Coolio’s Posthumous Album “Long Live Coolio” Announced by His Estate

The legacy of Grammy-winning rapper Coolio will continue with the release of a studio album, “Long Live Coolio,” later this year. The album was in the works in the days leading up to the star’s sudden death from cardiac arrest on September 28, 2022, at the age of 59. The estate of the “Gangsta’s Paradise” artist recently dropped the first single from the album, “TAG ‘You It’,” featuring Too $hort and DJ Wino. The raunchy single’s video, which shows Coolio and Too $hort in a boxing ring while various women gyrate around them, marks the last piece of visual content that the late rapper appeared in.
Coolio won a Grammy for “Gangsta’s Paradise,” the hit from the 1995 Michelle Pfeiffer film “Dangerous Minds” that sampled Stevie Wonder’s 1976 song “Pastime Paradise.” The song became a staple on MTV and remains one of the most recognizable rap songs of all time. Though he never matched the success of “Gangsta’s Paradise,” Coolio did have other hits, including “Fantastic Voyage” in 1994, “1, 2, 3, 4 (Sumpin’ New)” in 1996, and “C U When U Get There” in 1997. His career album sales totaled 4.8 million, and his songs were streamed 978 million times on-demand, according to Luminate. Coolio was also nominated for six Grammys overall.
Apart from his music career, Coolio starred in a reality show called “Coolio’s Rules,” lent his voice to an episode of the animated show “Gravity Falls,” and performed the theme music for the Nickelodeon sitcom “Kenan & Kel.” With the announcement of “Long Live Coolio,” fans of the rapper can look forward to one last musical offering from the artist who left an indelible mark on the hip-hop landscape.