Coolio Biography

Coolio (Artis Leon Ivey Jr.) is an American rapper, actor, chef, and record producer. Coolio achieved mainstream success in the mid-to-late 1990s with his albums It Takes a Thief, Gangsta’s Paradise, and My Soul.

Coolio Age

 He was born on August 1, 1963. He is 56 years old as of 2019. His birth sign is Leo. He celebrates his birthday on the 1st of August each and every year.

Coolio Height

Coolio stands at an average height of 5 feet and 8 inches weighing a total of 176 pounds.

Coolio Family and Education

Coolio was born in Compton, LA to Artis Leon Ivey Sr., a carpenter, and Jackie Slater, a factory worker, Coolio was prone to asthma attacks. Intelligent, studious and well-informed, he found life outside home difficult. He joined the street gang, Baby Crips, and tried to create a wild and violent image of himself by carrying weapons to school. His studies suffered after being jailed for several months for larceny.

After high school, he attended Compton Community College and renewed his high school interest in rap and performed in contests where he was called ‘Coolio Iglesias.’, and on L.A’s rap radio station, KDAY. To overcome his cocaine addiction, which disrupted his budding career as a rapper, he entered rehab. When he came out, he worked various odd jobs but was determined to revive his rap career.

Coolio Career

He is best known for his 1995 Grammy Award-winning hit single “Gangsta’s Paradise”, as well as other singles “Fantastic Voyage”, “1, 2, 3, 4” and “C U When U Get There”. He was also known for rapping the theme song for the mid-to-late 1990s Nickelodeon series Kenan & Kel.

Coolio has since gone on to release albums independently and has also become a chef, creating a web series titled Cookin’ with Coolio and releasing a cookbook. Ivey originally rose to fame as a member of the Gangsta rap group WC and the Maad Circle alongside WC and his brother, the late Crazy Toones.

Coolio Wife

Coolio married his wife Josefa Salinas in 1996 but divorced in 2000. Later in 2017, he engaged in “Celebrity Wife Swap” with his girlfriend Mimi.  After swapping husbands with Mark McGrath, Mimi realized that her relationship with Coolio did not satisfy her and she quit. She reportedly left him only six weeks after the show. If not Coolio, everyone else probably saw it coming after seeing how Mimi gets limited help around the house and taking care of three kids.

While Mimi got a break from Coolio, Mark’s wife Carin struggled with Coolio literally sleeping while she scrubbed toilets and floors all day. During post-swap summit Mimi told Coolio, “Our relationship sucks, it really does.” Now Coolio is left single and to take care of himself, by himself. He is the father of Artisha Ivey, Grtis Ivey, Artis Ivey III, Brandi Ivey, Jackie Ivey, Milan Ivey, Zhaneand Ivey, Kate Ivey, Shayne Ivey, and Darius Ivey.

Coolio Net Worth

The successful rhythms had opened an ample scope in the film and TV arenas. Coolio ha a tremendous sense of cooking and has appeared several times in various cookery contests and shows. Success truly does not reflect a man’s net worth of a man. Even with his different occupations, he has only managed to heap an estimated net worth of 250,000 dollars.

Coolio Fantastic Voyage

Fantastic Voyage is a song that was released by Coolio io March 1994. It was the third single from his debut album, It Takes a Thief. The song later featured on the album Fantastic Voyage: The Greatest Hits. The song samples “Fantastic Voyage” by Lakeside. In 2018, Chrysler released a music video featuring Coolio called “Vantastic Voyage” to promote the Chrysler Pacifica minivan

Coolio Gangster’s Paradise

This is a song featuring singer L.V. The song was released on Coolio’s album of the same name. It samples the chorus and instrumentation of Stevie Wonder’s 1976 song “Pastime Paradise. The song was listed at number 85 on Billboard’s Greatest Songs of All-Time. It is also the number one biggest selling single of 1995 on U.S. Billboard. In 2008, it was ranked number 38 on VH1’s 100 Greatest Songs of Hip Hop.

Coolio was awarded a Grammy for Best Rap Solo Performance, two MTV Video Music Awards for Best Rap Video and for Best Video from a Film and a Billboard Music Award for the song/album. The song was voted as the best single of the year in The Village Voice Pazz & Jop critics poll.

The song has sold over 5 million copies in the United States, United Kingdom and Germany alone, and at least 6 million worldwide, making it one of the best-selling singles of all time. Coolio has performed this song live at the 1995 Billboard Music Awards with L.V. and Wonder, at the 38th Annual Grammy Awards with L.V., and also with Dutch singer Trijntje Oosterhuis.

Coolio begins by reflecting on his life in a Biblical fashion. He said that his partaking in hoodlum activities has drained him of hope, and his damaged relationship with his mother. However, the narrative turns at this point with Coolio threatening rival gangs with certain death in the event that they take verbal liberties or infringe into his territory. He educates the listener on the history behind his current position in society. He explains the way in which his upbringing has captured him by creating his lust for power, money, and murder.

However, it is at this point that he acknowledges the doubt of his survival on the street. Coolio, therefore, begins to regret the repetitive nature of the violence in which he partakes, as well as explaining the chaos created by individual greed, selfishness and a lack of education or role models. He ends his personal journey on a hopeless admission: that his situation and surroundings will never improve.

Coolio Hair|Coolio braids

Coolio Songs and Albums

Filmography
He has made numerous appearances in television and movies, mostly small roles or cameos.

• Space: Above and Beyond Season 1 Episode 19: ‘R&R’
• Sabrina The Teenage Witch
• Kenan and Kel (1996–2000) (appeared and sang the theme song in the opening credits)
  Batman & Robin
• Duckman (1997) Season 4 Episode 2: ‘Coolio Runnings’
• An Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn (1997)
• Muppets Tonight (1997)
• The Nanny – The TV Series Episode: Homie Work (1998)
• On the Line (1998)
• Belly (1998)
• Malcolm & Eddie Season 3 ‘Daddio’ (1999)
• Judgment Day (1999)
• Early Edition Season 3 ‘Number one with a bullet’ (1999)
• Bad Trip (1999)
• Leprechaun in the Hood (2000)
• Submerged (2000)
• Shriek If You Know What I Did Last Friday the Thirteenth (2000)
• The Convent (2000)
• China Strike Force (2000)
• Dope Case Pending (2000)
• Get Over It (2001)
• In Pursuit (2001)
• Fear Factor (2001)
• Static Shock (2002)
• Stealing Candy (2002)
• Charmed Season 4 ‘Lazarus Demon’ (2002)
• Move (2002)
• Daredevil (2003) (deleted scenes restored in 2004 director’s cut)
• Tapped Out (2003)
• Charmed (2002)
• Pterodactyl (2003)
• Red Water (2003)
• A Wonderful Night in Split (2004)
• Dracula 3000 (2004)
• Ravedactyl: Project Evolution (2005); short film
• Gang Warz (2006)
• Grad Night (2006)
• Three Days to Vegas (2007)
• Futurama: Bender’s Big Score, as Kwanzaa-bot
• I Am Somebody: No Chance in Hell (2008) (original title: Chinaman’s Chance)
• Coolio’s Rules (2008)
• Rachael vs. Guy: Celebrity Cook-Off (2012)[6]
• Two Hundred Thousand Dirty (2012)
• Gravity Falls As a wax-figure cameo
• Celebrity Wife Swap Husband
• ICP Theater Special guest (2013)
• BTS: American Hustle Life Mentor to KPOP group BTS on Mnet TV series (2014)
• Black Jesus Cameo as Himself (2014)
• Squidbillies Cameo as Himself (2017)

Studio albums

• It Takes a Thief (1994)
• Gangsta’s Paradise (1995)
• My Soul (1997)
• Coolio.com (2001)
• El Cool Magnifico (2002)
• The Return of the Gangsta (2006)
• Steal Hear (2008)
• From the Bottom 2 the Top (2009)
• Hotel C. (2015)