Montell Jordan still hasn’t “processed” the shocking death of his longtime friend and collaborator Coolio.
The “This Is How We Do It” singer, 53, got emotional while talking to Page Six about the sudden passing of the “Gangsta’s Paradise” rapper on Thursday.
“That’s my friend … that’s my friend. His kids are my friends. His daughters, his sons, his ex-wife is a very, very close friend of ours,” he exclusively tells us.
Jordan says he last saw Coolio on Sept. 22 during an “I Love the 90’s” tour stop in Frederick, Md.
“I was with him last Thursday,” the “Get It on Tonite” singer says. “We do concerts together, so yeah, it’s heartbreaking.”
Jordan says he and Coolio saw each other in passing backstage while coming in and out of their respective dressing rooms, and just told each other, “‘Hey, what’s up? How you doing?'”
The R&B artist says he never expected that to be the last time he would speak to his friend.
“I’ve been with him for weeks and for months now and I did not know — and still don’t know — the circumstances behind his passing, but I did not see anything that would have given an indication that he was ill or that anything happened to him,” Jordan says.
Coolio was declared dead on Wednesday at age 59 after he was found lying on the bathroom floor of a pal’s home in Los Angeles.
EMTs reportedly tried to conduct CPR for 45 minutes, and it is suspected that he passed away of a cardiac arrest. An official cause of death has not yet been released.
Jordan, who was featured on Coolio’s song “Homeboy” off the rapper’s 1997 album “My Soul,” says their close bond transcended music.
“It goes beyond the song that we did together,” he tells Page Six. “We’ve run around in circles of each other in life for 20-something years, almost 30 years.”
He adds, “That’s my friend and I love him and I haven’t fully processed that.”
Jordan learned of Coolio’s death while watching Wednesday night’s episode of “The Masked Singer,” in which he got eliminated after competing as the “Panther.”
“I was being unmasked and we’re in the house celebrating, the text came right at that moment, so that’s kind of how I processed ‘Masked Singer’ along with my friend kind of all at that time,” the “Let’s Ride” singer says.
Jordan also shares that he is currently in Los Angeles on his way to be with Coolio’s family.
Meanwhile, other famous friends of the late “Fantastic Voyage” rapper took to social media to pay their respects.
Ice Cube tweeted, “I witness first hand this man’s grind to the top of the industry. Rest In Peace @Coolio.”
Actor Martin Lawrence also took to Twitter to send his “deepest condolences and prayers” to Coolio’s family and Questlove shared a photo of the rapper — whose real name is Artis Leon Ivey Jr. — on his Instagram, writing, “Peaceful Journey Brother.”
