Authorities have confirmed that veteran rapper Coolio was arrested
today (March 6) at LAX airport on charges of drug possession.
Coolio, real name Artis Levo Ivey, Jr, was set to board a Southwest
flight to Tulsa, Oklahoma for a scheduled performance with Tone Loc and
Shock G of Digital Underground.
After getting into a physical altercation with the terminal screener, a security search revealed the illegal narcotics.
Although officials have not verified what drug(s) Coolio was
arrested for, celebrity site TMZ has reported the West Coast rapper was
booked for possession of crack cocaine.
Debuting in the early 90s, Coolio’s most successful album to date is 1995’s Gangsta’s Paradise, which spawned two Top 10 singles (“Gangsta’s Paradise,” “1,2,3,4 (Sumpin’ New)”) and sold 2 million copies.
In recent years the rapper has expanded his talents to his own cooking show (Cookin’ with Coolio), and several reality shows (Coolio’s Rules, Celebrity Big Brother 2009).
At press time, Coolio could not be reached for comment.
