Coolio’s final ‘Futurama’ episode features new song and tribute to late rapper

nme.com:

Coolio‘s final appearance in Futurama features a new song from the rapper as well as an on-screen tribute.The rapper died on September 28, 2022 at the age of 59.

He was best known for his 1995 hit ‘Gangsta’s Paradise’ (which recently made a comeback to the charts), the Kenan & Kel theme ‘Aw, Here It Goes’, and his various appearances in film and TV.Prior to his death, Ivey recorded dialogue for the upcoming Futurama reboot as Kwanzaa-Bot, the character he first voiced for two episodes in 2001.In his final episode, titled I Know What You Did Next Xmas and that aired on Monday (August 28), Coolio raps about his Christmas list.“Yo, Santabot, I’ma drop my ‘Futurama’ X-Mas list for 3023.

Y’all ready for this? I’m about to get nice!” he raps as Kwanzaa-Bot. “Kwanzaabot, yeah! Gimme 12 Slurms a-slurping, 11 Benders burping, 1o episodes dropping!”At the end of the episode, a tribute is paid to the rapper as Kwanzaa-Bot disappears into the distance and a message reads: “In memory of Coolio.”See a clip below.Back in April, Coolio’s cause of death was ruled as an accidental overdose of fentanyl, heroin and methamphetamine, according to the Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner-Coroner.The publicised case notes say the late rapper (whose real name was Artis Leon Ivey Jr.) suffered from an unspecified cardiomyopathy condition (cardiomyopathy being defined as chronic disease of the heart muscle) as well as asthma, however neither were said to have directly influenced his death.

Recent use of phencyclidine (PCP) was also cited as one of Ivey’s “other significant conditions”.The rapper’s first posthumous album, ‘Long Live Coolio’, is set to arrive later in 2023 (an exact release date is yet to be confirmed).