Coolio's Girlfriend Sheds New Light On Their Relationship Before He Died

On September 28, 90s rapper Coolio died at the age of 59, TMZ reported. According to one of Coolio's close friends, the rapper, whose real name is Artis Leon Ivey Jr., was at a friend's house when he went to use the restroom and didn't come out. As time passed, his friend became concerned and tried to call him without any success. The friend entered the bathroom by breaking down the door, finding Coolio laying on the floor. Emergency personnel arrived on the scene and spent 45 minutes attempting to resuscitate him, but Coolio was pronounced dead at the scene. It is suspected that he suffered cardiac arrest.

"We are saddened by the loss of our dear friend and client, Coolio, who passed away Wednesday afternoon. He touched the world with the gift of his talent and will be missed profoundly. Please have Coolio's loved ones in your thoughts and prayers," Coolio's talent manager Sheila Finegan told TMZ in a statement. The rapper is survived by his 10 children.

In a follow-up report, TMZ learned that Coolio had suffered from severe asthma and it sounds like that may have contributed to his death, which is still under investigation. Since then, Coolio's longtime girlfriend Mimi Ivey has spoken out about their relationship.

In an interview with the Daily Mail, Coolio's girlfriend Mimi Ivey provided an inside look into the relationship she had with the "Gangsta's Paradise" rapper. Coolio and his girlfriend had been together since 2012 and were "best friends." 

"We would talk about everything and joke and laugh about everything. There was never a dull moment being with him," Ivey told the Daily Mail. "He was an eccentric, a storyteller. He loved life. He loved his family, his career, and he loved to make people smile," she continued. Although the two referred to each other as "husband" and "wife," they weren't legally married. "'We went to the courthouse, we filled out all of the paperwork and we were planning on it. But we just decided not to turn it in. It's just a piece of paper that doesn't change how either one of us felt about each other," she shared. In addition, she said that Coolio didn't keep any secrets from her and that "if he was seeing other women, [she] knew about it."

Shortly after Coolio's death was confirmed, Ivey shared a touching tribute to him on her Instagram account. She recalled the last conversation the two shared and said that if she knew that was going to be the last time they spoke, she wouldn't have gotten off the phone. "I miss you boo and I'm staying strong & I will see you when I get there," she wrote.