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'''Artis Leon Ivey, Jr.''' (born August 1, 1963, in [[Inglewood, California]]), better known by the [[stage name]] '''Coolio''', is a [[Grammy Award]]-winning [[United States|American]] [[rapper]] and [[actor]]. He rose to fame in [[1995 in music|1995]] with the [[hit single]] [[Gangsta's Paradise (song)|"Gangsta's Paradise"]], which appeared on the soundtrack for the film ''[[Dangerous Minds]]'', he entered the [[Big Brother (UK)|Big Brother house]] for the [[Celebrity Big Brother|Celebrity Edition]] as of [[January 2nd]] [[2008]].
'''Artis Leon Ivey, Jr.''' (born August 1, 1963, in [[Inglewood, California]]), better known by the [[stage name]] '''Coolio''', is a [[Grammy Award]]-winning [[United States|American]] [[rapper]] and [[actor]]. He rose to fame in [[1995 in music|1995]] with the [[hit single]] [[Gangsta's Paradise (song)|"Gangsta's Paradise"]], which appeared on the soundtrack for the film ''[[Dangerous Minds]]''. On [[January 2nd]] [[2008]] he entered the [[Big Brother (UK)|Big Brother house]] in the [[UK]] for a [[Celebrity_Big_Brother_2009_(UK)|celebrity edition]] of the show.


==Biography==
==Biography==

Revision as of 21:21, 5 January 2009

For the computer hacker, see Dennis Moran (computer criminal).
Coolio

Artis Leon Ivey, Jr. (born August 1, 1963, in Inglewood, California), better known by the stage name Coolio, is a Grammy Award-winning American rapper and actor. He rose to fame in 1995 with the hit single "Gangsta's Paradise", which appeared on the soundtrack for the film Dangerous Minds. On January 2nd 2008 he entered the Big Brother house in the UK for a celebrity edition of the show.

Biography

Early life

Coolio is the son of Jackie Ivey, a factory worker, and Artis Leon Ivey, Sr., a carpenter.[1] His parents divorced and Coolio was getting in trouble outside home as he spent time with Tiny Raskal Gang members, although he was never formally inducted nor accepted into the gang and therefore not considered as a member of a gang.[2]

At the age 17, Coolio spent several months in jail for larceny. After high school, he studied at Compton Community College. He got his stage name after he was called "Coolio Iglesias" (alluding to Julio Iglesias) after performing hip hop in school contests.[2]

Coolio was a regular guest on the Los Angeles radio station KDAY. The beginning of Coolio's musical career was derailed as he developed a crack cocaine addiction. After rehab, Coolio worked various odd jobs, including as a California Conservation Corps-member at the Pomona site[3] and as a firefighter in the forests of northern California in the 1980s.[2]

Recording career

Coolio performing in U.S. Army base in Bosnia in 2002.

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. He left the group, and in 1994 released his debut album It Takes a Thief. The album was a success, reaching the top 10 of the pop charts (#8 on the Billboard Hot 200) [4]. The album featured the singles "Fantastic Voyage" and "I Remember," which featured J-Ro and Tash of Tha Alkaholiks. "Fantastic Voyage" was a hit single, peaking at #2 on the Hot Rap Singles, [5] and being ranked one of the top 5 songs of the year by Rolling Stone magazine, Spin magazine, and Village Voice. [6]

In 1995 Coolio released his second album, Gangsta's Paradise, which is his most successful album to date. It went quadruple-platinum fueled by the title track, a song that also appeared on the soundtrack to the movie Dangerous Minds, and hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100[7]. It also contained another major hit, "1, 2, 3, 4 (Sumpin' New)" that peaked at #5 on the Billboard Hot 100.[8]

In 1997 Coolio released his third album, My Soul. It peaked at #39 on the Billboard Hot 200, a large commercial dropoff from his first two albums. It contained one charting single, "C U When U Get There", based on Johann Pachelbel's classic piece "Canon in D", which peaked at #12 on the Billboard Hot 100. His next two albums, El Cool Magnifico (2002), and The Return of the Gangsta (2006), had little success and failed to chart. 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.


Television

Coolio performed the theme song for the 1996 TV show Kenan and Kel, entitled "Awww Here It Goes". Coolio also appeared in a one-time role as the host of a pleasure palace in Space: Above and Beyond. Coolio was in a movie in 2000 called Gangland. He also starred in an episode of The Nanny, as well as in an episode of Sabrina the Teenage Witch.Twice in 1995 Coolio was a musical guest on All That.

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 Go Round. He played himself in the episode Coolio Runnings of the animated comedy Duckman. He also voiced Kwanzaa-bot, a 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. Coolio reprised the character for the direct-to-DVD feature Bender's Big Score.

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, and the feature film Exposed, in which he played a rapper named "Bigg Heat". Coolio played the role of US Navy sailor Franky in the 2004 Croatian film A Wonderful Night in Split. In 2004 he participated in the German Comeback Show where he finished as third behind Chris Norman and Benjamin Boyce. He made another television movie appearance in 2005 as a military officer in the horror film Pterodactyl. 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.

In 2008, Coolio hosted an online cooking show (or video podcast), Cookin' with Coolio[9], for the website and network My Damn Channel.

Coolio stars with his family in the Oxygen cable television network's reality show Coolio's Rules,[10] scheduled to premiere October 28, 2008. The show follows Coolio as he tries to balance raising a family, starting a new catering business, and dating.

As of January 2nd 2009 he has entered the Celebrity Big Brother 2009 (UK) house[11].

Pop culture references

  • His song "Gangsta's Paradise" references Stevie Wonder's Pastime Paradise and was parodied by "Weird Al" Yankovic as "Amish Paradise" in 1996.
  • In the Twisted Metal 2 video game for the PlayStation gaming console, he appeared in a billboard.
  • 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".
  • Commenting on the criminal record of Ol' Dirty Bastard, Chris Rock asserts in his 1999 spoken word song, "No Sex (In the Champagne Room)", that "ODB couldn't have possibly committed all those crimes. Coolio did some of that shit."
  • Ska punk band Patent Pending mentions Coolio several times in their song "The Website Is Under Construction," singing "Where the hell is Coolio tonight?"
  • The band Andrew Vincent and the Pirates mentions Coolio in its song 'Girlfriend's Dog', singing "She calls him Frank, but I've been calling him Coolio"
  • In the song "Go To Church" from Ice Cube's "Laugh Now, Cry Later" album, rapper Snoop Dogg mentions Coolio.
  • In the children's computer game DinoPark Tycoon, Coolio appears in the crowd of guests at the player's Dino Park.[citation needed]
  • In the UK TV series Benidorm, the character Chantelle names her baby Coolio.
  • In Irish television soap opera Fair City, the character Sarah Malloy often refers to her childhood crush on Coolio and what would have happened if she had pursued her dream of moving to California in order to meet him.
  • Ireland's The Colm and Jim Jim Breakfast Show on RTÉ Radio 2FM regularly claims with tongue in cheek that Coolio is dead.
  • In the 1995 film Clueless, Coolio's song "Rollin' With the Homies" is mentioned in several scenes and more.

Personal life

On June 10, 2008 Coolio was taken into custody after being pulled over by police in Hollywood. He was arrested for an outstanding warrant related to a 2001 suspended license incident and released on a $10,000 bail.[12]

Coolio and jazz saxophonist Jarez were enlisted in July 2008 as spokespersons by the group Environmental Justice and Climate Change to educate students at historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) about global warming.[13]

Discography and Future Performances

Main article: Coolio discography

Awards and nominations

Main article: List of awards and nominations received by Coolio

References

  1. ^ "Coolio - Biography" (HTML). Filmreference.com. Retrieved 2008-07-14.
  2. ^ a b c Coolio - Biography (HTML). Allmusic. Retrieved on 2008-07-14
  3. ^ "California Conservation Corps Corpsmembers" (HTML). State of California. Retrieved 2008-07-14.
  4. ^ http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:dxfwxqe5ldde~T5
  5. ^ http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:hifixqwhld6e~T31
  6. ^ http://www.acclaimedmusic.net/
  7. ^ Billboard: Artist Chart History - Coolio
  8. ^ http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:dxfwxqe5ldde~T51
  9. ^ My Damn Channel: Cookin' With Coolio "Coolio Caprese Salad"
  10. ^ Oxygen Networks: Coolio Rules
  11. ^ [http://www.channel4.com/bigbrother/housemates/ Celebrity Big Brother Cast Page
  12. ^ "Coolio Not Licensed to Chill". Celebuzz.com. 2008-06-10. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  13. ^ EJCC Enlist Coolio and Jarez to Launch Green Campaign
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