Fighting Words From Coolio

The king of Gangsta’s Rap, Coolio, is making news again. This time, Coolio surprised his fans talking about his passion for professional fighting sports: “I’m a huge fan of Muay Thai, which I consider the most complete fighting system of them all. The elbows to the face and the knees to the ribs are devastating and may be very useful in a street fight. A well executed knee to the chest may knock out a much bigger aggressor. I practiced Muay Thai for five years, but I had to quit because of my working schedule. I would like to start training again because knowing how to fight is essential in life. There are too many punks out there who do stupid things like harassing a woman while her man is right there or playing bully with somebody they don’t know. Most of these idiots are wannabes who cannot even fight. If they try something with me, I knock them out fast. When they wake up, I tell them that it’s their fault because they shouldn’t have crossed the line in the first place.

Coolio made those remarks during a press conference in Milan, Italy, organized by SP Management – a show-biz company led by Stefano Pugnali – to present Coolio’s new video, a modern version of Gangsta’s Paradise. “It’s not a remix at all, said Coolio. “We shot a video which is very different from the original and has updated special effects. I did it because my fans were not satisfied with the remixes made by other singers and asked me to do it. I think that I wrote at least 20 songs better than Gangsta’s Paradise but that’s what the market wants and I’m a businessman. We will launch it next January, during the fashion week, with a mega-party in Milan. Co-star of the video is stunning Brazilian showgirl Juliana Moreira. The conversation went toward Muay Thai because former Wako-Pro world welterweight and jr. middleweight champion Diego Calzolari attended the press conference and asked Coolio if he knew that many Muay Thai fighters use Gangsta’s Paradise to get pumped up while training. Coolio’s answer: “Yes, I know and I can tell you that also many professional boxers use Gangsta’s Paradise as soundtrack for their training sessions.

The press conference was presented by Italian showgirl Amalia Roseti and attended by Coolio’s nephew and fellow rapper Ghost Smoke and Bruno Cabrerizo, who had the second leading male role in the video.