rapper record producer and actor artist leon ivey jr known professionally as coolio was born
in compton california on august 1st 1963. growing up he was small asthmatic highly intelligent and
a bookworm his mother read to him a lot and also encouraged coolio to make use of the local library
located just down the street from where they lived he excelled so much that he ended up skipping the
sixth grade he may have felt good about being so smart but the same couldn't be said about
his schoolmates he was already lacking in stature and a year younger so bullying became a regular
occurrence by junior high though he decided to start fighting back and the harassment abruptly
stopped back in the day coolio was also linked to notorious southern california street gang
the cribs he admitted to tom snyder in 1996 that he did hang out with some members and thought
about joining but after seeing what they did to people he decided that he wasn't about that life
what he did do though was get caught up in other illegal activities and at the age of
17 spent several months in jail for larceny after apparently trying to cash a money order that had
actually been stolen by one of his friends coolio soon began getting into the music game and his
mother eventually sent him to live in northern california in his late teens after high school he
did study for a time at a local community college but his rap dreams were always at the forefront
he eventually earned the name julio iglesias in reference to the famous spanish singer-songwriter
before things took off for him he went through a number of fast food jobs including jack in the
box burger king mcdonald's and taco bell he also had a gig as a pre-boarding screener at lax after
cutting a couple of rap singles that went nowhere coolio ended up joining the group wc and the mad
circle and was a co-contributor on their 1991 debut album ain't a damn thing change three years
later coolio would sign with tommy boy records and release his debut solo album it takes a thief
the second single fantastic voyage became his first major hit peaking at number three on the hot
100. julio's solo career was off to a great start but his next project would really solidify him as
an international hip-hop star it would all start with an unplanned trip to his manager's house
as he walked in the front door he heard a captivating beat coming from the recording studio
coolio decided to go inside to hear things more clearly just as r b singer lv began laying down
some vocals coolio knew he had to be a part of this awesome masterpiece that track turned
into gangsta's paradise the lead single off of coolio's second album of the same name
but it almost didn't happen the label wasn't feeling the song's social statement about
ghetto life and discouraged coolio from putting it on his album a better alternative they thought
was to place it on the soundtrack to the upcoming dramatic film dangerous minds starring michelle
pfeiffer as a tough inner city teacher the track sampled from the stevie wonder song
pastime paradise of his songs in the key of life album was ultimately released as a single
and well the rest is history it would become one of the most successful rap songs of all time
capturing the number one spot on the hot 100 for several weeks it also hit the top spot on
the international charts in the united kingdom france germany italy sweden norway switzerland
and australia just to name a few the song would also grant coolio his first grammy for best rap
solo performance and become the number one single of 1995. another weird chapter in the success of
the song would begin when an unconventional artist decided to make a parody of the worldwide head
comedy musician weird al yankovic released amish paradise in march 1996. even though weird al had
received the go-ahead from the label he didn't ask coolio directly for permission to use the song
and coolio was not happy about it a beef of sorts ensued between the two recording artists
for many years that coolio later regretted after realizing that he was being too high on himself
when michael jackson didn't have a problem with weird al covering his hits beat it
and bad coolio's album also contained two other successful tunes one two three four something new
and too hot also around this time coolio would begin a serious addiction to cocaine
he told british music show the beat that others around him got just as hooked but they handled it
much better than he did despite no longer being an official member of the group coolio did make
an appearance on the second wc and the mad circle album titled curb servant on the song in a twist
the rapper then did one for the kids recording the theme song for the nickelodeon tv series
keenan and kell which ran for four seasons he also appeared in the series opening sequence
coolio's third album titled my soul dropped in the summer of 1997. although it contained the major
hits see you when you get there and eventually went platinum it failed to reach the success of
his previous two albums in typical fashion coolio was subsequently dropped from tommyboy records
fast forward to 2014 coolio would claim in an interview with vlad tv that tommyboy purposely
sabotaged all their artists third albums he used the examples of naughty by nature de la soul
and queen latifah to prove his theory also adding that had his or any other artist's album gone
platinum it would mean that the label would have to cough up millions of dollars and also give them
additional points putting the artist in a position of power there would also be more legal woes for
coolio to face in the late 90s he was sentenced to six months probation and fined 17 000 after
being convicted of allegedly shoplifting from a german clothing store and assaulting the owner in
1998. that summer he was arrested again this time in california after he was pulled over and cited
for driving on the wrong side of the road with an expired license carrying a concealed weapon
and possessing a small amount of marijuana since then neither his next five studio albums
nor his 2017 ep titled long live the thief have made it onto any billboard chart in 2004 coolio
would begin a long run on reality tv including a german talent show celebrity big brother
a food network cook-off competition and wife swab at the start of 2008 coolio started the web-based
cooking tutorial program cooking with coolio the show also served as promotion for a cookbook by
him of the same name the following year coolio had a rather awkward moment on stage or technically
off stage he attempted to stage dive during a campus show for university students in england
the audience wasn't prepared for the act and parted sending him crashing to the ground
if that wasn't bad enough the crowd then proceeded to rob coolio of his jewelry shoes and bandana
security then attempted a whitney houston aka the bodyguard style rescue
to save the already embarrassed performer
coolio's cocaine addiction revved up again around this time after his 2009 arrest at
lax when a crack pipe was found in his carry-on bag he claims that while packing for his trip
he grabbed a bag under the sink without thinking and it just so happened to be
holding the drug paraphernalia he said belonged to his cousin
he was charged with possession of crack cocaine and battery of which he entered a plea of not
guilty the fallout from the incident affected him so much that he went into a downward spiral and
started using drugs again julio engaged in some serious bad behavior that could have cost him some
major time behind bars in 2016 when he was charged in october with unlawful firearm possession
stemming from a handgun that prosecutors said was found in his backpack during a baggage screening
at los angeles international airport the month prior it was illegal for him to carry a gun
because of two felony convictions from years ago coolio was ultimately charged with a felony and if
convicted could have faced a maximum sentence of three years in state prison he ended up pleading
guilty to possession of a concealed weapon and was given three years probation plus 45
days of community service instead of jail time in 2020 coolio did something that no one saw coming
when he threw his hat into the political arena as a running mate for adult entertainment actress
cherie deville's democratic presidential run no really he did following a break at the end of last
year the i love the 90s tour that started back in 2016 is slated to hit the road again for the 2022
season beginning on may 14th coolio is set to join other acts like vanilla ice all for one and color
me bad just to name a few to celebrate the iconic decade that shot his career into super stardom
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