Coolio arrived fashionably late. Black capre by Tommy Hilfiger. Sweater by Tommy Boy. Mood by Bad Day. (Marti Zimlin)

(Gangsta) (boom boom) WE WANT COOLIO!!!! (boom boom) (boom boom) WE WANT COOLIO!!!! (boom boom) (boom boom) WE WANT COOLIO!!!! (boom boom) (boom boom) WE WANT COOLIO!!!! (boom boom) (boom boom) WE WANT COOLIO!!!! (boom boom) (boom boom) WE WANT COOLIO!!!! (boom boom) (boom boom) WE WANT COOLIO!!!! (boom boom)

(J-Allah) Relax Gangsta.

(eggman) (boom boom)

(leafs) hi COOLIO.

(COOLIO) Whats up mothaf*ckers?

(JackofSpa) ACTION laffs damn he gettin raw on us!

(Qofspades) Coolio, Would you call what you're doing 'rap gospel'?

(COOLIO) Qofspades, No. I call it hip hop.

(Mischief) word ... yo. ... what happened to aladin?

(COOLIO) Aladdin is rapping now.

(Mischief) word...Aladdin got phat skillz.

(COOLIO) Aladdin got fat skills on the turntable not on the mike. No disrespect, but I like Kid Capri better.

(FLO) I agree coolio.

(JackofSpa) Yeh, Kid Kapri is aiight.

(Mooch) Coolio, how'd you decide to use Pastime Paradise out of all the Stevie Wonder songs to sample?

(COOLIO) It was LV's idea to use Pasttime Paradise.

(whitey) Coolio, you are a god of rap.

(Clipboard) I heard a story this week about a 13 year old girl who when hearing psalm 23 in church " ... as I walk through the valley of the shadow of death ..." She asked her priest if he had got the words from Gangsta's Paradise. What do you think about the meeting of church and popular culture?

(COOLIO) Clipboard, Music transcends culture, race, and religion, so I'm not surprised. Anything that I can do to help people understand themselves better is cool.

(whitey) COOLIO, Is your album out yet, or is it still a single?

(COOLIO) The album came out November 7.. & it's called Gangsta's Paradise ... don't get it confused with "Dangerous Minds" Soundtrack.

(whitey) YEAH, THAT'S WHAT I WAS WONDERING. I GOT THE DANGEROUS MINDS SOUNDTRACK.

(Gangsta) Coolio: R U visitin Boston any time soon?

(COOLIO) Gangsta, I'll be in Boston on Thurs.. a show for KISS FM.. check your listings.

(Clipboard) So what do you think of Michelle Pfeiffer -- really?

(COOLIO) Michelle Pfeiffer is very talented.

(whitey) Talented in what?

(COOLIO) Acting.

(Mooch) Coolio, Do you think the diversity of music on the Internet will suffer since most urban kids can't afford computers?

(COOLIO) Mooch, no I don't think so, because the price of computers has dropped considerably, and you can still use a desktop computer which will become dirt cheap in the next few years with the onslaught of the laptop.

(J-Allah) Have y'all ever considered using a CuSeeMe conference so we can actually C who we is talkin too? :) just a suggestion

(COOLIO) J-Allah.. I don't have a problem with that.

(J-Allah) COOLIO cool, work it out then, bruh.

(whitey) COOLIO: just say, hey 'whitey', so I can show my friends I talked to coolio.

(PRSoul) People tend to forget that when Kool Herc was layin that record down for the scratch in the Bronx and when Afrika Bambaataa was yellin "Lookin For the Perfect Beat", that hiphop was a party music for peeps in NYC to groove to. Hiphop was NEVER a music that was made to come to terms w/people who live in tree-lined streets and went to school with Brian and Sally.

(JackofSpa) PRSoul: hahaha! True, true!

(COOLIO) PR Soul: I disagree with you, cuz Brian & Sally is still gonna be running this country in the decades to come ... I think hip-hop will give them a better understanding of what some people in the inner cities & ghettos have to deal with.

(whitey) COOLIO: C'MON! JUST SAY, 'HEY WHITEY.'

SonicBABE: Throw whitey out a window.

(Mischief) Could someone kick whitey?

(COOLIO) Whitey ... stop acting stupid!

(Mischief) hehehe.

(COOLIO) Whitey ... ask me a question ...

(whitey) I THINK COOLIO IS A SLOW TYPER.

(COOLIO) I don't get paid to type!

(J-Allah) COOLIO Was U at the Million Man March, bruh?

(COOLIO) J-Allah.. I did not have the opportunity to attend.. but I did watch it on Television & I paid attention.

(Mooch) coolio: What'd you think of the march?

(COOLIO) (Mooch) it was good thing.

(PRSoul) COOLIO: yeah and if you didn't attend the March, did you NOT participate in any work or entertainment-oriented activities?

(COOLIO) PR ... I was doing things for my community before the million man march was even announced. I speak at schools. I speak at community centers ... juvenile halls.

(SonicBABE) Coolio, your last album was pretty much about you doing B&E's and getting high. How is this album different?

(COOLIO) Sonicbabe, that's not exactly true. In fact, it's not true at all! I think you should listen a little closer. ...I have definitely matured. I'm more worldly.

(Gangsta) When is your next album comin' out, sorry if you answered already, I missed it.

(COOLIO) The album is out now ... It's called "Gangsta's Paradise."

(SonicBABE) So Coolio, you grew up in Compton, and got crazy for awhile. What got you back on top?

(COOLIO) Acting...

(SonicBABE) Did your experiences with crack make you want to be in anyway a svior to kids who do not know any better through your music?

(COOLIO) Anything I can do to help the kids is what it's all about. Without the kids, we don't have a future. If they don't know the past & the present, then they don't have a future.

(Mooch) COOLIO: Snoop ... guilty or innocent?

(COOLIO) Mooch ... I wasn't there ...

(PRSoul) COOLIO: Well that's chill and all, but what did you do on Oct.16?

(COOLIO) My kids also stayed home from school on Oct 16.

(J) COOLIO, What do you think should be done to end racism and classism in america?

(COOLIO) J ... the first step is the mental revolution ... & then the mass deprogramming of the people ...

(SonicBABE) Do you Dig The Wu? It seems to be their year: Red, Method, Dirty, Gza.

(COOLIO) Wu's doing their thing. . .

(SonicBABE) What's up with Cypress Hill? Do you like their turn around?

(COOLIO) I've always been a Cypress Hill fan & shall remain so.

(SonicBABE) Do you think that Paris was ever an influential rapper?

(COOLIO) Paris was to some...very influential.

(G) COOLIO: what do you think of overt political stuff like that of the Coup?

(COOLIO) The Coup is dope ... their record company is whack ...

(Clipboard) Have you ever been to London?

(COOLIO) Been to London several times & will be back in January ...

(Mooch) Coolio, what do you think is the biggest misconception about you?

(COOLIO) Mooch: The biggest misconception is that I'm some regular ass mothaf*cker from Compton with no skills & no reals.

(SonicBABE) So, do you one day your own production company like Heavy or Erick Sermon?

(COOLIO) Sonic ... I already have my own production & management company.

(Mischief) COOLIO: as an artist..what is tha best route for me to go to get a deal?

(COOLIO) Mischief ... Be Original ...

(JackofSpa) Coolio, I'm in a financial crisis here, is there any suggestion you would give to a person who's in need of $? I mean selling smokes is the quickest way to go... but I know there's better ways.

(COOLIO) Jack, do what you gotta do in order to survive. That's the way Amerikkka has taught you...

(JackofSpa) Cuz I could easily make loot sellign weed $300/wk, even still in school.

(PRSoul) JackofSpa, yeah, but think of your people that you could be poisoning...

(JackofSpa) Hmmmm, so Coolio is saying that I should be dealing dope...

(COOLIO) You don't need my opinion. Use your own mind.

(SonicBABE) Do you just produce music or do videos too?

(COOLIO) Sonic ... haven't entered the video arena yet. Just wait .

(SonicBABE) Video is so hype -- think about hooking up with Sony, do the next Cypress or da Bratt!

(COOLIO) Sonic ... hmmm, yeah ...

(J-Allah) COOLIO yeah bruh, kick some spontaneous or some preconcieved real quick ..

(COOLIO) I take from the Jets from the West ... to drop shit on the Internet ... Sonic that is ... watch me handle this shit ... but I ain't your kid ...

(Stench) COOLIO, that was dope!

(J-Allah) COOLIO Do U have a Knowledge of Self?

(COOLIO) J-Allah ... definitely.. though I follow no organized religion or organization ...

(thirdeye) What do you think will help bring the west coast and the east coast together?

(COOLIO) East & West ... I think it's going to be a cumulative effort. Right now everybody is forgetting about one of the oldest destruction tactics in the book, & it's called "DIVIDE & CONQUER."

(J-Allah) COOLIO: oooooooooooooooh U gettin' deep on us!

(thirdeye) TRUE INDEED, Coolio.

(MsMillion) get deepa and deepa ... What did you do before rap?

(COOLIO) Ms.. I worked at an assortment of odd jobs.. stores.. factories ... fought forest fires ... smoked crack, sold crack ... been there done that.

(MsMillion) Did you own a beauty shop or somethin?

(COOLIO) I owned a beauty salon in Long Beach & now moving it to Hollywood, so I can jack up the prices & get some of that stuck up ass money.

(J-Allah) COOLIO What is ya educational background, did ya go to college/trade school anywhere?

(COOLIO) I graduated high school. I bullshitted through a couple years of college. I'm mostly a self-educated man.

(J-Allah) COOLIO which college?

(COOLIO) Compton Community College.

(thirdeye) Yo Coolio, you never dabbled in any studies of the NOI, or the Nation of the Gods and Earths.

(COOLIO) Thirdeye ... no I haven't ... uhh knowingly, but I've read so many things ... I'm pretty sure I've come across something ... but I just can't pull it up from my memory banks right now.

(COOLIO) Gotta go in minutes ... final questions?

(J-Allah) COOLIO how do U do your hair, bruh?

(COOLIO) J-Allah ... my sister.

(J-Allah) COOLIO right, aiight bruh, Peace.

SonicBABE: Thanks Coolio.

(Mischief) peace Coolio *maddaps*

(COOLIO) Just in case y'all didn't know ... I go by the name of COOLIO WITH THE FLOW DOWN THE GO TOE TO TOE WITH ANY HANK FRANK OR JOE STRAIGHT FROM THE MAAD CIRCLE FORTY THIEVES IN THE MIX FOR THE NINE SIX LIKE KARATE KICKS BY BRUCE LEE OG STRAIGHT LIKE THAT I"LL NEVER BE WACK I USED TO SMOKE CRACK ... BUT NOT NO MO!!!!!

SonicBABE: word COOLIO.

(COOLIO) PEACE ...

(Mischief) DAYEM!!

(MsMillion) ... He kicked a phat lil rhyme b4 he left!