Coolio

Artis Leon Ivey Jr. (born August 1, 1963), known professionally as Coolio, is an American Grammy Award-winning musician, rapper, chef, actor, and record producer. Coolio achieved mainstream success in the mid 1990s with his albums It Takes a Thief (1994), Gangsta's Paradise (1995), and My Soul (1997). He is best known for his 1995 Grammy winning hit single "Gangsta's Paradise", as well as other singles "Fantastic Voyage" (1994), "C U When U Get There" (1997) and "1, 2, 3, 4 (Sumpin' New)" (1996). He was also known for rapping the theme song for the late 1990s Nickelodeon series Kenan & Kel. Coolio has since gone on to release albums independently, as well becoming a chef, creating a web series titled Cookin' with Coolio and releasing a cookbook.

He recorded two singles in 1987, titled "Watch Gonna Do" and "You're Gonna Miss Me". Coolio made connections in the L.A. rap scene, and in 1991, ended up joining the group WC and the Maad Circle, led by rapper WC. He had a few verses on the group's debut album Ain't a Damn Thang Changed, including on the single "Dress Code". The album was regionally successful.

Coolio and jazz saxophonist Jarez were enlisted in July 2008 as spokespersons by the group Environmental Justice and Climate Change to educate students at historically black colleges and universities about global warming. Coolio is a spokesperson for the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America. He says that he and his children are asthma sufferers. As a child, he was taken to the hospital several times due to asthma complications.

In 1998, a court in Stuttgart sentenced Coolio to six months' probation and fined him $17,000 after convicting him of being an accessory to robbery and causing bodily injury.

Coolio appeared in the 2009 season of the British television show Celebrity Big Brother. He talked about his ten children from four different relationships.

Coolio also appeared in Celebrity Wife Swap which aired March 5th 2013.