Gangsta Boo, the slick-talking first female member of seminal hip-hop group Three 6 Mafia, passed away on New Year's Day. She was 43 years old.
Born Lola Chantrelle Mitchell in Memphis, Tennessee in the city's Whitehaven neighborhood, commonly referred to as "Blackhaven" due to its predominantly Black population, she emerged out of its burgeoning hip-hop scene when she was 14 years old. At 16, she joined the growing Three 6 Mafia alongside Crunchy Black to round out the group. Billed as Gangsta Boo, she arrived in time to contribute to the group's landmark debut, Mystic Stylez.
Boo eventually released her solo debut Enquiring Minds in 1998 when she was only 19, reaching number 15 on the Billboard Hip-Hop charts. One of the album's biggest hits was the raunchy "Suck A Little Dick," which flipped Tear Da Club Up Thugs' hit "Slob On My Nob" for the female perspective.
Boo became known for her ability to switch between raunchy sex raps and menacing threats of violence. Alongside Three 6 Mafia, the group popularized lo-fi production, horror movie samples, violent and crude depictions of murder (and sex), the triplet flow and more. Her iconic delivery ranged from an impassioned yell to a flirtatious purr.
As one of the most prolific rappers of the era, Boo released three solo albums, contributed to six Three 6 Mafia albums, multiple mixtapes, a collaborative album with La Chat entitled The Witch and was featured on countless songs alongside Gucci Mane, Lil Jon, E-40 and more. More recently, she has become known for her collaborations with Run the Jewels, Blood Orange, clipping. and Junglepussy. She was also prominently featured in Latto and GloRilla's "FTCU," which sampled Three 6 Mafia's "Tear Da Club Up."
Although Boo left Three 6 Mafia several times, she continued to collaborate with members and their affiliates, even embarking on a series of festival appearances and shows in 2022 with the group's remaining members and participating in the Verzuz battle against Bone Thugs-n-Harmony.
Below, look through the many tributes that celebrate Gangsta Boo's incredible life and legacy.
\u201cGangsta Boo really fucked me up with this\u2026.. that was my dawg \u2026. Errrbody go play got ya shakin loud as fuck right quick man\u2026 she smashed that shit. Damn homie\u201d— Spitta (@Spitta) 1672625308
\u201cRIP Gangsta Boo\u201d— Big Boi (@Big Boi) 1672634033
\u201cRest Peacefully @GangstaBooQOM \ud83d\udc94\ud83d\ude22\u201d— Missy Elliott (@Missy Elliott) 1672615686
Photo courtesy of Jesse Grant/Getty Images for Republic Records
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