Coolio’s estate has released the second single to the posthumous album, Long Live Coolio. Titled “A Star Is Born,” the track features vocals from Treach of Naughty by Nature, MC Shan and DJ Wino, his longtime producer and collaborator.
“A Star Is Born” tells the story of Coolio’s rise to fame with its blissful West Coast production. In addition to the single, the Ken Francis and Niknotti-directed music video includes Treach, MC Shan and DJ Wino, as well as behind-the-scenes photos and videos commemorating the late rapper.
Artis Leon Ivey Jr. known professionally as Coolio, rose to fame as a member of the gangsta rap group WC and the Maad Circle. Coolio achieved mainstream success as a solo artist in the 1990s with his albums It Takes a Thief (1994), Gangsta’s Paradise (1995) and My Soul (1997). He’ best known for his 1995 Grammy Award–winning hit single “Gangsta’s Paradise” as well as other singles “Fantastic Voyage” (1994), “1, 2, 3, 4 (Sumpin’ New)” (1996) and “C U When U Get There” (1997).
From 1996 on, Coolio released albums independently, and provided the opening track “Aw, Here It Goes!” for the 1996 Nickelodeon television series Kenan & Kel. He created the web series Cookin’ with Coolio and released a cookbook.