As we walk through the valley of the shadow of TV, we've taken a look at the airwaves and realize there's still a lot of room for new reality. Rap star Coolio has been blastin' and laughin' so long that even Oxygen thinks he's been gone too long. On October 28 at 10pm on Oxygen, Coolio steps away from the mic to introduce both rap and TV fans to his family by letting the country into his home in Coolio's Rules. At 45, Coolio's now the kinda G his family homiez want to be like, as his four teenage kids move in to crash with their rappin' daddy.

The day before Oxygen premiered the video for "Boyfriend", from his latest album "Steal Hear", we caught up with Coolio to find out how he's making the transition from music to reality, what it's like to raise teenage girls, how he's changed since his teenage years, and why Coolio's Rules.

THE DEADBOLT: Now, in the mix of everything you have going on, where does cooking fit into all of this?

COOLIO: Well, you know, cooking and music go hand in hand really just like acting. I mean, it’s a form of - preparation mixed with performance as well as some intellect being used. I mean, it’s just that, you know. You get prepared for something and you do it. Really, actually, cooking is therapy for me. [I] don’t do any hard drugs anymore and stuff, you find alternatives to things - You know, you replace things that you don’t want in your life with other things. And cooking is one of the things that I use to replace some of the other things in my life that I used to do, that I decided not to do anymore.

THE DEADBOLT: Since you’re a bachelor looking for love, I was always curious - Since you’re famous and you’re well-off, how do you know that the women are really interested in you and not just, you know?

COOLIO: Well, you know what, bro? You don’t know. So what you do is you test them. You could the [wallet] easily. You know, all you got to do is look for them to actually [take] the money and - You just find out. You find out pretty dang old quick, you know. I mean, I’m not that stupid guy that’s going to run out and get married in three weeks. You know, I’m not that guy that’s going around and getting married without a prenup ever again. You know, I’ve had my [days] and fill of that.

I think that you - like I said - you just got to test people. I’m going to tell you another good way to test somebody to find out if they’re real. Ask them for some money first. You say, "Hey, I’m having a rough time right now, you know. I was supposed to do this film and it didn’t come in. I got like six - I got my last tour canceled and everything. I’m running kind of short. Listen, I was wondering if you can loan me, you know, maybe $1000. I’m a little short on this mortgage this month. Try that out on somebody or ask someone - say, "Look, I need $5000," and they say what for. Well, you know, "I got some bills I got to pay and it’s really stressing me out." That’s the kind of stuff a woman will say to you - I mean, a woman that’s trying to [get] into that area with you that wants to basically mine you for gold.

THE DEADBOLT: How is it going with Artis?

COOLIO: No, you know, it’s actually getting better. Artis just turned 19. So it’s getting a little better. It’s getting a little better. [Blood] is coming around. You know, he actually went out and got a job. It didn’t really work out for him but I’m proud of him and - that he, you know, he went out and gave it the old college try.

He was trying to do sales and it just - You know, now is not a good time to sell anything. People don’t want to buy anything, especially over the phone. I know I’m not. The other thing is Artis [checked] in school as well. Artis [checked] in school about two weeks ago. So I haven’t been home for the last - Well, he [checked] in school about a month ago. But I haven’t been home for the last month so I don’t know how that is really going. You know, when I called home we discussed some other things but we didn’t really get around to school.

Other Conference Call Highlights:

Coolio on raising teenage girls:

"It could be a little unsettling at times. You know, there was - I walked out and seen my daughters kissing and everything now, you know. It’s kind of bothering me. And I want to go - excuse my French - but I want to go slap the sh*t out of somebody, but I can’t do that because I don’t want to go to jail or anything, you know. And I don’t want to slap my daughter. I want to go slap the guy and just pop them in the back of the head and be like vamoose - move - keep it moving. But, you know, that’s not the correct way to deal with it.

"So I've just been dealing with it like anybody else would deal with it. I just make sure I have the [car] - if somebody is going to be coming around and somebody I’m going to be seeing more than a few times, then, you know, if they’re thinking about having a boyfriend or a friend that comes over all the time, I’m going to have the talk. We’re going to have the walk and the talk."

On what he wants people to learn from Coolio’s Rules and what it’s been like with the cameras around all of the time:

"Well a couple of things - one, thing they’re... As far as with the cameras, when they actually start, in the beginning you’re very, very conscious. You’re very conscious of the cameras being there because you got the equipment there and you got the crew there. And, you know, you look at them - you’re seeing the people and you’re talking to them and everything.

"I think once we started shooting and we started just, you know, trying to live our everyday lives, I mean at some point for me - I can’t say exactly when - I phased the cameras out, which I’m pretty good at phasing things out, you know. Growing up where I grew up you had to learn how to phase people out and phase out the world pretty much. I mean I learned how to do that from reading books.

"I can read a book and you can be talking to me and I won’t hear you. It’s like you’re not there. So I think that’s what happened for me. I just started phasing things out. The other part of it for me was the fact that I also realized I was in television. And my whole thing was I want to have a television show that really reflects my real views or what my reality really is. So I just went with it and just said forget it. The cameras are there but I - You know, if I want this to be real and I want it to be different from everybody else’s shows, then I’m going to have to suck it up pretty much and just be myself."

Coolio on what he was like as a teenager:

"I was terrible and I didn’t try to drive my mom nuts. My mom was already nuts before I was born. So, you know, - I didn’t have to do a whole lot to her. My mother was pretty hard and harsh. But at the same time, she could be just as loving and caring as anybody else’s mom. I think the unfortunate thing about me growing up was the fact that my mom did drugs and she had a few drug problems or whatever.

"So, that affected our relationship quite a bit. But at the same time, my hat’s off to my mom because she - the things that she meant to really teach me, she got them across. And it took me awhile. I was a late bloomer, you know. It took me - as a teenager I was quiet but I was really sneaky. I was a terrible liar. Yeah, I was just kind of a bad dude. I was going through something.

"You know, I got bullied during my pre-teen years so by the time I got to be a teen I was a little bit - I think I probably should’ve got some therapy, you know. I was a little bit messed up in the head.

"So I’m not going to say I was violent, violent - but I was semi-violent. I was quick to anger and especially if I thought somebody was trying to take advantage of me or what we call [them is a punking] - like somebody trying to bully me or something like that because they thought they could and because I was smaller than them or whatever. If I even thought somebody was doing that I would get irate, but didn’t act - I would get what I called activated and I was a little bit prone to violence.

"I was ready to fight pretty dang old quick. I still got a little bit of a problem with that if I think somebody is really trying to take advantage of me and is just totally unfair what they’re doing. And they’re being - let’s say for lack of a better term - an asshole. Yeah, if gets there with me, I can be pretty dang old vicious. And luckily so far I haven’t gotten into any trouble behind it. But I just try to keep myself out of situations where somebody can have an advantage over me like that."

Coolio on getting a little romance on the show:

"Well, you know, it’s funny being a bachelor at 45, and right before the show started I actually had a girlfriend who I was actually in love with. But I am a man, you know. I do have my needs and wants and everything. So it wasn’t like I broke up with somebody and I said, 'Okay, well, I’m so heartbroken and I really want this girl back so I’m going to sit at home and be a hermit.'

"That didn’t happen by any means. But as far as romance goes, there was a little romancing here and there. There’s going to be some of that but [it's] not going to be the focal point of the show. It’s going to be one of the aspects. And you will see in that part of the show I keep the distance, really, by doing the rest of the [part of the] show. I just came at it from my point of view and looked at it my way, and used perspective to make decisions on those particular instances where there was romance and relationship involved."