Lola Chantrelle Mitchell (August 7, 1979 – January 1, 2023), better known as Gangsta Boo, was an American rapper. She rose to prominence as a member of

Three 6 Mafia Three 6 Mafia is an American hip-hop group from Memphis, Tennessee, formed in 1991. Emerging as a horror-themed underground hip-hop group, they went on to enjoy mainstream success. The group's 1995 debut album ''Mystic Stylez'' became an influen ...

, which she joined at the age of 14; after releasing six albums, she left the group and its record label after the release of her second solo album '' Both Worlds *69'' (2001) due to financial disputes and issues regarding promotion of the album. She subsequently released several solo albums and became known for collaborating with artists such as Foxy Brown, La Chat,

Eminem Marshall Bruce Mathers III (born October 17, 1972), known professionally as Eminem, is an American rapper, songwriter, and record producer. Regarded as one of the greatest and most influential rappers of all time, he is credited with popula ...

, GloRilla,

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Tinashe Tinashe Jorgensen Kachingwe ( ; born February 6, 1993), known mononymously as Tinashe, is an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and actress. Born in Lexington, Kentucky, Tinashe moved to Pasadena, California, as a child, where she pursued w ...

, and Yelawolf.

Early life

Lola Chantrelle Mitchell was born in the

Whitehaven Whitehaven is a town and civil parish in the Cumberland (unitary authority), Cumberland district of Cumbria, England. It is a port on the north-west coast, and lies outside the Lake District National parks of England and Wales, National Park. ...

area of

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in Shelby County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. Situated along the Mississippi River, it had a population of 633,104 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in Tenne ...

, on August 7, 1979. She was from a middle-class family, but said that they later "moved to the hood" after her parents divorced. She started rapping at around the age of 14.

Music career

Three 6 Mafia

After being discovered by DJ Paul, Gangsta Boo became a member of

, making her the sole female member of the group. She made her first appearance on DJ Paul's mixtape ''Volume 16: 4 Da Summer Of ’94'', released in 1994. She was on the group's 1995 debut album '' Mystic Stylez'' and on four more albums until she ultimately left the group in 2001 to prioritize her solo career. In 2013, she joined the Three 6 Mafia spin-off group Da Mafia 6ix, and was significantly featured on their debut mixtape '' 6ix Commandments''. She departed from the group in 2014.

Solo work

Gangsta Boo's first solo album, '' Enquiring Minds'', was released in 1998 and reached number 15 on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a music chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine that ranks R&B and hip-hop albums based on sales in the United States and is compiled by Luminate. The chart debuted as Hot R&B LPs in the issue dated January 30, ...

chart and number 46 on the ''Billboard'' 200. The album featured the surprise hit "Where Dem Dollas At!?". Her second album, '' Both Worlds *69'' (2001), reached number 8 on the R&B/Hip-Hop chart and number 29 on the ''Billboard'' 200. In 2003, she released her third album, '' Enquiring Minds II: The Soap Opera''. The album peaked at number 53 on the R&B/Hip-Hop chart and 24 on the

Independent Albums The Independent Albums chart (previously titled Top Independent Albums) ranks the highest-selling independent music albums and extended plays (EPs) in the United States, as compiled by Nielsen SoundScan and published weekly by '' Billboard'' mag ...

chart. In 2009, Gangsta Boo released her third mixtape ''The Rumors'' (following her previous mixtapes ''Street Ringers Vol. 1'' and ''Still Gangsta''). She also released two mixtapes with DJ Fletch, ''Miss.Com'' (No DJ Version on iTunes) and ''4 Da Hood''. On June 27, 2011, she released her mixtape with Trap-A-Holics, ''Forever Gangsta''. That same year, she collaborated with Yelawolf and

on the song "Throw It Up". On May 27, 2014, the

extended play An extended play (EP) is a Sound recording and reproduction, musical recording that contains more tracks than a Single (music), single but fewer than an album. Contemporary EPs generally contain up to eight tracks and have a playing time of 1 ...

''Witch'', a collaboration with La Chat, was released. On October 14, 2014, Gangsta Boo teamed up with BeatKing and released a collaborative mixtape, ''Underground Cassette Tape Music, Vol. 1''. In 2018, a successor mixtape titled ''Underground Cassette Tape Music, Vol. 2'', was released. Gangsta Boo was featured on the

track "Love Again (Akinyele Back)" from their 2014 album '' Run the Jewels 2'', and reappeared on the track "Walking in the Snow" from their 2020 album '' RTJ4''. In 2022, she was featured alongside GloRilla on the song "FTCU" by rapper

. At the time of her death, she had been working on an album that was planned to be titled ''The BooPrint''.

Death

On January 1, 2023, at the age of 43, Mitchell was found dead on the front porch of her mother's home in the

neighborhood of Memphis. Memphis Police Department stated that there was no evidence of foul play. Her autopsy revealed

cocaine Cocaine is a tropane alkaloid and central nervous system stimulant, derived primarily from the leaves of two South American coca plants, ''Erythroxylum coca'' and ''Erythroxylum novogranatense, E. novogranatense'', which are cultivated a ...

fentanyl Fentanyl is a highly potent synthetic piperidine opioid primarily used as an analgesic (pain medication). It is 30 to 50 times more Potency (pharmacology), potent than heroin and 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine. Its primary Medici ...

, and alcohol in her system; on June 15, her cause of death was listed as an accidental overdose of cocaine that had been cut with fentanyl.

Discography

Solo albums

* '' Enquiring Minds'' (1998) * '' Both Worlds *69'' (2001) * '' Enquiring Minds II: The Soap Opera'' (2003)

With Three Six Mafia

* '' Mystic Stylez'' (1995) * '' Chapter. 1 The End'' (1996) * '' Chapter 2: World Domination'' (1997) * '' When the Smoke Clears: Sixty 6, Sixty 1'' (2000) * '' Choices: The Album'' (2001)

Compilation albums

* '' Underground Vol. 1: 1991-1994'' (1999) * '' Underground Vol. 2: Club Memphis'' (1999) * '' Underground Vol. 3: Kings of Memphis'' (2000)

With Tear Da Club Up Thugs

* '' CrazyNDaLazDayz '' (1999)

With Da Mafia 6ix

* '' 6ix Commandments'' (2013)

With DJ Paul

* ''Volume 16: 4 Da Summer Of ’94'' (1994)

With DJ Paul & Lord Infamous

* '' Come with Me 2 Hell Part 2'' (1995)

With DJ Paul & Juicy J

* ''Volume 3: Spring Mix'' (1995)

With Prophet Posse

* '' Body Parts'' (1998)

With Hypnotize Camp Posse

* '' Hypnotize Camp Posse'' (2000)

With La Chat

* ''

Witch Witchcraft is the use of magic by a person called a witch. Traditionally, "witchcraft" means the use of magic to inflict supernatural harm or misfortune on others, and this remains the most common and widespread meaning. According to ''Enc ...

'' (2014)

Mixtapes

* ''Still Gangsta'' (with DJ Smallz) (2006) * ''Memphis Queen Is Back (Still Gangsta Slowed & Throwed)'' (2007) * ''The Rumors'' (with DJ Drama) (2009) * ''Miss.Com'' (with DJ Fletch) (2010) * ''4 Da Hood'' (with DJ Fletch) (2011) * ''Foreva Gangsta'' (with Trap-A-Holics) (2011) * ''It's Game Involved'' (2013) * ''Underground Cassette Tape Music'' (with Beatking) (2014) * ''Candy, Diamonds & Pill's'' (2015) * ''Underground Cassette Tape Music 2'' (with Beatking) (2018)

References

External links

*
Rolling Stone profile

* * ttps://gangstaboo.com Gangsta Boo Official Website {{DEFAULTSORT:Boo, Gangsta 1979 births 2023 deaths African-American women rappers Prophet Entertainment Rappers from Memphis, Tennessee Three 6 Mafia members Horrorcore artists 20th-century American rappers 21st-century American rappers 20th-century American women musicians 21st-century American women musicians Gangsta rappers 20th-century American women rappers 21st-century American women rappers Drug-related deaths in Tennessee Cocaine-related deaths in Tennessee Alcohol-related deaths in Tennessee