Trailblazing rapper Gangsta Boo, born Lola Chantrelle Mitchell, has died at age 43. The news was announced by a family representative on 1st January, and the cause of death has not yet been revealed.
“The Mitchell family would like to thank everyone for their condolences regarding the untimely death of Lola ‘Gangsta Boo’ Mitchell,” the family said in a statement, as per Pitchfork. “The family is asking for your continued prayers and privacy as we process the loss of our loved one.”
Gangsta Boo: ‘Where Dem Dollars At’
The pioneering rapper was born in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1979, and began her music career early, getting noticed by her then-classmate DJ Paul when she was around 14 years old after she rapped in a school talent show. She joined Three 6 Mafia at 15, after repeatedly being asked to feature on their tracks.
“I was being requested to be on more of the Three 6 Mafia songs and I kind of just got in the group like that,” she said in an interview with Passion of the Weiss a decade ago. “People kept requesting me.”
The group’s debut album Mystic Stylez came out when she was 15, and they went on to release a bunch of acclaimed records throughout the mid and late 1990s. In 1998, Gangsta Boo released her debut solo project, Enquiring Minds, which spawned arguably her biggest hit with ‘Where Dem Dollars At’.
Gangsta Boo was still very active in the industry in recent years, notching up collabs with Run the Jewels, Blood Orange, Latto, Clipping, Junglepussy, and Yelawolf. She was reportedly working on a project, titled The BooPrint, which would have been released this year.
“I have to admit, respectfully and humbly, that I am the blueprint. I hear my cadence in a lot of men and female rappers,” she told Billboard last month. “I used to run away from it. I used to didn’t want to even give myself flowers because I’ve been so low-key and humble, but I’m on some fuck that shit. It’s time to claim what’s mine. I’m one of the main bitches.”
A heap of artists have paid tribute to the rapper, including Missy Elliot, Juicy J, Questlove, Ty Dolla $ign, and more.
Further Reading
Juicy J Just Announced Three 6 Mafia Are Reuniting
Fred White, Earth, Wind and Fire Drummer, Has Died at 67
Theophilus London Was Last Seen in LA’s Skid Row in October, Says LAPD
