Melbourne-based rapper and pop vocalist Katija says she's blessed to feature on Coolio's posthumous release, Do You Want It.
Unexpectedly marking a posthumous release for one of the most successful rappers of his time, the new single Do You Want It by the legendary Coolio features Melbourne rap and pop artist Katija, who says it was an incredible opportunity to work with the hip hop legend.
Having met Coolio while he was in Melbourne, Katija’s fateful introduction inadvertently grew into creative and collaborative magic, with Coolio soon reaching out to Katija to feature on a new song he’d been working on.
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“It was one of those times in life where the stars just aligned,” shares Katija of meeting and eventually working with Coolio.“I had just started working on my first few singles at Cosmic Bounce Records Studio’s in Brunswick with my talented producer, KB. Coolio was here in Melbourne for the Made In The 90s Tour and he was introduced to the studio by Scorpion Media who had met him behind the scenes at the Bliss N Esso concert where he performed Gangsta’s Paradise in February this year.
“Coolio had a creative itch to start writing music again, you could see it and feel it in his energy. Coolio said he had been to other studios around Melbourne, yet had never finished a song and said it wasn’t until he walked into CBR that he finally felt at home. It was the night of my video clip shoot for my single Lullaby, and here was Coolio just chilling on the couch hanging out after he’d finished a recording session with KB.
“Coolio stayed the entire night to hang out with us and even started writing his own verses to my song. Two weeks later Coolio was in another session with KB working on one of the few songs they had started together and he decided Do You Want It needed a female feature artist. As we had already started to develop a relationship, I came by the studio, sat in on the session and then began to put pen to paper and write the female version of his verses as my reply. Before I knew it, I was in the recording booth with Coolio mentoring me on how to execute the lyrics on his track.”
Renowned Florida rapper KB adds: “Coolio saw something special in Katija before she even stepped into the booth, he’d tried to finish songs with feature artists, but had trouble finding artists who could match his energy, but Katija did just that.”
Katija also drew on her adoration for her “favourite rapper of all time” Eminem: “I was given the nickname Feminem growing up because all I wanted to do when I went to parties or hang out with friends was to show everyone how I can rap any of Eminem’s songs word for word, breath for breath,” she continued.
“The beat for Do You Want It was produced by kb808, and instantly Coolio loved it, the writing came so naturally to him, because the sound was familiar to his 90s style music background and influences.”
Before Coolio’s death, the single was also intended to be the first of many more creative collaborations between Coolio and Katija’s, as Katija reveals, “This release had only just scratched the surface of the adventure we had planned, we set the October release date in July. The peculiar thing about this date is that it falls exactly one month to the day of his passing and we felt we needed to honour what was already set in motion and follow through with the release date as planned, even though the circumstances had changed, it is what Coolio would have wanted.
“Coolio truly was one of the world’s greatest and most iconic rappers of our time,” Katija concludes. “He paved the way for rap and hip-hop music to break into the pop music scene and opened the door for many of the great hip-hop artists to follow. To be featuring on a song with one of my biggest idols in the hip-hop music scene is absolutely surreal. I am beyond grateful and blessed for the opportunity I had to work with Coolio. Even though our time was sadly cut short, I will cherish the memories of time we spent together and the relationship we built.
“Now all I can say is I am honoured to be able to share one of his last ever singles with the world and give everyone the special gift of being able to hear Coolio’s iconic voice on a new song one more time.”
Do You Want It is out now.
