Rapper Gangsta Boo, once a member of hip hop group Three 6 Mafia, was found dead Sunday at a home in Memphis. She was 43.
A cause of death was not disclosed but TMZ cited unnamed sources as saying “a fentanyl-laced substance” may be to blame.
The rapper, whose real name was Lola Mitchell, joined the group that would become Three 6 Mafia in 1995 and appeared on their debut album Mystic Stylez and four that followed. She left the group in 2002.
Gangsta Boo recorded three album of her own between 1998 and 2003.
At one point, she stepped out of the spotlight and changed her name to Lady Boo. “The rap game really wasn’t doing it for me at the time so I decided to be around my family more,” she told Passion of the Weiss in 2012. “You know, why indulge in a business that’s not indulging me back?”
She spoke about becoming a music executive or opening a beauty supply store. “I don’t really want to waste my entire 30s in the music business, rapping.”
But, as Gangsta Boo, she made appearances on tracks by artists like Lil Jon, OutKast, Gucci Mane and Run the Jewels. Last month saw the release of “FTCU,” her collaboration with GloRilla and Latto, and Mitchell said her project The BooPrint was set to come out early this year.
Reactions and tributes are filling social media from artists like Drake (who wrote “Rest in heaven Gangsta Boo” in an Instagram Story), TyDolla$ign, Missy Elliott, Questlove and 2Chainz.
Biz Markie described Gangsta Boo as “the first lady of Southern rap, a pioneer w/ mesmerizing get money bounce, and a ubiquitous influence since she kicked Satanic verses at 15 on Mystic Stylez. Boo defined Memphis rap as much as anyone in Three 6, and never spit a bad verse.”
Asked last month by Billboard to describe her legacy, Mitchell said: “I would honestly say that I have to admit, respectfully and humbly, that I am the blueprint. I hear my cadence in a lot of men and female rappers … I am the blueprint and I wear that badge proudly as f**k. I used to run away from it. I used to didn’t want to even give myself flowers because I’ve been so low-key and humble, but … It’s time to claim what’s mine.”
In the 2012 Passion of the Weiss interview, Mitchell was asked what she wanted people to remember most about Gangsta Boo.
“I just want to be respected,” she replied. "When it’s all said and done, I want to be remembered as Gangsta Boo from 3-6 Mafia. The first lady of 3-6 Mafia. The first lady of crunk music. The first lady who brought a platinum plaque back to Memphis. The first lady who brought a gold plaque back to Memphis. I’m the only female rapper in Tennessee that has ever did that and probably I will be the only one that ever will.
“I just want to be known as someone that put her heart into her music and who really really appreciated her fans.”