‘Rest In Gangsta Paradise’ Rapper Coolio Dead At 59

LOS ANGELES, CA. (THECOUNT) — 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. He was 59.

Coolio, whose real name was Artis Leon Ivey Jr., 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.”

He was nominated for five other Grammys during a career that began in the late-1980s.

A cause of death was not provided.

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