Coolio - Did You Know?
November 4, 2018Music facts, music trivia, interesting stories and much more. Introducing the "Did You Know" page about American rapper, Coolio.
Enjoy!
Coolio (real name: Artis Leon Ivey Jr.) is an American rapper, record producer, actor and chef who gained mainstream success during the mid-to-late 1990s with his albums It Takes a Thief from 1994, Gangsta's Paradise from 1995 and My Soul from 1997. Coolio is best known for his hit single "Gangsta's Paradise", but also known for other successful singles like "Fantastic Voyage", "C U When U Get There", "1, 2, 3, 4 (Sumpin' New)" and more.
The song "Gangsta's Paradise" is actually a reworking of a song by Stevie Wonder from 1976, "Pastime Paradise." The idea to use Wonder's song came from the singer Larry Sanders (L.V.), who started working on the song and then sent a demo to Coolio, who was looking for a song to record for the 1995 movie, Dangerous Minds.
They still had to clear the sample from Stevie Wonder, and this proved difficult to do, as Wonder rejected the first version of "Gangsta's Paradise" because the song contained swearing. It was only after Coolio rewrote the lyric, that Stevie Wonder gave them his approval.
The song "Gangsta's Paradise" won the Grammy Award in 1995 for Best Rap Solo Performance. Later on, Coolio also became a chef and created a web series by the name of Cookin' with Coolio and he even published a cookbook.
Compare ticket prices to Coolio concerts
Back to TixSearcher.com's Blog
