Coolio to play Stafford
There are still tickets remaining to see rap superstar Coolio in Stafford on Wednesday – with support from local act Blaze Florence.
The 55-year-old Pennsylvania native made a huge dent in the rap scene in the mid-90s through one of the most successful rap songs of all time - Gangsta’s Paradise.
It won a Grammy in 1996 for Best Rap Performance. It sold more than six million copies and was Billboard Magazine’s number one single in 1995. It also hit the mainstream outside of the genre after being featured on the soundtrack for Michelle Pfeiffer movie Dangerous Minds.
He has released nine studio albums – the latest being 2015’s Hotel C. – and won acclaim with the British TV audience when he finished third in the sixth series of Celebrity Big Brother in 2009.
Coolio's music has been featured in several other major motion pictures too, including Space Jam, Clueless and Half Baked, while he also composed the theme song for the popular TV series Kenan and Kel on Nickelodeon.
For his troubles he has won an American Music Award, three MTV awards, two Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards and a World Music Award. He has received six Grammy nominations, and also won two Billboard Music Awards.
Support on the night comes from Blaze Florence, who was born and raised in Staffordshire.
Working as an artist from an early age he started out making purely grime music, being inspired by the underground sound which he says is forever growing. In recent years he has made hip hop records and managed to craft a unique sound which merges the two genres.
In 2017, Blaze won ‘best urban artist of Staffordshire and Cheshire’ following the release of his debut solo EP St.Art Living - which also had him noticed by BBC Introducing Stoke.
Since then he’s been making himself known further across the West Midlands following another two EPs released independently on all digital platforms - Crafted Creations and then the Blaze Florence EP, which came out just last month.
For the remaining tickets, click here.
