Coolio‘s posthumous album includes guest appearances from Naughty By Nature‘s Treach, Da Lench Mob’s J-Dee, and Ras Kass on a project that was not intended to be the rapper’s last.
Titled Long Live Coolio, the forthcoming LP is a celebration of the Grammy award-winning MC, best known for his ’90s classics “Gangsta’s Paradise” and “Fantastic Voyage.” His representatives on Friday (July 7) exclusively shared with The Associated Press the 11-song track list and who will be heard on the album when it is released later this year.
“A Star Is Born”, the latest track from the release — a collaboration between Naughty By Nature’s Treach, MC Shan, and Coolio’s long time producer/collaborator DJ Wino — premiered on Friday, a track that doubles as a history lesson in Coolio’s path to superstardom. The video was filmed in Las Vegas.
“When I heard Coolio’s verse, I’m like, ‘Yo, it feels like the homie is still here,” Treach said, showing off a large portrait tattoo of his labelmate Coolio on his chest. “How do we want people to think of him? We just want them to always think of him. That’s what it’s about — keeping your homies’ names in the streets. Tupac just got a star in Hollywood. We don’t just say it when our brothers are here. We say it until we meet up with them again.”
“Went from Old Man to Boo Daddy to Coolio,” Coolio raps in “A Star is Born.” “At the age of 18 I hit the studio KDAY I’m on radio.”
“Coolio told his story in the second verse,” said DJ Wino. “This song was not meant to be posthumous.”
Coolio died in September 2022 from the effects of fentanyl, heroin, and methamphetamine, the Los Angeles County coroner’s office determined, ruling it an accidental death. In March 2023, Coolio’s estate announced that the hip-hop legend had been working on an album in the days leading up to his death.
DJ Wino says about 75% of the album was completed prior to Coolio’s death. “He laid it out there for us,” he said of finishing Long Live Coolio. “It was up to us to come through, and like good little foot soldiers we followed up.”
Coolio won a Grammy for best solo rap performance for “Gangsta’s Paradise,” the 1995 hit from the soundtrack of the Michelle Pfeiffer film Dangerous Minds that sampled Stevie Wonder’s 1976 song “Pastime Paradise” and was played constantly on MTV. The song hit one billion views on YouTube in 2022.
The rapper had subsequent hits with “Fantastic Voyage” in 1994, “1, 2, 3, 4 (Sumpin’ New)” in 1996 and 1997’s “C U When U Get There.” His career album sales totaled 4.8 million, with 978 million on-demand streams of his songs, according to Luminate. He was nominated for six Grammys overall.
Here’s the tracklist to Coolio’s Long Live Coolio:
“Shine On Me”
“Got That”
“Notice Me” (feat. Ras Kass)
“Fast Pace” (feat. Kid Frost)
“I’m Wit That BS” (feat. J-Dee from Da Lench Mob)
“TAG You It” (feat. Too $hort)
“A Star Is Born” (feat. Treach from Naughty By Nature)
“Belly of the Beast” (feat. Cejaz Negraz)
“Snitch’N”
“Stand Up Beat It Hit It” (feat. Jay Chris)
“R Thentic” (feat. Kurupt & Chill)