LATEST: Rapper COOLIO blames his arrest on Tuesday (10Jun08) on the "racist" doormen at Hollywood's One Sunset venue - insisting he wouldn't have been caught by police if he had been let into the club.
The Gangsta's Paradise hitmaker - real name Artis Leon Ivey, Jr. - was pulled over by cops in the early hours of Tuesday for a minor traffic violation, just moments after he had been denied entry to One Sunset.
However, when officers ran a background check on Coolio and his 1996 Hummer, they realised there was a warrant out for his arrest and he was taken into custody for driving on a suspended licence.
But the hip-hop star, 44, who was released from jail hours later, also claims the arrest was a big mix-up - because he'd only recently gotten his driving licence back.
And he is convinced he is innocent - claiming the warrant, which was issued in San Bernadino, California is a "mistake".
He tells website TMZ.com, "That's life (not being let into the club). I think it's 'cos I'm too dark. I know quite a few people that didn't get into One Sunset.
If I'd been let in, maybe I wouldn't have gone to jail. So I'm pissed off about that. But it is what it is. Black people gotta go through a lot of adversity, so I'm used to it. I'm from Compton."
"I had a warrant I didn't even know I had. I just got my licence back a few days ago, so how the hell I got a warrant from 2001? But this from San Bernadino; they make a few mistakes out there..."
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