Lola Mitchell, well known by her stage as Gangsta Boo, has died at the age of 43. A former member of the groundbreaking rap group Three 6 Mafia, she is widely recognised as a trailblazer for women in hip-hop around the world.
DJ Paul, a former labelmate, broke the news of her death. He shared an Instagram photo of her, and several other celebrities commented with condolences.
Rapper Gangsta Boo cause of death
As it is, the details surrounding her death are mysterious. Some reports have speculated that drug use played a role in the rapper’s untimely demise.
On Sunday night, she and her brother went to a performance in Memphis, where her brother later began to overdose and had to be rushed to the hospital.
He survived the overdose, but reports indicate that drugs were present at Gangsta Boo’s body and that a fentanyl-laced substance may have been the cause of her death.
A police inquiry has reportedly been initiated, and an autopsy will be required to determine the true cause of Gangsta Boo’s death.
Career
In the 1990s, Gangsta Boo began working with Paul, Juicy J, and the rest of the original members of the rap trio, which included Lord Infamous, Crunchy Black, Koopsta Knicca, and more. For years, Gangsta Boo was one of the only female rappers in T6M, but she more than held her own and forged her own path within the group.
In addition to the critically acclaimed solo albums she was churning out at the time, Gangsta appeared on all five of Three 6 Mafia’s studio albums (beginning with 1995’s “Mystic Stylez”), including Chapter 1, When the Smoke Clears, and the soundtrack album for the film Choices.
Following his departure from Three 6 in the early 2000s, Gangsta Boo went on to have a successful solo career, releasing a second studio album and a number of mixtapes during the rest of the 2000s and the 2010s. And that doesn’t even count all the features she’s done with rap heavyweights like Gucci Mane, Lil Jon, OutKast, E-40, T.I., The Game, and dozens more!
Billboard spoke with Boo in December, and she mentioned that she was working on a new album called The BooPrint, which she hoped to drop this year. She boldly discussed her legacy in the interview, noting that she “walked so a lot of people could run” in the male-dominated hip-hop scene.
In an interview with a magazine, she said, “I must modestly and politely accept that I am the model. Many male and female rappers share my cadence. … It’s a Memphis vibe that I’m going for.”
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