Coolio’s 10 Children: Everything We Know
Artis Leon Ivey Jr., better known as the rapper Coolio, died on Wednesday, Sept. 28, 2022. The “Gangsta’s Paradise” rapper is known for the music legacy he left behind, and 10 children also survive him. So, who are Coolio’s 10 children? Here’s what to know about his family life.
Who were Coolio’s 4 children he had with ex-wife Josefa Salinas?
Coolio tied the knot with Josefa Salinas in 1996, but their relationship didn’t last long. They divorced in 2000 after four years of marriage. Salinas was a broadcasting personality, and she paved her own way to success without riding on Coolio’s coattails. The couple also had four children together — Artisha, Brandi, Jackie, and Artis.
Back in 2008, Coolio spoke about his three daughters in an interview published by People. Artisha was 20 at the time, Brandi was 19, and Jackie was 15. Given their ages in 2008, this means Artisha is around 34 years old in 2022, Brandi is 33, and Jackie is 29.
During the interview, Coolio discussed his daughters dating. “I don’t sit there and watch over them, but the other day, I walked in the living room, and Artisha was sitting on some dude’s lap, I was like, ‘Oh, hell no,’” he said. “She just sat there, so I picked up one of the legs from the pool table and said, ‘You better get up right now.’ She was like, ‘I’m 20-years-old!’ I was like, you better get yourself a 20-year-old house then!”
He had 6 more kids in his lifetime
Aside from Coolio’s children he had with Josefa Salinas (which included a son, Artis Ivey III), he also had six other kids — Grtis, Milan, Darius, Zhane, Kate, and Shayne Ivey, according to RSVP Live.
While Coolio didn’t publically talk about his kids often, he discussed them on his short-lived reality show, Coolio’s Rules. The series involved Coolio spending time in a Los Angeles house with four of his kids, and he tried to balance his music career with parenting four teenagers on his own. It seems his ex-wife, Josefa Salinas, was not involved with the show. The series only lasted six episodes total.
Fans who kept up with Celebrity Wife Swap might also remember Coolio’s ex-girlfriend, Mimi Ivey, appearing on the show with him. While Ivey and Coolio had a public relationship, it doesn’t seem like any of his children came from that relationship.
Coolio and Josefa Salinas were dedicated to helping children
While Coolio’s children didn’t often take the spotlight, he and Josefa Salinas were dedicated to helping kids. Salinas put in a lot of effort to promote and get involved with charitable causes. While talking to Roseanne Barr, the couple discussed their “studio on wheels” that helped inner city kids get an opportunity to learn more about the music industry.
“In the inner city, when you talk about recording to a kid, all they know is rapping, singing,” Coolio said. “They don’t know that you can do voiceover work, they don’t know that you can do cartoon character voices. They don’t know about that kind of work. So, there’s a lot of talent out there.”
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