Drake, Missy Elliott, Ty Dolla $ign & More Pay Tribute to Gangsta Boo
The hip-hop community is mourning the death of pioneering Southern female rapper and former Three 6 Mafia member Gangsta Boo, who has died at the age of 43.
Drake, Missy Elliott, Ty Dolla $ign and Freddie Gibbs are among the many musicians remembering Boo, who was found dead on Sunday (Jan. 1) at a home in Memphis, Tennessee, according to Fox 13 in Memphis, Commercial Appeal and other reports. The cause of her death had not been released at press time.
“Rest in heaven Gangsta Boo,” Drake captioned a throwback photo of the late pioneering rapper in his Instagram Story.
Elliott shared a similar sentiment, tweeting, “Rest Peacefully @GangstaBooQOM.”
Ty Dolla $ign also took to Twitter to remember the late artist. “Long live my home girl Gangsta Boo Queen of the M,” he wrote.
Gibbs, meanwhile, shared what appeared to be a recent photo of himself hanging out with Boo. “Damn we was just together,” the rapper tweeted. “RIP Queen.”
Shortly after the news of her passing, Three 6 Mafia’s DJ Paul and Juicy J posted tributes to their former bandmate on Instagram. DJ Paul shared an captionless photo of the late rapper, while Juicy J posted a snapshot of the pair accompanied by a broken heart emoji.
“Man we was jus together three weeks ago,” Lil Jon commented in DJ Paul’s post. “Rest well quenn.”
The Three 6 Mafia members’ tribute posts also garnered comments from Ludacris, Bun B, Outkast’s Big Boi, Ty Dolla $ign, Jay Rock, Krayzie Bone, Cypress Hill’s B-Real, and others.
On New Year’s Eve, Boo shared a video on Instagram about her accomplishments from the past year. “Some of the things that I did in 2022! So fun and productive, climbed out my shell alot!! 2023 go be 23’n! #JORDAN #BOOPRINT #recap Happy New 2023 everyone!” she captioned the clip.
Boo, whose real name was Lola Mitchell, was born in the Whitehaven section of Memphis on Aug. 7, 1979. She joined local hip-hop collective Three 6 Mafia — founded by DJ Paul, Juicy J and Lord Infamous — at the age of 15 in 1994. That same year, she recorded her first solo song with the group, “Cheefa Da Reefa.” The track would set the tone for the Memphis femcee, who later unveiled her most popular hit “Where Dem Dollas At?” from her 1998 debut album, Enquiring Minds.
She went gone through a number of transformations during her career, renaming herself Lady Boo in 2001 and releasing numerous solo albums. In 2013, she joined Da Mafia 6ix before the passing of band member Lord Infamous in December of that year. In 2014, she and Da Mafia 6ix’s other femcee La Chat, also recorded Witch together.
In recent months, Boo was featured on GloRilla and Latto’s collaboration “F— The Club Up,” a play off Three 6 Mafia’s “Tear Da Club Up.”
“This one hit different,” Latto tweeted after discovering her passing. “I’m just glad I got to feel your embrace & give u ur flowers before u left us BIG BOO 4L.”
See more musician reactions to Boo’s death below.
Mitchell Peters
Billboard
