Trivia / Coolio

• Black Sheep Hit: In a reversal of the usual for this trope, "Gangsta's Paradise", his biggest hit, is a serious protest song about the self-destructive nature of gangster violence, while the majority of his songs, especially prior, were upbeat and bouncy pop-rap.
• Died During Production: After his death, Futurama producer David X. Cohen confirmed that Coolio had recorded lines for the show's second revival. The episode, "I Know What You Did Next X-Mas", debuted just under a year after his death and was dedicated to his memory.
• Disowned Adaptation: Coolio famously spoke out against "Weird Al" Yankovic's "Gangsta's Paradise" parody, "Amish Paradise," claiming he hadn't given permission for Yankovic to release it. This has since convinced Yankovic to personally ask the original artists for permission to parody their work, rather than go through any intermediaries. Needless to say, this had never exactly endeared Coolio to Weird Al fans. However, in the years since this incident, Coolio not only personally apologized to Yankovic, but he went on record in multiple interviews saying he regretted how his ego got in the way^note On reflection, Coolio remembered that Michael Jackson was a big fan of Al's song parodies, giving Al approval to spoof nearly anything in Jackson's discography, and that his own snub was an attempt to place himself higher than Jackson.
  Coolio: That was a stupid thing for me to do. That was one of the dumbest things I did in my career.
• No Export for You: For some reason the album Coolio.com was released exclusively in Japan.

---