Coolio, born Artis Leon Ivey Jr. on August 1, 1963, in Monessen, Pennsylvania, grew up in Compton. In 1995 Gangsta’s Paradise, his song for the film Dangerous Minds built on Stevie Wonder’s Pastime Paradise, made him a global name; it won a Grammy and was one of the biggest-selling singles of the year. Coolio died in Los Angeles on September 28, 2022; the coroner ruled it an overdose of fentanyl, heroin and methamphetamine.
A video without its star
His link to Tupac is a music video. When Temptations was released as a single from Me Against the World in 1995, Tupac was in prison. Instead of a video with him, the label made one about him: a hotel story packed with cameos from his circle. The Los Angeles Times covered the shoot in September 1995 under the headline “2Pac’s Pals Turn Out for Tupac-Less Video.” Coolio plays a bellboy and Ice-T the concierge; others on set included Treach, Shock G, Warren G, Isaac Hayes, Salt and Spinderella of Salt-N-Pepa, B-Real and Jada Pinkett.
That so many artists turned up for an incarcerated rapper says a lot about where Tupac stood in 1995: Me Against the World had debuted at No. 1 while he was behind bars.
What did not hold up
It is sometimes said that Coolio recorded a tribute song called Dedication with Tha Dogg Pound and Prince Ital Joe. No such title turns up in any discography, so it is not included here. The longer statement attributed to Coolio about Tupac’s death (“not an East Coast/West Coast thing but a street war”) had no source and could not be verified either.
The story about Coolio mocking Ja Rule on BBC Radio 1 is not covered here either. It has nothing to do with Tupac, and the link was itself only suggested as “maybe for 2Pac.”
Why he is here
Coolio was not part of Tupac’s inner circle. He belongs on this list as one of the artists who showed up publicly in 1995, when Tupac could not appear himself. More on the video and its other guests can be found under Ice-T and Treach.