"Coolio’s Rules" on Oxygen will not feature your ordinary parental admonishing.
Cooilio, courtesy of Oxygen network
The rapper is having a career renaissance of sorts, and was fortunate to pitch the right guy at the right time, and cleverly coincide his new long-awaited CD "Steal Hear" to the masses.
The guy is no saint, and freely admits he has been a "dumbass" and a bad example. But middle-age has a way of humbling most everyone, and for his mid-life crisis, Coolio has been reunited with all of his children from different mothers, and now aims to teach them the errors of his weenie ways.
Oxygen.com featured the world premiere of the music video for "Boyfriend," the first single off Grammy Award-winning artist Coolio's latest album, Steal Hear, which hit stores October 21. The video aired on October 15.
Coolio and his kids, courtesy of Oxygen network
Oxygen's new docu-series "Coolio's Rules" premieres on Tuesday, October 28 at 10pm (ET/PT) and will be highlighted on Oxygen.com's special micro-site devoted to the show (link ). The show will consist of six episodes, one hour each and concluding on December 2 at 10:00.
According to Oxygen, "Coolio's Rules" presents a rare and intimate look inside the life of the Platinum-selling rap artist as he tries to maintain some semblance of a family life, living with four of his kids, while juggling his re-emerging music career and his entrepreneurial venture into the catering business.
Coolio's 45 years-old now, and his four grown children are seemingly nice kids who don't have a strong work ethic whatsoever and expect their hustling dad to fork over the dough a la Al Bundy, and buy them lots of stuff.
Monsters and Critics caught up with Coolio and producer Mike Duffy and the conversation veered into childrearing practices, Shaka Zulu and what, exactly, "gourmet spaghetti" is.
I have a great empathy for you. I’m close to you in age and I have two older teenage boys.
Coolio: Cool, yeah.
And just watching your frustration with Artis - I felt for you.
Coolio: Thank you. Thank you. Yeah, he’s - you know, it’s, the (wife) said it was going to be easy - said it was going to be...I mean I’m just day-to-day. But, actually since then me and Artis have gotten a little better.
He’s starting to take a little bit more responsibility and starting to actually see things from a different - from another perspective because I’ve been taking him on the road a little bit with me and just letting him see some of the stuff that I deal with on a day-to-day basis a little bit more.
And gives him a greater respect for what I deal with day-to-day.
Well one of my questions for you was do you talk to your kids honestly about the importance of education?
Coolio: Yes.
I didn’t hear you talk about the importance of them having an education last night when I watched the first two shows. I heard about your mom’s values and doing work.
Are any of them headed for school or do you emphasize that?
Coolio: Well Brandi is going to do criminal forensic studies And, you know, she’s in her second year. And, you know, they’re a little wishy-washy pretty much when it comes to anything because they’re just at that age. But I mean we have many, many talks about education and the importance of it.
I think during my generation that was the first generation of anybody in my family even attempting to go to college was when my sister went.
I think we have one other cousin ... a distant cousin. His name was (Bobby) something and he went to college. So yeah, you know, we have those talks all the time.
I mean actually them talking about - talking to them about the importance of education early on. Unfortunately, as you know, I didn’t really raise my children because they didn’t live with me when they were younger.
So their work ethic has nothing to do with what I’ve taught them growing up. You know, their work ethic totally comes from their other parent. So I will defend myself on that.
When did you come back into their life as of the full-time parental figure and dad living with them? When did that happen?
Coolio: Well Artis has been living with me for the last five years so he actually came to me still - well... so he came to me when he was - he came to me before probably around 13.
And Brandi and Artisha have only been around me for a time now - for going on three years. Right directly after they got out of high school they came to live with me.
Why did their mothers relinquish custody? Can you talk about that? I mean do you have a good relationship with their mothers?
Coolio: Well I mean at the time when they came to me no, we didn’t. We had a terrible relationship. Well of them, we were (living with) each other with Artis’ mom. You know, we weren’t getting along - (living well) at all. We weren’t even speaking that much.
And with Artis the whole situation with him got out of control with her. I mean it just wasn’t working.
It just really wasn’t and she was worried that, he was going to end up in a gang, going to jail or...selling drugs, or something like that because of the environment that he was in.
What’s your biggest fear for your children?
Coolio: I got so many of them that I never really tried to narrow it down to one. I suppose my really biggest fear is that I - that something happens to me and, you know, I’m not going - I’m not there for them and they haven’t prepared themselves for what they got to deal with as an adult.
I think that’s probably my biggest fear.
How was living with the cameras in your house like? What do you hope people will learn while watching the show and seeing these cameras on you all day?
Coolio: Well a couple of things - one thing they’re - I think one - as far as with the cameras, when they actually start, you know, when you - at some point I mean in the beginning I mean you’re very, very conscious.
You’re very conscious of the cameras being there because you got the equipment there and you got the crew there. And, you know, you look at them - you’re seeing the people and, you know, you’re talking to them and everything.
I think once we started shooting and we started just, trying to live our everyday lives, I mean at some point for me -- I can’t say exactly when -- I phased the cameras out which I’m pretty good at phasing things out, you know.
That’s kind of that growing up where I grew up you had to learn how to phase people out and phase out the world pretty much. I mean I learned how to do that from reading books.
It’s like you’re not there. So I think that’s what happened for me. I just started phasing things out.
My whole thing was I want to have a television show that really reflects my real views or what my reality really is. So I just went with it and just said forget it.
The cameras are there but if I want this to be real and I want it to be different from everybody else’s shows, then I’m going to have to suck it up pretty much and just be myself.
Did you have to hide your dirty laundry?
Coolio: Well, my room - when you see the show you’ll see my room got progressively messier as the episodes go along.
But yeah, of course, I mean, since the time the show started I hired a maid back - not full time. But I have a maid come in pretty regular.
We remodeled the house and everything as well. So I mean of course, yeah, you’ve got new stuff and you want to try to keep it new for as long as possible.
I mean I’m not a pig by any means but I’m definitely a bachelor. So, it gets a little messy sometimes.
And you have to understand that for the first four years of this whole new life for me it was just me and my son, and my cousin.
We all pretty much stayed in one area and when we did come out of that area and make a mess somewhere else, you know, we’d quickly clean it up. I think my daughters are more messy than we are.
So, the thing I think people can learn from the show is, there are alternatives to parenting. I mean I’m not the best parent in the world, you know.
So, then it goes through the grandparent stage after that.
I hope people can see there’s some alternatives to parenting. I mean I don’t believe in time out. Some people are going to disagree with my views.
I’m really vocal. I will get physical. You know, if you get out of line in that way where I have to get physical with you, I’m going to get physical.
So I don’t believe in - I mean if you take a - now I have to deal with it in this - from this perspective so that you can understand what I’m saying.
If you take a look at kids my age and - well, people who grew up during my era of being a child and a teenager, and all the people that are 35 and up that are on this call, you all know that the decades when we grew up people seemed to be smarter.
Well I’m not going to say smarter. People were just more respectful of their parents and they were more respectful of the teachers and everybody around them.
And now, things have changed quite a bit. As the new laws came in that, the kids can all the police on you. And, I understand that with all the child abuse that goes on in the world.
But it also affects people who are doing a fairly good job. And anyway, with all these things happening and all these alternatives to old school parenting, things have changed quite a bit.
And I think (kids) have changed. So if you look at it from that point of view, I would say that my way is - might be better than, maybe the (newer) because you’re getting some good (kids) in there, but I think the majority - I’d have to say there’s been a drop off probably of at least 25% or 30% on, you know, the way kids deal with grownups and the way - and the respect factor and everything.
How did you and producer Duffy hook up?
Coolio: Well actually I hooked up with Mr. Duffy through my agent, Susan Haber. I hooked up with him through her. We just sat down and had the meeting of the minds. And we decided that we could probably work together. I pitched myself to Mike Duffy.
Mike Duffy: When Coolio came into RDF -- and RDF USA is the production company here and that’s who I work for -- as he said he came in and sort of pitched himself.
And when Coolio comes in and pitches himself, you see the show in the first 30 seconds. He’s as dynamic and entertaining, and likable a person as anybody who’s ever walked into our offices.
And so it was a natural for us to move forward with the show. And when Oxygen, said that they were interested in the show it just - it made perfect sense because he’s such a great dad.
Here’s a guy who we know as, a gangsta from the 90s. He’s a rapper. He’s an iconic performer. He’s a legend. And for him to come in and say hey I’ve got four kids who are living with me.
I’ve got this interest and this talent in the area of cooking, and I’m trying to kind of teach my kids some life lessons before they, go on into adulthood, and I want to do it all on a TV show, it was a natural for us.
It was something we had never heard before and with Coolio at the center, you know it’s going to be a hit because he’s such a great guy and such a great character.
I think we all think -- at RDF and at Oxygen -- that, people really are wondering hey what happened to Coolio, what’s he up to these days?
And that’s why we’re so excited about him, releasing the new album and doing that concurrently with the premiere of the show.
Coolio: There was a rumor going around Europe that I was dead. Yeah, anyway.
Now where does cooking fit in all this?
Coolio: Well, cooking and music go hand in hand really just like acting. I mean it’s a form of - preparation mixed with performance as well as some intellect being used.
I mean it’s just that, you get prepared for something and you do it. Really actually cooking is therapy for me.
Don’t do any hard drugs anymore and stuff, so, you find alternatives to things - you know, you replace things that you don’t want in your life with other things.
How is it going with Artis?
Coolio: No, it’s actually getting better. Artis just turned 19.
So, it’s getting a little better. It’s getting a little better. (Blood) is coming around. He actually went out and got a job.
It didn’t really work out for him but I’m proud of him and - that he went out and gave it the old college try. He was trying to do sales and it just, now is not a good time to...sell anything. People don’t want to buy anything, especially over the phone. I know I’m not.
The other thing is Artis (checked) in school as well. Artis (checked) in school about two weeks ago. But I haven’t been home for the last month so I don’t know how that is really going. When I called home and we discussed some other things but we didn’t really get around to school.
How are the cameras affecting the kids and your relationship with them on camera?
Coolio: I think towards the end, everybody was just really tired of the cameras when we got to the end of shooting that first season.
It got a little tense. But off camera we just made rule to each other. Things that happen on camera are just like everyday life.
You can’t go around being mad at each other and, we’re not really that type anyway. My kids can’t stay mad at me anyway. You know, I’m the daddy.
They need money. They need stuff from me, so they can act mad if they want to. And then, I’ll just go along and act mad, too.
What’s it like having teenage girls?
Coolio: It could be a little unsettling at times. There I walked out and seen my daughters kissing and everything now, It’s kind of bothering me.
I want to go, excuse me French but I want to go slap the shit out of somebody, but I can’t do that because, I don’t want to go to jail or anything.
And I don’t want to slap my daughter. I want to go slap the guy and just pop them in the back of the head and be like 'vamoose - move - keep it moving'. But, that’s not the correct way to deal with it.
So I’ve been dealing with it like anybody else would deal with it. I just make sure I have the (car) - if somebody is going to be coming around and somebody I’m going to be seeing more than a few times, then, if they’re thinking about having a boyfriend or a friend that comes over all the time, I’m going to have the talk.
We’re going to have the walk and the talk.
Would you you say you’re a really protective dad then?
Coolio: Yeah I’m pretty protective. But at the same time, I’m not stupid. I know what I was doing at 19 and 20 and I know what I was doing- I’m no, it’s life.
And I see the way they are and the way they talk. And I’m not worried about nobody popping up pregnant and I’m not worried about that.
If it happens, that’s something I’ll deal with if it happens - when it happens. I’m not trying to just walk around being worried all the time. I’m trying to let them live their life.
And, me personally - all my life lessons I learned the hard way. I didn’t have the benefit of the doubt for anything.
I was so stupid that I had to go and find out for myself - (didn’t need somebody’s help). And, you know, so far none of them are like that.
What were you like as a teenager?
Coolio: I was terrible and I didn’t try to drive my mom nuts. My mom was already nuts before I was born. So, I didn’t have to do a whole lot to her. My mother was pretty hard and harsh.
But at the same time, she could be just as loving and caring as anybody else’s mom. I think the unfortunate thing about me growing up was the fact that, my mom did drugs and, she had a few drug problems or whatever.
So, that affected our relationship quite a bit. But at the same time, my hat’s off to my mom because the things that she meant to really teach me, they - she got them across.
And it took me awhile. I was a late bloomer, It took me, as a teenager I was quiet but I was really sneaky. I was a terrible liar. Yeah, I was just kind of a bad dude. I was going through something.
I got bullied during my pre-teen years so by the time I got to be a teen I was a little bit - I think I probably should’ve got some therapy,. I was a little bit messed up in the head.
I’m not going to say I was violent, violent- but I was semi-violent.
I was quick to anger and especially if I thought somebody was trying to take advantage of me or what we call (them is a punking) - like somebody trying to bully me or something like that because they thought they could and because I was smaller than them or whatever.
If I even thought somebody was doing that I would get irate and, but didn’t act - I would get what I called activated and, I was a little bit prone to violence.
I was ready to fight pretty dang old quick. I still got a little bit of a problem with that if I think somebody is really trying to take advantage of me and is just totally unfair what they’re doing.
And they’re being, let’s say for lack of a better term, an asshole. Yeah, if, you know, if gets there with me, I can be pretty dang old vicious. And luckily so far, I haven’t gotten into any trouble behind it.
But I just try to keep myself out of situations where somebody can have an advantage over me like that, I won’t (happen) to be (bright side of mind now).
Talk about your hard times.
Coolio: Well you know what, here’s the funny thing about hard times. Let me tell you about - a lot about hard times. Some things you have no control over like, you know, where you live sometimes, what school you go to, you know, stuff like that.
You shouldn’t be going over there. You shouldn’t be going there. You shouldn’t be hanging around those people.
You shouldn’t be - whatever activity or, you know, whether it be positive or negative - well no, mostly negative you shouldn’t - things that you shouldn’t have done and you do it anyway, those are the things that can be avoided in life.
I was a little bit of a dumbass. So I had to learn a lot of thing the hard way.
I really did. I had a lot of hard life lessons. And, a lot of that - I grew up in a house. I had a three bedroom house. I had a nice backyard.
And I didn’t really make them any easier. Like I said I got bullied, so I was going through something and I didn’t tell anybody.
I didn’t tell - first of all I couldn’t tell my mom that I was getting chased home or somebody took my lunch money or, you know, somebody slapped me up in the back of my head because she would - you know, she was old school.
She would say 'where does he live, where do they live, come on let’s go over to their house and fight them.' And that’s literally what we would’ve did and I wouldn’t have had a choice in that.
So when I was going through all these things I never told anybody. I just handled it on my own. And, I got into some things I shouldn’t have got into.
I joined a gang and all that because I wanted the protection that the gang could offer from the gang.
I was in one of those neighborhoods it was like if you can’t beat them, join them because if you don’t join them you’re going to get beat up by them. So, you know, I was in a situation like that.
So I joined a gang and I started running with the local hood and everything. And, you know, by the grace of God like I said, I’m still here - S-T-E-A-L-H-E-A-R.
And, you know, I’m not in jail and, I’m not on drugs. And I’m not pushing the shopping basket full of junk down the street mumbling to myself because, you know, I suppose by all rights because of the way I grew up and the - some of the things I went through that kind of (eat me up).
Can you tell some of your music fans about your new album?
Coolio: Well not to pull my own chain and everything, but hey man, I still got it. I’m still here. I mean I’ve viable. I’m credible. I’m incredible. I’m magnificent. I’m amazing.
I am Coolio with the flow - Shaka Zulu, what do you do? Okay, so the album is really good, you know. I took my time on it. I have some really good songs, you know. It has some stuff to make you think.
There’s some stuff that you sit back and take a drink - this is stuff you can go to sleep to. This is stuff to make you reflect on your life, (relax), some stuff to make you shake that ass on the carpet like the old school.
It’s got a little bit of everything in there like me. I try to put all aspects of my personality in my music.
The only big dilemma I have is that it’s my label and (such) - since it’s my label I have to promote it and pay for most of the stuff myself.
So I have a budget. So I got to make sure I make the right kind of moves so that people know that Coolio does have a new album and that they want to - they might want to go check out, you know, because it’s really good.
I mean I think it’s, so far from what I’ve heard, I would say it’s one of the best albums so far of the year.
So how much do you know about the great Shaka Zulu?
Coolio: Well probably not as much as I should so I don’t want to be using his name in vain. But he was an African warrior king. He also was one of the first African chieftains to start actually sending people during (war)
He was an interesting man.
Coolio: Yes and he did it by conquest, He conquered both sides and he kind of melded them. And he was like a - almost like the African Roman Emperor for a time.
So I know a little bit about Shaka more than you thought I did, I bet (laughs ).
So are you going to educate your young viewers and explain to them why you’ve latched onto that saying and maybe what the bigger meaning is behind Shaka Zulu perhaps in future shows?
Coolio: Well I’m proud to say Shaka Zulu. I hope I, you know, one day when I’m chasing my genealogy maybe I’m a descendant and stuff.
You never know.
Coolio: Something like that. But I mean, you got - no disrespect to any of these cats or their families, or the names they’ve adopted.
But, you got people out here naming themselves after all these Italian gangsters and, you know, and all these fictional characters, and, you know, all this other kind of stuff, you know.
Nobody ever uses - nobody ever calls themselves - like let’s say Daz Dillinger for instance, from The Dogg Pound. Nobody calls themselves Kevin King after Martin Luther King or little XJ after Malcolm X or, you know, stuff like that.
Just, you know, nobody calls themselves Doctor (Heart), you know, after (Drew), you know, or (Drew Skee). And if (they like) call yourself (Drew Skee), you know, because I like Charles Drew. You know what I’m saying?
You don’t have black kids doing that stuff. So I just decided, you know, to just, you know, throw something in a little bit - you know, just do what I can here and there and try to make it cool.
I want to make it cool to say Shaka Zulu.
Yeah, a historical battle cry.
Coolio: Yeah, also keep you from using, some - it cuts down some of your profanity. Excuse me everyone. Excuse me everyone, I must say this so I can really explain it because, you know, there were times when I would just say mother f*cker.
Okay, all right.
Coolio: And now I say Shaka Zulu. And, you know, that wasn’t my word. That’s Bernie Mac’s word so, you know, I was his friend and all his intellectual property. You know what I’m saying? So I had to come up with my own word.
I understand cooking is your therapy, but when you went to your first meeting with your prospective client, you and your partner were very unprepared for the meeting. How serious are you about actually having a true catering company?
Coolio: I’ve done three more events since then. And I’ve turned down about six - seven - because...
And how did it go? is this a moneymaking venture for you?
Coolio: Yeah, I mean eventually.
Okay.
Coolio: I mean, I haven’t made any big money on it yet because I just - I don’t have the time to do any events because I’m,like I said, I got this new album coming out.
So the reigniting of your old career is sort of pushing that one to the backburner, so to speak?
Coolio: Not necessarily because this - I tour the UK. I tour some part of Europe usually around this time of the year anyway, you know, like going back to school, checking all the - you know, what they call the freshers.
You know, 16 was like - 16 to 25 and that’s a whole new audience for me. It’s not like I dropped a new single that’s blowing up on the charts right now, that’s blowing up on MTV and VHS...
And I learned something about my egg rolls. I rolled the egg rolls and put them in something before I left.
Well they got a little soggy and they started sticking to the wax paper, so basically they all fell apart. So you know what I made? I made a - I ended up having to make an egg roll loaf.
But it was - but they killed it. They murdered it. There was none left. Okay, so I took all the egg rolls because they were all stuck together, and I put them all in this like deep fry thing... the little basket for the deep fryer.
No I won’t. I promise I won’t tell a soul.
Coolio: Cool.
Coolio, what’s your favorite cuisine? What is the food that just, you know, makes your toes curl and you crave? What do you love to eat?
Coolio: Comfort food. I like comfort food.
Comfort food? Okay.
Coolio: Yeah, steak and potatoes, enchiladas, you know, gourmet spaghetti. You know, those types of things.
What is gourmet spaghetti?
Coolio: I like - gourmet spaghetti is like, maybe if you use chicken or if you use more than - you use ground beef and sausage and you throw in some, you know, other kind of peppers other than, you know, just regular old tomato sauce.
And maybe you don’t use tomato sauce. You use a pesto sauce or you use a sauce that you made up, you know. Yeah, that sort of stuff.
And I got a white - I got an enchilada with a white sauce. I bet you...
A béchamel?
Coolio: Yeah, have you ever had...Have you ever had a white sauce enchilada?
Well I know what béchamel sauce is, and I know what an enchilada tastes like. I bet it’s extra creamy.
Coolio: What’s the - okay, well no, what is - say that word again that you said?
A white sauce is called béchamel.
Coolio: Well go ahead - béchamel. Béchamel to you, too.
Well it’s a butter, flour, milk...
Coolio: No, no.
and like a cream white sauce you can add white wine to it.
Coolio: No, no.
Well what’s your white sauce?
Coolio: No, no. My white sauce is sour cream.
Okay.
Coolio: And my - and one of my staples, cream of chicken soup.
That’s not a béchamel.
Coolio: Okay. It’s - like I said, it’s a white sauce. Ha, hey, I’m a ghetto gourmet baby, you know (laughs).
Yeah, apparently. So what’s your favorite Asian cuisine and maybe some favorite restaurants Los Angeles you absolutely adore? Tell me about some of your favorite eating places.
Coolio: Okay. Well my favorite just that I make that’s a little Asian is (shaka amazing). Yeah, so it’s my egg rolls.
Yeah.
Coolio: Excuse me, well I call them soul rolls now. They’re soul rolls. And I do a mean - you know, you got to get the cookbook. You know, we’re working on a cookbook right now.
Oh, tell me about that. Tell me about the cookbook.
Coolio: We got a dish called Kung Fu Chicken.
And we also got a (dip) sauce. Kung Fu. And we got a dish called (pie-yow) Chicken. We also got a dish called Night, Night Chicken.
So when’s this cookbook coming out?
Coolio: Probably some time next year I hope.
And you’re going to promote it on the show? You’re going to do a little cross-promotion on Coolio’s Rules?
Coolio: Oh absolutely. You know, I’ll even - I might do an episode, about, you know, some of the stuff like dealing with the cookbook.
They will go to the - we’ll show the first printing, you know, when I get the first print or, you know, maybe we’ll even go down to the factory where they’re binding the book and making it.
And go like - I just came down to see what you all are doing with my book, you know what I’m saying? No I mean, you know, it - I mean I don’t know. I’ll think of something.
Mike Duffy: Hey, this is Mike Duffy just chiming in real quick.
Coolio: Hybrid - I think I don’t like that word. I don’t like that word for cooking. Hybrid sounds like a car or a mutant - a fly mixed with an ant. That’s a hybrid, you know.
Mike Duffy: So you’ve got...
Coolio: You know, or a roach ant. Anyway - no seriously, but I just - let me answer this for you Mike, because I don’t want you to mess it up.
Okay, here it is. I like to take traditional things and put a twist on it, because a lot of traditional foods, it can get boring.
So,I like to take the spaghetti and use a spicy sauce and just turn it into something kind of different or, you know, I’ll take a - we do a breakfast egg roll even.
We did an egg roll with bacon, eggs and cheese in an egg roll.
In an egg roll wrapper?
Coolio: An egg roll wrapper - wrapped it and dropped it.
Coolio fusion - new cuisine taking over Los Angeles.
Coolio: Yes. Yes ma’am. Check it out, you know what, this is one of the things that we’re working on which you’ll probably get to see - you know how when you go to a club…Sometimes you walk out of nightclubs. You got these guys outside with these little homemade carts and they’re selling like turkey hot dogs. They slice them in half and fry them on this little nasty grill.
Well I’m going to make some soul roll cart and we’re going to put those guys out of business in Hollywood. You know, sell turkey soul rolls.
What, you mean like Hyde or Les Deux or clubs like that? Like where Nicole Richie is spilling out of?
Coolio: Oh yeah, yeah. You know, they’re a little - I don’t want to say whitewashed and I don’t want to say blackwashed, so let me say they’re a little washed.
What does that mean?
Coolio: You know? That means they are a little uppity, you know. They, you know, they think they’re it - whatever. It’s still a night...
Oh, high-falutin’ you mean?
Coolio: It’s still a night - yeah.
Snooty pretty people?
Coolio: Like stuff that - like some that were (boozy) - they’re (bourgy). Let’s just say it. Bourgeois - (bourgy). Yeah, anyway, so anyway, you know, they probably wouldn’t let you sell too close so you just do it a little down the street.
But once the word spread and people found out how good they are and how not greasy they are...
We’re going to have them lined up.
And then those cats will probably put a hit on our little people and just like try to rob us and everything because, you know, that was - they got some...
Well that would make an awesome show.
Coolio: Yeah.
You’d be teaching your kids how your work links to other work. It would be very cool.
Coolio: Thank you for throwing that in and I would give you credit for it, but I already thought of it.
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