American rap "artist" ruled not-so-Coolio by Canadian immigration cops

Dis heah be Mistah Coolio! He be a big gangsta rap "artist", best known for his 1995 single "Gangsta's Paradise". He also be a mean motor-scooter, convicted of a misdemeanor firearms offence 16 years ago in his native USA. He also faced -- surprise, surprise -- a felony narcotics charge arising from an incident at LAX in 2009.

Imagine Leon Ivey Junior's [Dat be his real name. Ed.] surprise, then, when the Canada Border Services Agency wouldn't let him into the Great Not-so-white North, where he was scheduled to do his thang at concerts in Toronto, Montréal, Québec and Ottawa. Seems his record finally showed up on the immigration cops' XT computer!

Junior's manager, Blair "Goast" Bryson, said the border problem came as a shock. "He ain't nevah had anything like dis happen before!" said da Goast. "He nevah had a problem gettin' into Canada or anywhere else. Like I've taken him to the U.K., Australia, Russia, he hasn't had any problem getting into those countries. And I mean recent! Now this old charge is an issue, you guys never made a big deal about it before."

Mr. Coolio's fans -- Zippy Tubman and Velveetah Jones -- will receive refunds if they can prove that they paid for their tickets.