Rapper Coolio is Now in Gangsta Paradise

Coolio, the rapper who was among hip-hop's biggest names of the 1990s with hits including "Gangsta's Paradise" and "Fantastic Voyage," died Wednesday at age 59, his manager said. Coolio died at the Los Angeles home of a friend, longtime manager Jarez Posey told The Associated Press. The cause was not immediately clear. Coolio won a Grammy for best solo rap performance for "Gangsta's Paradise," the 1995 hit from the soundtrack of the Michelle Pfeiffer film "Dangerous Minds" that sampled Stevie Wonder's 1976 song "Pastime Paradise" and was played constantly on MTV.

The Grammy, and the height of his popularity, came in 1996, amid a fierce feud between the hip-hop communities of the two coasts, which would take the lives of Tupac Shakur and The Notorious B.I.G. soon after.

Coolio managed to stay mostly above the conflict.

"I'd like to claim this Grammy on behalf of the whole hip-hop nation, West Coast, East Coast, and worldwide, united we stand, divided we fall," he said from the stage as he accepted the award. Born in Monessen, Pennsylvania south of Pittsburgh, Coolio moved to Compton, California. He spent some time as a teen in Northern California, where his mother sent him because she felt the city was too dangerous. He said in interviews that he started rapping at 15 and knew by 18 it was what he wanted to do with his life, but would go to community college and work as a volunteer firefighter and in airport security before devoting himself full-time to the hip-hop scene.

What was Coolio best known for?

Coolio’s music career spanned more than three decades. The Los Angeles-based rapper rose to stardom in the mid-1990s with the song “Gangsta’s Paradise,” which was featured on the soundtrack for the 1995 film “Dangerous Minds,” starring Michelle Pfeiffer, according to Variety.

Pfeiffer said she was “heartbroken” over Coolio’s death.

“A life cut entirely too short,” the actress shared in a post on Instagram. “He won a Grammy for his brilliant song on the soundtrack which I think was the reason our film saw so much success. I remember him being nothing but gracious. 30 years later I still get chills when I hear the song.”

“Gangsta’s Paradise” was the No. 1 single of 1995 in the U.S., per Billboard, and is one of the most popular rap songs of all time.