COOLIO

'Coolio' (born 'Artis Leon Ivey, Jr.' on August 1, 1963 in Compton, California) is an American rapper and actor perhaps best known for the hit song "Gangsta's Paradise." The album ''Gangsta's Paradise'' is considered a classic west coast Gangsta Rap album, thanks to songs like "Exercise Yo Game" and "Geto Highlites." Coolio has also made numerous television and film appearances.

Contents

Recording career

Television

Pop culture references

Awards

Discography

Albums

WC and the Maad Circle

Singles

External links

Recording career

Coolio started his career as a member of the rap group, WC and the Maad Circle, which included WC, Sir Jinx and DJ Crazy Toones. The group released two albums, Ain't a Damn Thang Changed in 1991 and Curb Servin' in 1995. The group disbanded shortly after the release of Curb Servin'. In 1994, Coolio released his debut album ''It Takes a Thief'' which featured the hugely successful singles, ''Fantastic Voyage'' and ''It Takes a Thief''. In 1995 Collio released his 2nd and most successful album ''Gangsta's Paradise'', which went 4X Platinum and featured the mega hit, ''Gangsta's Paradise'' and the popular party track, ''Sumpin New''. However, Coolio's next three albums, 1997's "My Soul", 2002's "El Cool Magnifico" and 2006's "Return of the Gangsta", failed to live up to the success of his first two albums.
Coolio's recordings also appeared on the soundtracks to ''Clueless'' (1995) and ''Dangerous Minds'' (1995).
In 2005 he co-hosted the MOBO awards in the UK. The MOBO (an acronym for Music Of Black Origin) Awards, established in 1996 by Kanya King, are held annually in the UK to recognize artists of any race or nationality performing music of black origin. Coolio is a former Crip member.Coolio is also associated with Snoop Dogg

Television

He performed the theme song for the 1996 TV show ''Kenan and Kel'', entitled "Awww Here It Goes" where he was featured in most of the song. Coolio also was in 2000 movie called ''Gangland''.
In 2001 he was a special guest on Beat the Geeks. In 2002 Coolio guest starred in the hit series ''Charmed'', as a Lazarus demon, in the episode ''Marry Got Found''. He played himself in the episode ''Coolio Runnings'' of the animated comedy Duckman. He also voiced Kwanzaa-bot, a one-off character featured in the "A Tale Of Two Santas" episode of ''Futurama''. In fact, according to the DVD commentary, the producers of ''Futurama'' were so impressed by his range of voices, that they said he could do voice-over work professionally.
In 2002, Coolio was a contestant on ''Celebrity Fear Factor''. During the third round, he referred to himself as "El Cool Magnifico" (which would become the title of his fourth studio album). That same year, he appeared on ''Celebrity Bootcamp'' and won. Coolio starred in the 2003 made-for-TV movie ''Dracula 3000'', in which he played a space-faring stoner named 187. Coolio played a role of US Navy sailor Franky in 2004 Croatian film ''Ta divna splitska noć'' (Wonderful night in Split), film is dealing with drug scene of that coast. He made another television movie appearance in 2005 as a military officer in the horror film Pterodactyl, which was a devastating disaster. That year, he also appeared in ''Joey'' on the episode "Joey and the Poker."
In 2006, Coolio appeared in the "Tanner's Ghost" episode of the ''Celebrity Paranormal Project'' and got insulted because of his horrifying breath, and yellow teeth.

Pop culture references

★ His song ''Gangsta's Paradise'' was parodied by "Weird Al" Yankovic as ''Amish Paradise'' in 1996. Coolio did not take nicely to the parody initially due to claims that he did not sign off on it (Yankovic's agent claimed Coolio's agent did). He did receive royalties, however. Coolio has since forgiven Al, even signing autographs with him at an electronics show.

★ In the Twisted Metal 2 game for the PlayStation gaming console, he was in a billboard in the game.

★ In the television show 30 Rock, Tracy Jordan states that the Black Crusaders wanted him to disappear "just like Coolio" to which Liz Lemon responds "Coolio's still around".

★ Ska punk band Patent Pending mentions Coolio in their song "The Website Is Under Construction," singing "Where the hell is Coolio tonight?"

Awards

★ 1994 : MTV Video Music Award Nomination for Best Rap Video. "Fantastic Voyage"

★ 1995 : Grammy Award Nomination for Best Rap Solo Performance. "Fantastic Voyage"

★ 1995 : Billboard Music Award 'Win' for Top Hot 100 Single Sales Single of the Year. "Gangsta's Paradise"

★ 1995 : Billboard Music Award 'Win' for Top Hot 100 Single of the Year. "Gangsta's Paradise"

★ 1996 : American Music Award 'Win' for Favorite Rap/Hip Hop Artist.

★ 1996 : Grammy Award 'Win' for Best Rap Solo Performance. "Gangsta's Paradise"

★ 1996 : Grammy Award Nomination for Record of the Year. "Gangsta's Paradise"

★ 1996 : MTV Video Music Award 'Win' for Best Rap Video. "Gangsta's Paradise"

★ 1996 : MTV Video Music Award 'Win' for Best Video from a Film . "Gangsta's Paradise"

★ 1996 : MTV Video Music Award 'Win' for Best Dance Video. "1, 2, 3, 4 (Sumpin' New)")

★ 1996 : MTV Video Music Award Nomination for Best Male Video. "1, 2, 3, 4 (Sumpin' New)")

★ 1997 : Grammy Award Nomination for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals. "Stomp"

★ 1998 : Grammy Award Nomination for Best Rap Performance. "C U When U Get There"

Discography

Albums

	'''It Takes a Thief''' ★ Released: July 19, 1994 ★ Chart Positions: #8 US #5 Top Hip Hop/R&B ★ Last RIAA certification: Platinum ★ Singles: "It Takes a Thief", "County Line", "Fantastic Voyage", "I Remember", "Mama I'm in Love Wit a Gangsta"
'''Gangsta's Paradise''' ★ Released: November 21, 1995 ★ Chart Positions: #9 US, #14 R&B/Hip-Hop ★ Last RIAA certification: 4x Platinum ★ Singles: "Gangsta's Paradise", "Too Hot", "1, 2, 3, 4 (Sumpin' New)"
'''My Soul''' ★ Released: August 26, 1997 ★ Chart Positions: #39 US #49 Top Hip Hop/R&B ★ Last RIAA certification: Gold ★ Singles: "C U When U Get There", "Ooh La La"
'''El Cool Magnifico''' ★ Released: October 15, 2002 ★ Chart Positions: ★ Last RIAA certification: Gold ★ Singles: "I Like Girls", "Ghetto Square Dance", Sunshine" "Somebody's Gotta Die"
'''The Return of the Gangsta''' ★ Released: October 16, 2006 ★ Chart Positions: ★ Last RIAA certification: Gold ★ Singles: "Gangsta Walk",

WC and the Maad Circle

	'''Ain't a Damn Thang Changed''' ★ Released: 1991 ★ Chart Positions: #52 Top Hip Hop/R&B ★ Last RIAA certification: Gold ★ Singles: "Dress Code"
'''Curb Servin'''' ★ Released: 1995 ★ Chart Positions: #85 US, #15 R&B/Hip-Hop ★ Last RIAA certification: Gold ★ Singles: "West Up!", "The One"

Singles

Year	Title	Chart positions				Album
		US Hot 100	US R&B / Hip-Hop	US Rap	UK Singles Chart
1993	"It Takes A Thief"	#3	-	-	-	''It Takes a Thief''
1993	"County Line"	-	#97	#27	-	It Takes a Thief''
1994	"I Remember"	-	#83	#48	#73	''It Takes a Thief''
1994	"Fantastic Voyage"	#3	#12	#2	#41	''It Takes a Thief''
1994	"Mama I'm In Love Wit A Gangsta"	-	-	#49	-	''It Takes a Thief''
1995	"Gangsta's Paradise" (featuring L.V.)	'#1'	#2	'#1'	'#1'	''Gangsta's Paradise''
1995	"Too Hot"	#24	#31	#6	#9	''Gangsta's Paradise''
1996	"1, 2, 3, 4 (Sumpin' New)"	#5	#24	#6	#13	''Gangsta's Paradise''
1996	"It's All The Way Live (Now)"	#29	#47	#9	#37	''Eddie [OST]
1997	"Hit 'Em High (The Monstars' Anthem)" (with B-Real, Method Man, LL Cool J & Busta Rhymes)	-	-	-	#8	''Space Jam [OST]''
1997	"The Winner"	-	-	-	#53	''Space Jam [OST]''
1997	"C U When U Get There" (featuring 40 Thevz)	#12	#34	#7	#3	''My Soul''
1997	"Ooh La La"	#1	-	-	#14	''My Soul''
2002	"Somebody's Gotta Die" (featuring Krayzie Bone)	-	-	-	-	''El Cool Magnifico''
2006	"Gangsta Walk" (featuring Snoop Dogg)	-	-	-	#67	''The Return of the Gangsta''

External links

★ Coolio official site

★ Coolio videos on Yahoo! Music

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