Coolio: Gangsta’s Paradise rapper died of fentanyl overdose – manager

The death of US Grammy-winning rapper Coolio in September 2022 was due to the effects of fentanyl and other drugs, his manager has said.

Jarez Posey said the musician’s family had been informed about the findings by the Los Angeles County coroner.

The artist was found unresponsive on the bathroom floor of a friend’s LA house six months ago. He was 59.

Coolio, whose real name was Artis Leon Ivey Jr, won a Grammy for the 1995 track Gangsta’s Paradise.

The hit – later chosen as the soundtrack to the film Dangerous Minds – went on to become one of the most successful rap songs of all time, helping to bring the genre into the mainstream.

It continues to be widely listened to and has passed a billion views on YouTube.

At the time of his death, the rapper was suffering from heart disease and asthma, the BBC’s US partner CBS News reports.

While Coolio had recently used had recently used phencyclidine, or PCP, his death was as a result of the effects of a cocktail of fentanyl, heroin and methamphetamines, CBS said.

The coroner’s office deemed his death accidental.

Coolio started making music in the 80s, but he cemented his place in hip-hop history when he recorded Gangsta’s Paradise.

He was born in Pennsylvania, but grew up in the LA suburb of Compton, where his career flourished and he became a leading figure in the US West Coast rap music scene in the 90s.

His rap moniker came from a conversation with a friend who asked him: “Who do you think you are, Coolio Iglesias?”, according to The Black Names Project website.

He worked as a volunteer firefighter in the San Jose area before dedicating himself full-time to hip-hop.

A talented producer and actor, he appeared in dozens of films and TV shows, including Celebrity Big Brother in the UK in 2009.

And he even found an outlet for his love of food with a book and internet series, Cooking with Coolio.

Over a career spanning four decades he recorded eight studio albums and won an American Music Award and three MTV Video Music Awards.

His other hits included Fantastic Voyage, Rollin’ With My Homies, 1, 2, 3, 4 (Sumpin’ New), and Too Hot.