Tyme Johnson is a singer, screenwriter, and the director and producer of “The Fantastic Voyage.” It is a docuseries currently in development about the life and career of groundbreaking rap artist Coolio.
Coolio was born Artis Leon Ivey Jr. Johnson said she first met Coolio at an American Music Awards show. She was performing as a background dancer for the rap group Naughty By Nature.
“We became really close. We ended up moving in together,” said Johnson. “Yes, we had a relationship.”
Johnson said it was right before Coolio signed his deal with Warner Bros. for his debut studio album “It Takes a Thief.”
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“I was in a lot of sessions where him and his family, his friends, his business partners would be writing at our house,” said Johnson.
“It was automatic that I would be included in that,” continued Johnson. “We did a song together called Dial a Jam [with] 40 Thevz for the ‘Jerkey Boys’ soundtrack.”
Johnson’s co-producer on “Voyage” is long-time Coolio road manager and friend Clyde “Spoony” Colen. Johnson said she and Colen were introduced by Coolio.
“Spoon was always there,” she said. “Before I was there, he was always at the house. He was a part of Coolio.
“You didn’t see Coolio without Spoon,” said Johnson. “It was like a family… with Coolio, with Spoon, and the different groups they ended up having under their banner Crowbar Management.”
Johnson said Coolio and Colen grew up together and lived together at Colen’s grandmother’s house in Compton, California. Sadly, Coolio passed away in 2022 of an accidental fentanyl overdose, but his music lives on.
Some of Coolio’s greatest hits include “Gangsta’s Paradise,” “Fantastic Voyage,” “1, 2, 3, 4 (Sumpin’ New),” and “C U When U Get There.”
“Spoon and I hadn’t been in contact in many years, and I remember going to the life celebration [for Coolio],” said Johnson.
“I had left California and moved and learned a lot in New York and came back. Spoon and I got back in contact on Facebook.”
Johnson continued, “I saw that Spoon was doing a documentary on Coolio. I reached out to Spoon and said, ‘Listen, now you know there’s no way you can have a documentary about Coolio and not include me.”’
Johnson said Colen agreed, and originally, she was only going to appear in the documentary.
However, when the original director who was slated to do the Coolio documentary passed away, then Johnson said she stepped in. Johnson said she noticed Colen was visiting her social media profiles often and he was liking many of her posts showcasing her work.
“He [Colen] said, ‘I think you would be the perfect person to actually do this documentary,’” said Johnson. “He was like, ‘You know his story, and you’re a talented director.’ I was like, ‘I’d be honored.’ Why would I say no to that?”
Currently, Johnson said she and the “Voyage” production team are gathering interviews, while still in preproduction.
“He commercialized hip-hop – he was one of the main people that did that in the 90s,” said Johnson, “and for him not to be getting that recognition that he deserves was really a motivation for me to do this docuseries.”
