Coolio spoke publicly and passionately about his recent arrest for drug and firearms violations, gave fans a rundown of his new album and touring plans and offered up many personal insights in an online chat yesterday.

Coolio immediately dealt with the circumstances of his September 15 arrest, largely confirming what an employee at his management company had already told MTV News (see "Coolio Arrested On Weapons, Drug Charges").

"I wasn't driving down the wrong side of the street, smoking marijuana, waving my gun out the window," he told the audience. "I had my children in the car with me; I was not setting a bad example. It was an overzealous police officer and a way-trumped up situation -- a situation blown out of proportion."

When asked if the police knew who he was, he answered: "The cop made it a point of saying, 'What am I supposed to do, give him privileges?' He obviously knew who I was."

The rap star reiterated that he had been on his way to the shooting range to meet his wife and manager, Josefa Salinas. He explained that every Tuesday, he and his wife went to the shooting range. He said the gun wasn't loaded and was in a 'secure place.' He was parked on the wrong side of the road when he was approached by the police and asked to produce his driver's license, which turned out to have expired four weeks earlier. The gun and a small amount of marijuana were in the car.

Coolio told his audience that three of his seven children, all pre-teens, had been with him, although the rep previously told MTV they had just been dropped off at their mother's residence. When a participant pointed out that the kids weren't mentioned in the police report, Coolio said, "Of course not! It would have made the police look bad...and we don't want to do that do we?"

He stated a preference for online interviews. "The Internet is cool," he said. "On the web, you get to say things you really said. There's no way anyone can twist up what you say." There were some light moments. When asked if he had gone to school, he answered: "No, I never went to school in my life. I was raised by apes. By a pack of wild animals...apes, lions, and wolves. A couple mountain goats too."

He also explained his arrest for shoplifting in Germany (see "Coolio Arrested Over Incident In German Clothing Store"). "I didn't steal anything," said the rapper. "I performed a service for someone, they informed me they didn't have the money to pay my fee. I suggested that we do an exchange: my services for clothing. They agreed."

He touched on racial typecasting: "Because I'm a young black man driving a really nice, expensive car, I sometimes get harassed when I'm rolling through a ghetto neighborhood. The cops don't know who I am right away -- their first thought is, 'That must be a dope dealer or some kind of gangster... Let's go see.'"

He said the arrest won't affect his new album, which he expects to finish in December. Artists appearing on the record include B-Real from Cypress Hill, Krayzie Bone from Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, 8 Ball from Suave House, Smash Mouth, Kenny Rogers (they recorded "The Gambler" together), and possibly Will Smith and Phil Collins. Also included will be artists signed to his new label, Crowbar. He plans to start touring in the late winter or early spring with the outing billed as the "Crowbar Collective Tour."

He added that he's just finished shooting the movie, "Tyrone," which sees him playing three characters -- triplets named Tyrone, Jerome, and Sheron.

The rapper did the 90-minute chat session from the Launch website's headquarters in Santa Monica, California.