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Coolio was born Artis Ivey, Jr. in Compton, California. As a young child, he was intelligent, good in school and was generally known as a bookworm. In an effort to fit he created a menacing persona by carrying weapons to school and began running with the Baby Crips. He was never formally inducted into the gang and at 17 found himself in jail for larceny. After high school, he attended Compton Community College and began performing wherever he could. He soon became a regular on the Los Angeles rap station KDAY and enjoyed moderate success with the single "Watcha Gonna Do." Unfortunately, he fell prey to drug addiction but checked himself into rehab and straightened out by taking a job with the California Department of Forestry as a firefighter.
After his brief stint as a firefighter, Coolio began to get his rap career on track and made connections in the LA hip-hop scene. He subsequently landed a deal with Tommy Boy Records. In 1994, Coolio released his debut album titled It Takes A Thief. On the strength of the single "Fantastic Voyage," which rocketed to number three on the pop charts, the album rose into the Top Ten and past the platinum sales mark. Many critics and listeners welcomed his friendlier, gentler approach to the gangsta-dominated West Coast sound.
For his next album, Coolio teamed up with gospel-trained singer L.V. on a song based on Stevie Wonder's "Pastime Paradise." "Gangsta's Paradise was a social statement about ghetto life, and the music was dark, haunting, and spellbindingly atmospheric." (Steve Huey, All Music Guide) The track found its way to the Dangerous Minds Soundtrack and was released as a single. It became Coolio's first number one pop single and was the number one single in 1995. The track also earned him a GRAMMY for best rap solo performance.
The triple-platinum
Gangsta's Paradise album kept the hits coming: the bright party anthem "
1, 2, 3, 4 (Sumpin' New)" hit the Top Ten in 1996. Meanwhile,
Coolio toured the world, contributed the theme song to the Nickelodeon comedy series Kenan and Kel, and began pursuing an acting career, making his screen debut with a cameo in the 1996 comedy Phat Beach; he would also land a small role in the following year's
Batman and Robin.
Coolio has won an American Music Award, 3 MTV Awards, 2 Nickelodeon Kids Choice Awards and a World Music Award. He has received 6 Grammy Award nominations (1994, 1995, 1996), 2 Billboard Music Awards (1994, 1996), 2 ASCAP Awards (1996, 1997), 3 MTV Video Awards (1996, 1997), 4 American Online Awards (1996) and was the Playboy Music Poll Winner in 1997.
Most recently, Coolio performed at the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City for the athletes, VIPs and officials the night before Opening Ceremonies and on an USO Tour for the troops in Korea and Europe over the Holidays. He participated on NBC's Celebrity Fear Factor and walked away champion earning $50,000 for his charity. He also appeared on The Weakest Link, guest starred on WB's Charmed, HBO's Arliss and was featured on MTV's reality special Flipped. Coolio also successfully transitioned to the big screen and secured roles in, to name a few, "Batman & Robin," "Judgement Day," "Dear God" and most recently the much anticipated "Daredevil" with Ben Affleck, Jon Favreau, and Jennifer Garner.
During this time, Coolio worked in the studio and gave himself the time he wanted to release a quality album. El Cool Magnifico is destined for the platinum success Coolio has come to know, he says "I ended up doing so many songs that I had a lot of stuff to pick from. I've basically got an album full of singles."
