The Grammy-winning American rapper, Artis Leon Ivey Jr., who is popularly known as Coolio has reportedly died at a friend’s house.
According to TMZ, the musician, who rose to fame in 1995 with his smash song Gangsta’s Paradise, passed away on September 28 in Los Angeles, California. Coolio was visiting a friend late Wednesday when he passed away.
Jarez, the rapper’s manager, claims that Coolio went to the bathroom at a friend’s house but did not come out for a long time.
When the friend eventually entered, he saw Coolio unconscious on the floor after many futile attempts to reach out to him.
The companion dialled 911, and paramedics arrived on the spot and pronounced the artist dead. Jarez stated that although an official cause of death has not been confirmed, the doctors suspect he suffered from a cardiac arrest.
The song Gangsta’s Paradise by Coolio, which was used on the soundtrack for the film Dangerous Minds, earned him a Grammy. Coolio began recording music in the 1980s.
According to the BBC, the rapper released eight studio albums and won three MTV Video Music Awards and an American Music Award.
Tributes for Coolio poured in from the hip-hop music fraternity.
“Gangstas paradise. R. I. P,” Snoop Dogg wrote.
“I’m going to miss you brother. You where the coolest. My heart is with all the Fam. Soooo sad,” Vanilla captioned a video of Coolie on stage.