Coolio’s eldest son, Artis Ivey III, spoke publicly this week for the first time about the rapper since his death at 59 last month, revealing the health issues the artist was going through and how important his spirituality was to him. him.
Ivey said her father, who was found at his friend’s apartment in Los Angeles on September 28, died of a heart attack. Ivey, who is named after his father, celebrated his 33rd birthday on the same day.
He called his father’s death a “total shock,” but said he knows the “Gangsta’s Paradise” rapper has no regrets.
COOLIO, GRAMMY AWARD RAPPER, DEAD AT 59
Coolio died late last month at the age of 59.
(Photo by Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images)
“I know he had no regrets,” he told the US Sun. “He’s one of those people who really has to fulfill his life’s destiny.”
He added: “It was a complete shock. At the same time, you know, our father always prepared us for things that could happen. My father was a very spiritual person.”
Ivey explained that Coolio suffered from asthma and occasionally took drugs, which he says played no role in his father’s death.
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Coolio’s son opened up about his father’s death this week.
(Photo by SGranitz/WireImage)
“My father had some health complications. He took care of these things. There was a lot going on with the asthma, really bad asthma,” he said.
“He was mostly drug free, but my dad lived for the day, everyone in life has their vices, but those vices never really affected him as a father or a man. He died of natural causes. He just had a heart attack,” he said.
Coolio “didn’t fear death,” Ivey said. “It was another step to heaven. He had his own beliefs. He believed in a higher power and he believed in himself.”
He said his father “believed in life, in leading his mind, following his heart. When you live like that, sometimes you live fast.”
Coolio died of a heart attack last month.
Ivey added: “You know he had a smile on his face when it came time to pay. And that’s all that matters.”
His father didn’t want a “traditional funeral service”, he said. “He didn’t want too much to happen to the body, he wanted everyone to celebrate the mind. I will celebrate his life for the rest of my life as he continues his journey to paradise. You will never truly die if your spirit is still strong, you are going to a higher place.”
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Coolio had seven biological children and three stepchildren.
“He was a great dad,” Ivey told the outlet. He cared about his children. He would put his career on hold for us, we were cared the most. As for him and I, we had a great relationship. My father showed me the world, he taught me things, we spent a lot of time getting to know each other.”