The late rapper, who passed away on Wednesday at the age of 59, had mentioned collaborating with Christy Dignam of the Irish rock band Aslan in an interview with The Irish Examiner published in July.

We’re only just getting started. We have a track in the works. Lyrics are something we have yet to begin working on. The construction of the track is now underway. This summer, he predicted that we would have something concrete to work with within the next four to six weeks.

You can count on it being a smashing success, I reckon. After that, it’s hard to say whether we’ll take a somber, reflective approach or go for a more lighthearted, celebratory tone. He added that dark and deep can still be a banger; that’s the direction I like to lean.

Coolio, whose real name is Artis Leon Ivey Jr., discussed his career and the success of his song “Gangsta’s Paradise,” released in 1995 and featured the vocals of L.V. in an interview. At the 1996 Grammys, the song received Best Rap Solo Performance award and stayed at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 for three weeks.

He once remarked, “You make music, and you never consider what it’s going to do and what it’s not going to do.” That is the greatest achievement of “Gangsta’s Paradise,” and I am pleased with it. It wasn’t until four years ago that it was posted on Tommy Boy, YouTube’s hip hop channel. In just four years, it accumulated a billion views.

The same week I hit a billion, 50 Cent’s ‘In Da Club’ sold a billion copies. Seventeen years passed until ‘In Da Club’ sold a billion copies. Then, four, he chimed in.

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Longtime manager Jarez Posey told PEOPLE that the rapper Coolio passed away on Wednesday in Los Angeles.