An Australian tour booker recalled how rap legend Coolio, who passed away this week, handled being denied entry by mistake.
Rich Moffat, a book writer for Groovin The Moo, paid tribute to the Gangsta’s Paradise singer, who passed away at the age of 59 following apparent cardiac arrest on September 28.
According to the star’s longtime manager, Jarez, Coolio was found unresponsive on the bathroom floor.
Mr Moffat, who has met Coolio several times and invited him to hang out at Groovin the Moo in 2019 and the Falls Festival in 2010, said the rapper is a humble and patriotic Australian.
Coolio, who died September 28 at age 59, wrote his worldwide hit Gangster’s Paradise for Michelle Pfeiffer’s Dangerous Minds (Pictured, Coolio and Ms Pfeiffer)
Coolio (right) elbows Groovin the Moo promoter Steve Halpin (right) and music bookstore Rich Moffat (centre) during his 2019 tour
That’s despite being once denied entry to the stage by an overzealous security guard during a tour in 2019.
Coolio forgot his lanyard and stepped off the stage to meet adoring fans during a performance.
In a state of nervous tension, an overzealous security guard refused to let him return to the stage.
However, the rapper handled the situation with classic Coolio smoothness, recalls Mr Moffat.
‘I don’t think this security guard will let him back, which is weird because he’s the only black male at the show with short and grimaces.
‘He was the only one there who could have been Coolio.’
Coolio with Australian DJ Mowgli May at a gig in Maitland in 2019
Coolio has toured Australia several times, also played at the Falls Festival and is memorable as a pub on the outskirts of Brisbane with a $30 cover in 2018
‘I have to say’ this is Coolio, you have to let him get up!
“Coolio gestured to himself and shrugged.”
Respondents sized up the rapper and Coolio’s smooth response helped him realize his mistake without embarrassment.
Coolio has toured Australia several times, also played at The Falls Festival and memorably was a pub in suburban Brisbane with a $30 cover in 2018.
Music author Dan Condon told ABC that Coolio nailed a flawless performance in front of ‘100 drunks on a Friday night…at the Chardons Corner Hotel, a dingy-looking pub’.
Mr Condon said: “Coolio gave us all on Friday night, and that was glorious.
He played in Australia as recently as April 2022, at Luna Park in Sydney.
Mr Moffat said a lot of hip hop repertoire might not be ‘treated like royalty’.
‘Sadly, many of them don’t age gracefully, but he’s not demanding.
‘He’s a good man.
Groovin the Moo security denied Coolio access to the stage when he went to greet fans during a performance (Image, Groovin The Moo, Canberra in 2019)
Rich Moffat says Coolio’s music transcends time and becomes part of the cultural fabric
‘He’s happy to let the musicians around him share the limelight. It’s not all about him. ‘
Mr. Moffat said Coolio was a rare musician.
‘He was obviously huge in the ’90s but he’s become one of those incredibly rare retro artists where everyone knows at least one song, even the kids.
‘His music is timeless and becomes part of the cultural fabric.’
Coolio released Gangster’s Paradise in 1995, and the song topped the charts in the US, UK, France, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand.
The single itself has sold more than six million copies worldwide and comes from his Platinum-nominated, Grammy-nominated 17-track album of the same name.
Mr Moffat also posted on Facebook: ‘RIP Coolio. I love to meet this legend in both Falls and GTM at different times’.
Source: | Dailymail.co.uk
