Lichelle Laws, Def Jam's first female rapper as Boss (Bo$$), died. She was 54.
Laws's older sister Jovita Cheryl Moffett called The Times to confirm his death. At Ascension Providence Hospital in Southfield, Mich., Laws died Monday.
The reason of death was unknown. According to her sister Karyl Laws Addison's 2021 GoFundMe, Laws had kidney failure and a "major stroke and seizure" in 2017.
Bun B's Instagram tribute to Laws' "Deeper" and "I Don't Give a F—" sold out. Bernard James Freeman (Bun B) called Laws "one of the best female MCs and a dear friend."
Rappers Jermaine Dupri, Ghostface Killah, and Jadakiss paid appreciation to Bun B's Instagram post.
Def Jam celebrated Boss on Instagram with a shot of him with a brown Carhart and huge sunglasses. According to Def Jam, Boss will "be remembered as a pioneer in hip hop." Records also sent their sympathies to her family.
Laws focused on gangster rap. Laws told The Times in 1993 that the genre "really gets your blood rushing."
She added: "Exciting, butt-kicking. Nice gangster rap makes me feel like I just jumped out of an aircraft."
Detroit native Laws started her career in Los Angeles, where gansgsta rap was more acceptable. Laws and her group found a woman who let them reside in her house for free after years of street life in Compton and Inglewood. She started writing songs.
Laws' demo reached Russell Simmons, Def Jam co-founder and music tycoon, despite competing interest. Simmons added Boss to Def Jam West in 1992. A year later, she released "Born Gangstaz." her single studio album.
famous tracks including "Deeper," "Born Gangsta" and "I Don't Give a F—." were on the expletive-filled album In two months, "Born Gangstaz" sold approximately 400,000 copies.
Music by Laws referenced violence, drugs, and sex. She prided herself on speaking "hard and tough," not "silly." Other female rappers' music was typically called "weak."
"They're acting," she told Times. "They're not committed. My raps contain my heart, soul, and everything else. That makes me as awful as these macho gangster rappers."
Laws claimed she had to convince male-run record firms that hard-core female rap was popular. "A lot of men... think women should be quiet and have babies," she stated, calling for more women in leadership.
Although a newcomer in the 1990s, Laws had high hopes for her music career and beyond: "One of my goals is to have my own company."
She said "There are so many hard-core female rappers out there that need a chance, and I’d be in a position to give it to them."
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