Rapper Coolio arrested in Las Vegas traffic stop

David Becker | WireImage

Grammy Award-winning rapper Coolio was arrested early Friday morning, according to Metro Police.

Metro spokesman Bill Cassell said the rapper, whose real name is Artis Leon Ivey Jr., was a passenger in a vehicle that was pulled over for a routine traffic stop.

Cassell said Ivey, 48, was arrested after police discovered he was wanted on two outstanding misdemeanor warrants, one for driving without a license, the other for illegal stop, standing or parking.

According to an official at the Clark County Detention Center, Coolio was booked about 2:40 a.m. As of 1:30 p.m., he was still in custody but was in the process of being released, a jail official said.

The official said Ivey would be released without posting bail on the premise that he will go to his court hearing.

Coolio's 22-year-old son, Grtis Ivey, also is being held in the same detention center without bail on multiple charges, including robbery with a deadly weapon, first-degree kidnapping with a deadly weapon, grand larceny and conspiracy to commit a robbery for an incident last November, authorities said.

Coolio is best known for his 1995 chart-topping hit, “Gangsta’s Paradise.” The National Academy of Arts and Sciences awarded Coolio the Best Rap Solo performance Grammy in 1996 for “Gangsta’s Paradise.”

CORRECTION: This corrects an earlier version of the story to note Grtis Ivey already was in the Clark County Detention Center. |