The 35-year-old - real name Artis Ivey - was arrested in November 1997 for allegedly punching a saleswoman in a boutique in a Stuttgart suburb.

Police say he and six members of his group, the 40 Thieves, left the shop without paying for clothing worth 1,500Deutschmark (£545), and he is accused of hitting the woman in the stomach when she confronted the group.

Coolio was greeted by 200 applauding fans as he arrived at the court in the southern town of Boeblingen. Four members of his group are on trial alongside him.

As he arrived, he said: "I'm innocent. I've done nothing. I'm a nice guy. People treat me nice because I'm a nice guy."

In court, he denied punching the woman and said the incident was a misunderstanding.

He said he had signed autographs in the boutique the previous day, and in exchange a clothing company had promised him and his group free outfits.

"It was understood the clothes were in exchange for the autographs," his German lawyer Georg Prasser said, adding that the rap star offered to pay for the clothes but the saleswoman would not accept his credit card.

Coolio shot to worldwide fame in 1996 with his hit Gangsta's Paradise, taken from the film Dangerous Minds.

He faces four years in prison if convicted.