Posthumous Coolio Album Announced, First Single Released

21 March 2023 | 10:29 am | Emma Whines

The new single features a music video filmed before the rapper's passing.

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The first posthumous Coolio album Long Live Coolio is set for release later this year, with the first song, TAG, You It featuring Too $horrt and DJ Wino, landing today. 

The new release will feature material the rapper was working on before he died. The new single TAG, You It also features a music video that was filmed before Coolio's passing. The video sees the late rapper and Too $hort making an appearance at a boxing ring to watch a group of women tackling each other to the mat.

Watch below. 

While this is the first album released after his death, last year the estate released his first single Do You Want It, featuring Aussie rapper Katija and production by KB.

The song interpolates the 2Pac 1996 classic, How Do U Want It, in lyrical content. Do You Want It is filled with vivid descriptions of sexuality, horn samples, and swaggering beats - all coming together for an ode to the '90s.

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The rap pioneer Coolio, real name Artis Leon Ivey Jr, died September last year. The music icon passed away while visiting a friend on Wednesday afternoon.

Ivey's manager Jarez said that the friend found the rapper on the floor in the bathroom and called paramedics, who pronounced him dead on the scene.

It’s suspected that he suffered cardiac arrest, although an official cause of death has not been released.

Rapping in the late '80s, Ivey joined the notable WC & The Maad Circle before signing a solo deal with Tommy Boy Records and breaking through with Fantastic Voyage from 1994's It Takes A Thief.

He then found longevity with Dangerous Minds soundtrack megahit Gangsta's Paradise featuring R&B singer LV — it was 1995's top-selling single and won a Grammy. "Weird Al" Yankovic even parodied it.

Ivey also landed numerous acting roles throughout his career, cameoing in Batman & Robin and participating in reality TV.