LOS ANGELES — 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 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. A year later, “Gangsta's Paradise” would become a No. Coolio had said in an interview at the time it was released that he wasn’t cool with Yankovic’s 1996 “Gangsta’s Paradise” parody, “Amish Paradise.” But the two later made peace. The rapper would never again have a song nearly as big as “Gangsta's Paradise,” but had subsequent hits with 1996's “1, 2, 3, 4 (Sumpin’ New)” (1996), and 1997's “C U When U Get There."

Source: thestar September 29, 2022 03:14 UTC