One of my very few redeemable talents, along with spelunking and the ability to cook my… One of my very few redeemable talents, along with spelunking and the ability to cook my world-renowned Pierogi Surprise, is my uncanny knack for running into famous people. I once saw basketball legend Larry Bird at the airport but decided that running through security to get his autograph would probably get me shot. My best story is definitely paying $10 to see a comedy show on a random Monday in New York, only to have Chris Rock walk in and perform 45 minutes of stand-up. But none of these coincidental meetings had the profound meaning for me than the one that happened last Thursday night.

On our way out of the South Side after a night of poetry readings and Bible study, a member of our party insisted on going into one more club. Finally obliging, because she wouldn’t let us do otherwise, we walked in to Diesel, only to find a rap concert going on. There were about 30 to 40 semi-interested listeners in the audience. The guy on stage looked familiar, but we didn’t know who he was. It wasn’t until I read the poster above the urinal that I found out that we had stumbled across one of the most enigmatic performers in the history of hip hop music – Coolio.

The rest of the night was something out of a dream. I got to hear Coolio sing his classic love ballad “1-2-3-4, Get Your Woman on the Floor.” I got to shake hands with the rapper as he belted out his most famous song, “Gangsta’s Paradise.” I got to watch his hype man pour a bottle of Grey Goose vodka all over the girl who made us go in there in the first place. We left that night happy and with a story we would never forget.

But ever since that magical night, the scene has been playing over and over in my head. In less than a week it went from a happy coincidence to a sobering reality check. I’d never thought that I’d say this, but Coolio has taught me more about life than anyone else I have ever met.

It all started in 1996, when Coolio, a.k.a. Artis Leon Ivey, Jr., won a Grammy Award for Best Rap Solo Performance. Add on his appearance on the Space Jam soundtrack that very same year, and my man Artis was on the very top of the music world.

Everything was looking so bright for Coolio. His first album went platinum. His second album went quadruple platinum. Even with his third only going gold, he still had reasons to believe that his life was going in the right direction.

Then how, only 12 years after his Grammy win, did he get to the point of playing near-empty rooms in Pittsburgh, where the bouncers didn’t even make us pay the advertised $15 to see the show? Since when was it up to a bathroom wall to tell the public that Coolio was in town? How did things fall apart?

Life works in very mysterious ways. Just take a look at the other collaborating musicians partnered up with Coolio for the song “Hit ‘Em High” from the Space Jam official soundtrack, one of the most underrated movie soundtracks in the history of animated basketball cinema. Our favorite crazy-haired crooner recorded the song with the likes of LL Cool J, Busta Rhymes, Method Man and Cypress Hill’s B Real. At the time, it could have been argued that Coolio had the highest ceiling out of that select group. These days, it would be hard not to put him at the very bottom of the list in terms of career accomplishments. I mean, even Busta has a funny YouTube video making the rounds.

All of this made me think of all the good things I take for granted. I have a great family, great friends and am about to leave a college with a diploma. Not to brag or anything, but I think I’m doing pretty well for myself. But nothing good lasts forever.

What if something goes wrong? What if I mess up? What if I end up on stage in an empty club, singing to myself?

I’m not about to try to diagnose Coolio; everybody goes through his own problems. And, for the record, even at the age of 44, he still put on a good show. But when he was flying high in the mid-1990s, he probably didn’t see himself in the position he is in now.

I don’t know what it is, but it has to be something. Maybe it’s pressure. Maybe it’s complacency.

And Coolio isn’t the only victim. Many celebrities, from Elvis Presley and Chris Farley to Kurt Cobain and Lindsay Lohan, have fallen from the top of their respective worlds toward ugly depths.

Whatever it is, we must all remember to stay on course and fulfill our potentials, if not for just us but all of those who have lent their support over the years. Eventually, we must all take responsibility for our own actions. Like “Gangsta’s Paradise” says, “Why are we / so blind to see / that the one’s we hurt / are you and me?”

Truer words have never been spoken.

E-mail Sam at [email protected] if too much television watching has got you chasing dreams.