Rapper Coolio is set to perform the “flight of the angel” at this year’s Carnival of Venice – breaking a tradition which has usually involved a beautiful woman swooping down onto Venice’s St Mark’s Square from the basilica’s bell tower. “It (the choice of Coolio) is a blow of diversity, because it will involve a black man with a turbulent past,” the Carnival’s artistic director Marco Balich was quoted as saying by the ANSA news agency on Wednesday.

Balich was apparently referring to past run-ins with the law experienced by Coolio who is best known for his hit record “Gangsta’s Paradise.” “We intentionally wanted to re-interpret the tradition in a jestful way in tune with the spirit of carnival” Balich said of the “flight of the angel” scheduled for Sunday, 27 January at noon.