Coolie Ranx

Coolie Ranx was born in London on 9 March 1965 and was raised in New York City. His mother is from Jamaica and his father is from Nigeria. He was discovered in 1990 when the lead singer and guitarist of the Toasters, Rob "Bucket" Hingley, heard Ranx's dancehall reggae EP. Joining the Toasters in the early 1990s, he toured and recorded two albums with the band, including Dub 56, which features two songs he wrote.

After leaving the Toasters, Ranx co-founded a band called Pilfers. In Pilfers, he shared vocal duties with Vinny Nobile. Pilfers played a combination of third wave ska music, punk rock, and reggae that they called "raggacore". After self-releasing their first album, the band signed to Mojo Records, who released the band's second album, Chawalaleng. He made frequent guest appearances on the albums of other third wave ska bands, such as Spring Heeled Jack, Metro Stylee and Mojo labelmates Reel Big Fish.

After a lineup change, which saw the replacement of the rhythm section, Pilfers disbanded in 2001. Ranx began a solo career, recording and playing shows around the world with Fear Nuttin' Band as his new backup band. In November 2005, he and the other four original members of Pilfers, reunited at the Knitting Factory in New York City for a sold-out performance.

Ranx provided the voice of Little Jacob in the 2008 video game Grand Theft Auto IV.