Coolio’s family will be keeping his memory (and his ashes) close to their hearts.
The late rapper — whose real name was Artis Leon Ivey Jr. — died suddenly at the age of 59 on September 28, and according to TMZ, seven of his children will be wearing their dad’s ashes inside special necklaces.
Per his rep, Coolio’s ashes will be placed inside pendants, with each child personalizing theirs with an inscription.
Other family members will also be given necklaces, with the rest of the “Fantastic Voyage” singer’s remains going in an urn.
A source told the Daily Mail that the service after Coolio’s cremation was extremely private, with the outlet noting “it even froze out some friends who had known him for decades” to avoid tension between the mothers of his children.
Coolio had four kids with his ex-wife Josefa Salinas, whom he married in 1996, including daughters Brandi, Artisha and Jackie, along with a son, Artis, who now goes by Grtis. The family appeared on his short-lived reality show “Coolio’s Rules” in 2008.
However, little is known about his other children or even how many the Grammy winner actually had. The “Gansta’s Paradise” rapper is said to have fathered up to six additional kids with several other women, including sons Milan and Darius, daughter Zhaneand and twins Kate and Shayne.
His kids were a huge part of Coolio’s life, as Vanilla Ice told TMZ, reflecting on the last conversation he had with his long-time friend.
“He was telling me how much he missed his kids, how great his kids were and how much time he had to sacrifice for his career to be away from his kids so much,” the “Ice Ice Baby” singer — who joined Coolio on stage for the “I Love the 90s” show just days before his death — said in a video message.
“He’s so proud of them,” Ice added, saying the two would “sit like regular fathers” and talk about their respective children.
In May 2020, Coolio told Page Six he was using quarantine to spend more time with one of his five grandkids.
“As you can see I’m chillin’ with my grandbaby,” he said in a video clip. “We’ve been getting to know each other.”
Sadly, the ’90s hitmaker died on his son Grtis’ 33rd birthday after attending a joint celebration for his child and 1-year-old grandson, per The Sun.
Coolio was found unresponsive in a friend’s bathroom last Wednesday, with EMTs performing CPR for 45 minutes before he was pronounced dead.
