Late rapper Coolio had steered clear of drugs and excess drinking in the years leading up to his death despite struggling with substance abuse in the past, according to a close friend.
The hip-hop star, best known for his 1995 hit Gangsta's Paradise, died last Wednesday in Los Angeles. from a suspected cardiac arrest. He was 59.
The rap artist's history of drug abuse and crack cocaine addiction led some fans to speculate he died of a drug overdose, after being found on his friend's bathroom floor in downtown LA.
But his manager said the cause appeared to be a heart attack, and a close friend also testified to Coolio's sobriety in recent years.
Eric Yano, a Vegas-based friend of the late rapper who has known him for 18 years told DailyMail.com in an exclusive interview that despite Coolio's struggles with drugs in the past, he had never seen him drink, smoke or take any substances during their two-decade friendship.
'He would never show up intoxicated or on a different planet like most people. I never saw him drinking. He'd usually have a glass of water,' Yano said.
'A lot of people would ask to smoke a joint with him but he never smoked.
'When the news came yesterday about his passing, I was shocked. Was it something health related?
'But I was just with him a few weeks ago, and he seemed completely fine. No mention of any sort of heart condition or any medical condition.'
Yano, 45, who runs VIP events at MGM hotels and casinos in Vegas, said he first met Coolio around 2004 on the Strip looking for a cab, gave him a ride home and became firm friends from then on.
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