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Industry News
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Coolio
My Soul: "The essence of who I am, where dreams live, where fantasies begin. The fruit of my reality. Taste with your ears, drink with your heart, enjoy with your soul." Coolio was born in California in August 1, 1963. Coolio (Artis Ivey) began rapping when he was still in high school in the late 70s. After finishing public school Coolio enrolled at Compton Community College, where he was able to concentrate his attention on music. Coolio got his name during a snapping session, when he was wearing a western shirt and playing a guitar while singing a song; someone asked "Who do you think you are, Coolio Iglesias?" Coolio was able to avoid being swept up by a gang (the Crips in Los Angeles), in his own words, "When you lived in the hood, you had to be down, or you'd get beaten down. I'm not a gangsta. I'm a hustler. I ain't no gangsta, never been no gangsta. I'm a hustler and a ghetto politician; also, a ghetto witch doctor." Coolio's debut LP, It Takes A Thief, was released in 1994 containing the Top 10 hit "Fantastic Voyage." The songs was a big hit with MTV viewers, hip hop listeners, and even pop music fans. To many, Coolio break from the hard-core gangsta rap scene. "Fantastic Voyage" introduced Coolio's rapping style with an easy-going party video. Coolio hit Number 1 in 1995 with "Gangsta's Paradise" a song from the Michelle Pfeiffer movie, Dangerous Minds. The song dealt with issues of the street head on, yet without the rough language that would limit its radio play. In 1996, Coolio won a Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance, Solo for "Gangsta's Paradise." "We need to represent ourselves. If you're doing something to help your people to make it better, you're trying to make it better for society as a whole because we're all in this together."
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