It's no secret that rapper Coolio (real name: Artis Leon Ivey Jr.) traded in his microphone for a spatula years ago. The performer behind some of the biggest hip-hop hits of the 1990s ("Fantastic Voyage," "Gangsta's Paradise") had an online cooking show, Cookin' With Coolio, and released a cookbook of the same name in 2009. In 2012 he was a contestant on the cooking competition show Rachael vs. Guy: Celebrity Cook-Off and came in second place.
But for anyone who thought Coolio would find his way back to a recording booth, think again: The Guardian reports that Coolio is now selling his entire music catalog to fund his kitchen dreams.
Coolio is selling off the rights to his entire music catalogue, including Gangsta's Paradise, in an attempt to fund his new career as a chef. On 28 August, 123 songs will go up on the auction block at the Royalty Exchange, with an estimated sale price of between $134,000 (£85,500) and $225,000 (£143,500). Coolio's catalogue incorporates eight albums spanning 19 years. Although the rapper hasn't cracked the US or UK album charts in a decade and a half, his handful of smash singles, such as 1996's 1, 2, 3, 4 (Sumpin' New) and 1997's C U When U Get There, are said to generate $23,227 (£14,816) per year in royalties.
Coolio, who was in legal trouble after an altercation with his girlfriend in Las Vegas back in April, says the money he receives for the purchase will be used to "expand his cookbook series and his online cooking show of the same name."
Read more at The Guardian.
Jozen Cummings is the author and creator of the popular relationship blog Until I Get Married, which is currently in development for a television series with Warner Bros. He also hosts a weekly podcast with WNYC about Empire called Empire Afterparty, is a contributor at VerySmartBrothas.com and works at Twitter as an editorial curator. Follow him on Twitter.