Coolio

Artis Leon Ivey, Jr. (born August 1, 1963), better known by the stage name Coolio, is a Grammy Award-winning American rapper and actor. He rose to fame in 1994 with his debut single "Fantastic Voyage", and later in 1995 with the hit single "Gangsta's Paradise", which appeared on the soundtrack for the film Dangerous Minds.

Early life

Coolio was born in Compton, California the son of Jackie Slater, a factory worker, and Artis Leon Ivey Sr., a carpenter. His parents divorced and Coolio was getting in trouble outside home as he spent time with Mona Park Compton Crips gang members, although he was never formally inducted nor accepted into the gang and therefore not considered as a member of a gang.

At the age of 22, Coolio spent several months in jail for larceny.

Coolio was a regular guest on the Los Angeles radio station KDAY. The beginning of Coolio's musical career was derailed as he began selling crack-cocaine. After rehab, Coolio worked various odd jobs, including as a California Conservation Corps-member at the Pomona site and as a firefighter in the forests of northern California in the 1980s.. The album featured the singles "Fantastic Voyage" and "I Remember," which featured J-Ro and Tash of Tha Alkaholiks. "Fantastic Voyage" was a hit single, peaking at #2 on the Hot Rap Singles, and being ranked one of the top 5 songs of the year by Rolling Stone magazine, Spin magazine, and Village Voice.

In 1995 Coolio released his second album, Gangsta's Paradise, which is his most successful album to date. It went quadruple-platinum fueled by the title track, a song that also appeared on the soundtrack to the movie Dangerous Minds, and hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100. The titled single also became the biggest selling single on the US Billboard Top 100 of 1995 (Ref