Lola Chantrelle Mitchell, the Memphis rapper and former member of Three 6 Mafia who, as Gangsta Boo, helped outline the style within the South along with her assured flows and solid a path for different feminine artists, died on Sunday. She was 43.
She was discovered useless on Sunday afternoon in a neighborhood west of Memphis Worldwide Airport, the Memphis Police Division stated in a press release on Monday. “There have been no instant indicators of foul play,” the police stated, including that the investigation into her loss of life was ongoing.
With intelligent lyrics that had been at instances flirtatious and playful, forceful and proud, Gangsta Boo rapidly established herself within the Nineteen Nineties as a rising rap star who hailed from and flourished within the South. As a teen, she joined Three 6 Mafia, an underground rap group that might go on to change into one of the influential of its period.
In 1995, Gangsta Boo and the opposite members of the group, Juicy J and DJ Paul, launched their debut album, “Mystic Stylez,” a nightmarish addition to the booming rap scene on the time. The album, a part of the subgenre of rap generally known as horrorcore, captivated listeners with its darkish references to loss of life and murders, eerie beats and ominous vocals. Gangsta Boo referred to herself on the album as “the satan’s daughter,” capturing the supernatural tone of the venture.
Three years later, Gangsta Boo launched her first solo album, “Enquiring Minds.” It featured considered one of her best-known hits, through which she remodeled a teasing line into its title and a sticky and memorable hook: “The place Dem Dollas At!?”
Whereas the one hinted at a superficial sentiment, Gangsta Boo stated in an interview with HipHop DX in 2014 that it additionally touched on the pressures of motherhood and elevating a baby.
“How will you have a child by a dude that has nothing? I really feel the identical,” she stated. “I really feel like that much more now. That’s why I don’t have children. It’s received to be the appropriate one and the appropriate second.”
Lola Chantrelle Mitchell was born in Memphis, the place she was raised alongside three older brothers in an atmosphere that she as soon as described in an interview as “tough.”
“I received a hood in me as a result of I had plenty of hood associates,” she stated in an interview with All City Central in June of final yr. Particulars about her mom and father, and her beginning date, weren’t instantly obtainable. A listing of survivors was additionally not obtainable.
Gangsta Boo stated that, as a baby, she all the time felt snug round boys due to her brothers. Their neighborhood in Memphis was known as Whitehaven, however Gangsta Boo stated she and her siblings and associates nicknamed the neighborhood “Blackhaven,” as a result of the world’s residents had been predominantly Black.
At school, she met DJ Paul, whose actual title is Paul Duane Beauregard. Quickly, the 2 bonded over their love of music.
Impressed by her lyricism, DJ Paul requested if she wished to hitch his crew, Three 6 Mafia. She did. At 16, Gangsta Boo made her first vital leap within the music trade.
“It simply occurred like that in a single day,” she advised All City Central, including, “we took off form of quick.”
Gangsta Boo collaborated with Three 6 Mafia on a number of albums however left the group within the early 2000s to pursue a solo profession.
When requested why she left, she stated in an interview with MTV in 2001: “There’s no drawback. Typically folks develop aside, and mainly that’s what it’s. There’s no drama, no beef. It’s nonetheless the identical. I simply form of grew aside, and I’m not doing issues that they’re doing. I’m not cursing in my music no extra. We simply grew aside like a wedding.”
That very same yr, Gangsta Boo renamed herself Girl Boo as a result of she stated that she was not “residing the gangster life-style” and wished to align herself extra carefully with God. Her web site nonetheless referred to her as Gangsta Boo on the time of her loss of life.
The make-up of Three 6 Mafia developed through the years. In 2006, after Gangsta Boo’s departure, the group gained an Oscar for finest unique tune with “It’s Arduous Out Right here for a Pimp,” from the movie “Hustle & Circulation.”
Later in her profession, Gangsta Boo collaborated with quite a few rappers, particularly these with roots within the South.
She advised Billboard final yr that “so far as feminine hip-hop and rap, I believe it’s in an excellent area.”
“They are saying, ‘Gangsta Boo walked so lots of people can run,’” she added.
Lately, she mirrored on how she had been one of many first feminine rappers to construct off the gangster rap picture and sound that took off within the Nineteen Nineties, singing about smoking, payback and villainous intentions — themes sometimes reserved for males.
“Numerous guys in Memphis was like ‘Gangsta Pat,’ ‘Gangsta Black,’ — gangsta this, gangsta that,” she advised All City Central.
However towards the tip of her life, the moniker had taken on an enhanced that means.
“It’s extra, you already know, simply having fun with my life as a legendary gangster,” she stated.
Livia Albeck-Ripka contributed reporting.
Supply: NY Times
