Coolio fans have been given a brand new single from the late rapper, showcasing the talents of an Australian artist he was working with prior to his untimely death.
The new song, “Do You Want It,” arrived on Friday (October 28) via Cosmic Bounce Records, which explained in a statement posted alongside a lyric video that this date — which happens to mark the one month anniversary of Coolio’s death — was always the intended release date.
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“‘Do You Want It’ started life as a beat that instantly connected with Coolio via its fresh and fun 90s inspired sound,” the statement said. “Co-written by Coolio and Katija, produced, engineered, mixed and mastered by Kris Beyrouthy, aka kb808 – the creative spark behind the head-turning beat, ‘Do You Want It’ went on to evolve into its jaunty end result.”
The song finds Coolio and newcomer Katija exchanging playful flirtation, with campy pop culture references like: “Cobra Kai, Chip and Dale when it’s time to strike/ I got sole in my pole: Magic Mike.”
To Katija, the young Australian rapper and singer featured on the single, Coolio had a profound impact on not just her music, but Hip-Hop as a whole she said.
“Coolio truly was one of the world’s greatest and most iconic rappers of our time,” Katija shared in the release statement. “He paved the way for rap and Hip Hop music to break into the pop music scene and opened the door for many of the great Hip Hop artists to follow.”
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She continued: “To be featuring on a song with one of my biggest idols in the Hip Hop music scene is absolutely surreal. I am beyond grateful and blessed for the opportunity I had to work with Coolio. Even though our time was sadly cut short I will cherish the memories of time we spent together and the relationship we built.”
Though the single has been added to Coolio’s discography on Apple Music and Spotify, his official Instagram account, which has shared two posts since his death, makes no mention of the new release.
According to Coolio’s longtime manager Jarez, the “Fantastic Voyage” rapper was found dead by a friend on September 28, after he excused himself to the bathroom and never returned. Paramedics arrived minutes later and pronounced him dead at the scene.
Jarez said paramedics believe the Grammy Award winner suffered a cardiac arrest, although no official cause of death has been released.
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As news of his sudden death spread, social media was flooded with tributes to Coolio, particularly from his fellow West Coast Hip Hop counterparts, including Snopp Dogg, Ice Cube, Ice-T, MC Hammer, Cypress Hill’s B-Real, Xzibit and Kurupt.
Coolio’s family later announced that they had decided to cremate the 59-year-old, with his seven children designing icy necklaces and pendants to be filled with the late rapper’s remains.
