It Takes A Thief  by Coolio

Artis Leon Ivey Jr., also known as Coolio, was born in the state of Pennsylvania, but in the early '70s, he moved with his mother to Los Angeles. There, he got involved with singing, and in 1994 he released his debut titled It Takes A Thief, which was fully integrated into the G-funk and hip hop era that the California metropolis was living at the time.

Something that characterized the album was the clever lyrics in which the listener could discern a particular humor. The single from the album, Fantastic Voyage, gave him his first major success as it reached No. 3 on the Billboard charts. Coolio seemed to be on an upward trajectory. This was confirmed a few months later when he wrote and performed the hugely successful song Gangsta's Paradise for the 1995 film "Dangerous Minds".

It Takes A Thief reached 1,000,000 sales in the USA. It was undoubtedly one of the best and most interesting albums of the year in the hip hop sound.