"Gangsta Boo" is a song by American rappers

Ice Spice Isis Naija Gaston (born January1, 2000), known professionally as Ice Spice, is an American rapper and songwriter. Born and raised in the Bronx, New York City, she began her musical career during college in 2020, after meeting record producer ...

and

Lil Tjay Tione Jayden Merritt (International Phonetic Alphabet, IPA: ) (born April 30, 2001), known professionally as Lil Tjay ( ), is an American rapper and singer-songwriter. He rose to prominence with his 2017 single "Resume", and signed with Columbi ...

from the former's debut

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 ...

(EP), '' Like..?'' (2023).

Composition

"Gangsta Boo" is a drill song, based around a sample of " I Need a Girl (Part Two)" (2002), a song by P. Diddy and

Ginuwine Elgin Baylor Lumpkin (born October 15, 1970), better known by his stage name Ginuwine ( ), is an American R&B singer. He began his career as a member of the musical collective Swing Mob in the early 1990s. As a solo act, he signed with Epic R ...

featuring

Loon Loons (North American English) or divers (British English, British / Irish English) are a group of aquatic birds found in much of North America and northern Eurasia. All living species of loons are members of the genus ''Gavia'', family (biolog ...

Mario Winans Mario Mendell Winans ( Brown; born August 29, 1974) is an American R&B singer, songwriter, and record producer from South Carolina. An extended member of the Winans musical family, he is best known for his 2004 single " I Don't Wanna Know" (f ...

, and Tammy Ruggieri. Produced by frequent collaborator RiotUSA, "Gangsta Boo" features looped guitar licks alongside club beats produced by booming

hi-hat A hi-hat (hihat, high-hat, etc.) is a combination of two cymbals and a pedal, all mounted on a metal stand. It is a part of the standard drum kit used by drummers in many styles of music including rock music, rock, popular music, pop, jazz, an ...

and bass drums. It was conceived as a tribute to rapper

Gangsta Boo 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, which she joined at the age of 14; after releasing six albums, she left th ...

, who died shortly after it was made. When Ice Spice was recording the song, she thought of possible guest appearances, saying "I was just thinking who I would hear on it really", and decided on Lil Tjay due to their year-long friendship and shared upbringing of being from the Bronx. Lil Tjay recorded his verse at

Westlake Recording Studios Westlake Recording Studios is a music recording studio with two locations in Los Angeles and West Hollywood, California. History Westlake Recording Studios was founded in the early 1970s by the American audio engineer Tom Hidley under the name ...

in West Hollywood, California. In "Gangsta Boo", which showcases a love story from two perspectives, Ice Spice raps about her desire to be in a relationship with a "gangsta boo" boyfriend. She initiates a romantic interaction with the potential partner, "A baddie got' get what she like/So what's your sign, 'cause I like you?", and expresses her disdain for her romantic rivals: "Fuck your thots, I'm takin' they spot/ Bitches know that I am what they not". In spite of this, she has some reservations with her flirting, as she feels shy about inviting him to her house. In his verse, Lil Tjay reasserts his status as the "gangsta boo" in question, replying to Ice Spice "I don't think you should play with me/ 'Cause you gon' end up like the last opp" and claiming "I'm a thug off some drugs in my home/ And say, long before rap, I was playin' the back box". He raps about how he can take care of any woman who can be his girlfriend, then warns his enemies not to get in his bad side or else he and Ice Spice would get violent towards them.

Reception

"Gangsta Boo" was Ice Spice's first entry into the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, the national record chart for songs in the United States. It debuted at number 82, bolstered by 5.1 million

streams A stream is a continuous body of surface water flowing within the bed and banks of a channel. Depending on its location or certain characteristics, a stream may be referred to by a variety of local or regional names. Long, large stream ...

, 727,000 radio

airplay Airplay is how frequently a song is being played through broadcasting on radio stations. A song which is being played several times every day (spins) would have a significant amount of airplay. Music which became very popular on jukeboxes, in n ...

audience impressions, and 3,000 digital downloads. "Gangsta Boo" also appeared on

Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by '' Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 ...

, debuting at number 32. ''Stereogum'' and ''Uproxx'' praised the chemistry between Ice Spice and Lil Tjay in "Gangsta Boo". ''Stereogum'' in particular, who called the song the week's best new release, was positive that "the rappers

ere Ere or ERE may refer to: * ''Environmental and Resource Economics'', a peer-reviewed academic journal * ERE Informatique, one of the first French video game companies * Ere language, an Austronesian language * Ebi Ere (born 1981), American-Nigeria ...

actually engaging with each other" and appreciated the awkward tone of their characters' interactions in the song because it made them sound "smooth and effortless". ''The New York Times'' wrote that while the song "doesn't have the venomous attitude that made Ice Spice's breakout single ..pop, ..her effortless charisma sells the track just the same."

Music video

A music video for "Gangsta Boo" was scheduled to be filmed in early January 2023. However, Lil Tjay was arrested during the day of the filming, which prompted Ice Spice to shoot the video for "

In Ha Mood "In Ha Mood" ('in her mood') is a song by American rapper Ice Spice. Produced by RiotUSA, it was released on January 6, 2023 by 10K Projects and Capitol Records. It is the third single from her '' Like..?'' EP. Background and release On Decem ...

" instead.

Charts

References

{{Lil Tjay 2023 songs Ice Spice songs Lil Tjay songs Songs written by Ice Spice