevie WonderBԪַs 1976 song BԪַPastime ParadiseBԪַ and was played constantly on MTV.
The rapper would never again have a song nearly as big as BԪַGangstaBԪַs Paradise,BԪַ but had subsequent hits with BԪַFantastic VoyageBԪַ in 1994, BԪַ1, 2, 3, 4 (SumpinBԪַ New)BԪַ in 1996 and 1997BԪַs BԪַC U When U Get There.BԪַ
His career album sales totaled 4.8 million, with 978 million on-demand streams of his songs, according to Luminate. He would be nominated for six Grammys overall.
He starred in a reality show about parenting called BԪַCoolioBԪַs Rules,BԪַ provided a voice for an episode of the animated show BԪַGravity FallsBԪַ and performed the theme music for the Nickelodeon sitcom BԪַKenan & Kel.BԪַ
BԪַMark Kennedy, The Associated Press