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1. How many albums did coolio gangsters paradise sell series#
2. How many albums did coolio gangsters paradise sell crack#

How many albums did coolio gangsters paradise sell series#

He even did a theme for the hit series "Kenan & Kel" (Nickelodeon (1996-2000). During 1995-96 Coolio was everywhere, scoring two soundtrack hits ("It's All the Way I Live (Now)" from "Eddie" (1995) and "Hit 'em High" from "Space Jam" (1996)) and collaborating with everyone from his former group WC and the Maad Circle to old-school funkers Kool & the Gang (whose singer JT Taylor sang on the Coolio hit "Too Hot"). It was an even bigger hit, making Number One, and earning the honor of a Weird Al Yankovic parody ("Amish Paradise"). The next single "Gangsta's Paradise" again threw a socially aware spin on gangsta themes, and again drew from a familiar song (in this case, Stevie Wonder's "Pastime Paradise"). And it didn't hurt that the tune had a clever beach-party-themed video while MTV was still friendly to rap.

The single "Fantastic Voyage," based on the Lakeside hit of the same name, was a smash, hitting Number Three in the Billboard hot 100. His debut album for Tommy Boy, It Takes a Thief was his breakthrough, drawing lyrically from the shadier parts of his past in a humorous, generally nonviolent way. After the regional success of his first single "Watcha Gonna Do" he entered rehab and stayed straight thereafter, but his second single "You're Gonna Miss Me" didn't catch on.

How many albums did coolio gangsters paradise sell crack#

He attended college and worked as a security guard, and did fall briefly into the gang lifestyle as a teen: He ran with the Crips but never became a member he was briefly addicted to crack and served jail time for cashing a stolen money order. Like N.W.A., Coolio (born Artis Leon Ivey, Jr, and taking his name from a spin on Julio Iglesias) came straight outta Compton. Instead he was the accessible face of West Coast rap, a street-tough yet positive personality with a sense of humor and a social conscience, and a reassuring figure in the era of N.W.A. Even though his greatest hit had the word "gangsta" in the title, Coolio wasn't really a gangsta rapper.