During a segment of the Rickey Smiley Morning Show, Gary Wit Da Tea talked about Mimi Ivey speaking out. Mimi Ivey was Coolio’s partner before his tragic passing at age 59.
Coolio, was a rapper who first rose to fame as a member of the gangsta rap group WC and the Maad Circle, Coolio achieved mainstream success as a solo artist in the mid-to-late 1990s with his albums It Takes a Thief, Gangsta’s Paradise, and My Soul. Coolio also won the 1996 Grammy for Best Rap Solo Performance, among other prestigious awards.
Mimi spoke out saying that Coolio was not cheating on her and that they talked about everything, so she knew that Coolio was seeing other women, saying, “He was who he was. We talked about everything and I knew his whole life.” She added, “We had no secrets.”
Mimi has Coolio’s last name even though they were not legally married. Mimi said, “We went to the courthouse and filled out all the paperwork and we were planning on it, but we just decided not to turn it in,” reaching a mutual understanding that it was just a piece of paper that it wouldn’t change how they felt about each other.
Mimi says the rapper did not want a funeral and instead wanted to be cremated. “Coolio did not want a funeral, memorial service, or any of that.” She decided to respect Coolio’s wishes.
Following the conversation, Rickey Smiley was asked if he would be upset if someone wanted to do a funeral for him, against his wishes, to which Rickey responded that he has had that conversation with his mother Carolita Smiley Lester, and sister, Karon Katiea Smiley-Dennis.
Rickey said that it’s not really up to her, as they are the ones who will be left to grieve and that whatever he and his sister decide is what is going to happen as far as closure is concerned.
