Coolio

Coolio performing live in 2002

Coolio (born August 1, 1963 in Compton , California ; real name Artis Leon Ivey Jr. ) is an American rapper and actor .

Life

Ivey came into contact with the hip-hop scene very early on . After his high school had reached Accounts, he joined the hip-hop group of WC , WC & The Maad Circle , and initially appeared in the background. According to his own account, he chose the stage name Coolio after a passerby asked him while practicing on the street whether he was imagining himself to be Julio Iglesias . His friends took this remark as a joke and called him Coolio from then on. In 1994 he split from the group to record his first solo album, It Takes a Thief . The songs Fantastic Voyage , I Remember and Mama I'm in Love with a Gangster were released as singles from the album . The greatest chart success brought him until then Fantastic Voyage . I Remember became the soundtrack for Beavis and Butt-Head .

In 1995 he released his most successful album to date, Gangsta's Paradise , which sold over 4 million times. The single of the same name received a Grammy in 1996 and landed at number 1 in the charts in several European countries, including Germany. The song is also the official soundtrack for the movie Dangerous Minds starring Michelle Pfeiffer . For the melody, Coolio was inspired by Stevie Wonder's single Pastime Paradise from the album Songs in the Key of Life , from which he also used some sound samples .

My Soul , Coolio's third album, followed in 1997 with the successful single CU When U Get There , based on the canon in D by Johann Pachelbel .

After a five-year hiatus, the unsuccessful album El Cool Magnifico followed in 2002 . In 2006 The Return of the Gangsta appeared , on which he was supported by Snoop Dogg . In addition, young German rappers performed. Gangsta Lu took over part of the song in 4. Ladie K-la was also heard on the track Ladie and Gangsta . Kay Master Kay and Mad Rob each had a part on the track Dip it and the band Brasa could be heard on Do it .

As an actor, Coolio has appeared in the series Space 2063 (1996), Alone Against the Future (1999), The Nanny (1998), and the films Batman & Robin (1997), Hell Hollywood (1997), Convent (2000) , Daredevil (2003), Dracula 3000 (2004) and Shriek - Scream if you know what I saw last Friday the 13th (2000).

In 2004 he took part in the ProSieben show Comeback - The Big Chance , where he came third, behind Chris Norman , who won the final, and Benjamin Boyce .

In 2014 he recorded the promotional video "Take It to the Hub" for Pornhub , in which u. a. Phoenix Marie has a guest appearance.

In November 2017, it was announced that Coolio would be Cherie DeVille's runner-up candidate for the 2020 US presidential election .

Discography

Albums

year	title	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)					Remarks
		DE	AT	CH	UK	US
1994	It takes a thief	-	-	-	UK67 (1 week) UK	US8th platinum (30 weeks)US	First published: July 19, 1994
1995	Gangsta's Paradise	DE6th gold (28 weeks)DE	AT4 (16 weeks) AT	CH2 (25 weeks) CH	UK18th gold (29 weeks)UK	US9 × 2 Double platinum (62 weeks)US	First published: November 21, 1995
1997	My soul	DE19 (9 weeks) DE	AT19 (6 weeks) AT	CH16 (6 weeks) CH	UK28 (3 weeks) UK	US39 gold (9 weeks)US	First published: August 26, 1997
2006	The Return of the Gangsta	-	-	CH82 (2 weeks) CH	-	-	First published: October 16, 2006

More albums

• 2001: Coolio.com
• 2002: El Cool Magnifico
• 2008: Steal Hear
• 2009: From the Bottom 2 the Top

Compilations

• 2001: The Very Best
• 2001: Fantastic Voyage: The Greatest Hits
• 2012: The Essential Collection (2 CDs)

Singles

year	Title album	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes)					Remarks
		DE	AT	CH	UK	US
1994	Fantastic Voyage It Takes A Thief	DE91 (4 weeks) DE	-	-	UK41 (3 weeks) UK	US3 platinum (25 weeks)US
	I Remember It Takes A Thief	-	-	-	UK73 (2 weeks) UK	-
1995	Gangsta's Paradise Gangsta’s Paradise	DE1 × 2 Double platinum (35 weeks)DE	AT1 platinum (25 weeks)AT	CH1 × 2 Double platinum (28 weeks)CH	UK1 × 3 Triple platinum (34 weeks)UK	US1 × 3 Triple platinum (38 weeks)US	feat. LV
	Too Hot Gangsta’s Paradise	DE24 (17 weeks) DE	-	CH18 (9 weeks) CH	UK9 (6 weeks) UK	US24 (15 weeks) US
1996	1, 2, 3, 4 (Sumpin 'New)	DE39 (12 weeks) DE	-	-	UK13 (7 weeks) UK	US5 gold (21 weeks)US
	It's All the Way Live (Now)	DE73 (7 weeks) DE	-	-	UK34 (2 weeks) UK	US29 gold (18 weeks)US
1997	Hit 'em High (The Monstars' Anthem)	DE14 (15 weeks) DE	-	CH11 (13 weeks) CH	UK8 (7 weeks) UK	-	with B-Real , Busta Rhymes , LL Cool J and Method Man
	The winner	-	-	-	UK53 (1 week) UK	-
	CU When U Get There My Soul	DE3 gold (19 weeks)DE	AT4 (12 weeks) AT	CH2 gold (22 weeks)CH	UK3 silver (12 weeks)UK	US12 gold (20 weeks)US	feat. 40 Thevz
	Ooh La La My Soul	DE80 (7 weeks) DE	-	-	UK14 (5 weeks) UK	-
2004	Work Ya Body B4-19	-	AT98 (1 week) AT	-	-	-	NSC feat. Coolio
2006	Gangsta Walk The Return Of The Gangsta	-	AT75 (1 week) AT	CH56 (3 weeks) CH	UK67 (1 week) UK	-	feat. Snoop Dogg

More singles

• 1993: County Line
• 1994: Dial a Jam (40 Thevz feat. Coolio)
• 1994: Mama, I'm in Love
• 1996: Atomic Dog ( George Clinton feat.Coolio)
• 1996: Keep It on the Red Light ( Ophélie Winter feat. Coolio)
• 1996: Payback ( Montell Jordan feat.Coolio)
• 1996: Runaway ( Janet Jackson feat. Coolio)
• 1996: Knee Deep (Dazzie Dee Feat. Coolio & CMW )
• 1997: All Night All Right ( Peter André feat.Coolio)
• 1997: Hit 'em
• 1998: Raise the Roof (Chazz feat. Coolio)
• 2002: I Like Girls
• 2002: Ghetto Square Dance
• 2002: Coolio 2002 EP
• 2002: The Hustler (feat. Kenny Rogers )
• 2003: Don`t Go (Sat-r-day feat. Coolio)
• 2003: What Is a Mc
• 2005: Slip Away (Sicknature feat. Coolio)
• 2005: Slip Away Pt. 2 (Sicknature feat. Coolio)
• 2009: Lady (vs. Beat Nouveau feat. Storm Lee)
• 2009: Change (vs. Ennio Morricone )

Awards for music sales

Golden record

•  Belgium
  • 1996: for the album Gangsta's Paradise
•  Canada
  • 1995: for the album It Takes a Thief
  • 1997: for the album My Soul
•  Netherlands
  • 1995: for the album Gangsta's Paradise

Platinum record

•  Belgium
  • 1996: for the single Gangsta's Paradise
•  Canada
  • 1997: for the album Gangsta's Paradise
•  Netherlands
  • 1995: for the single Gangsta's Paradise

4 × platinum record

•  Norway
  • 1996: for the single Gangsta's Paradise

Note: Awards in countries from the chart tables or chart boxes can be found in these.

Country / Region	silver	gold	platinum	Sales	swell
Awards for music sales (country / region, awards, sales, sources)
Belgium (BEA)	-	gold1	platinum1	75,000	ultratop.be
Germany (BVMI)	-	2 × gold2	2 × platinum2	1,500,000	musikindustrie.de
Canada (MC)	-	2 × gold2	platinum1	200,000	musiccanada.com
Netherlands (NVPI)	-	gold1	platinum1	127,000	nvpi.nl
Norway (IFPI)	-	-	4 × platinum4th	160,000	ifpi.no ( Memento from November 5, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
Austria (IFPI)	-	-	platinum1	50,000	ifpi.at
Switzerland (IFPI)	-	gold1	2 × platinum2	125,000	hitparade.ch
United States (RIAA)	-	4 × gold4th	7 × platinum7th	9,000,000	riaa.com
United Kingdom (BPI)	silver1	gold1	3 × platinum3	2,100,000	bpi.co.uk
All in all	silver1	12 × gold12	22 × platinum22nd

Filmography (selection)

• 1997: Batman & Robin
• 1998: The Nanny (Season 5, Episode 17 Coolio ... Superstar? As "Irwin")
• 1999: Judgment Day - Doomsday (Judgment Day)
• 2000: Convent (The Convent)
• 2000: Shriek If You Know What I Did Last Friday the Thirteenth
• 2001: Gangland LA (Gangland)
• 2001: Ran an die Braut (Get Over It)
• 2002: Virtual Storm (Storm Watch)
• 2002: Charmed (Season 4, Episode 15 The Bride Wears Black)
• 2003: Daredevil
• 2003: Red Water
• 2004: Dracula 3000
• 2004: A Wonderful Night in Split
• 2005: Pterodactyl - primal scream of violence (Pterodactyl)
• 2007: Futurama: Bender's Big Score (voice)

Web links

Commons : Coolio  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Coolio at laut.de
• Coolio at Discogs (English)
• Coolio in the Internet Movie Database (English)
• Coolio at Allmusic (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Trivias about Coolio on imdb.com; Retrieved Feb. 10, 2013
2. ↑ Mitchell Sunderland: Coolio told us about the racist cops who tried to sabotage his music video shoot for Pornhub. In: vice.com . September 10, 2014, accessed May 20, 2018 . 
3. ↑ Candidate for the 2020 US presidential election
4. ↑ ^{a b} Chart sources: Singles Albums Billboard 200