# Gangsta Boo
**Gangsta Boo** (born Lola Chantrelle Mitchell; 1979 – January 1, 2023) was an American rapper from [Memphis, Tennessee](https://www.edgepedia.org/memphis-tennessee), best known as the sole female member of the hip-hop group [Three 6 Mafia](https://www.edgepedia.org/three-6-mafia) and as a pioneering figure for women in Southern hardcore rap.[1](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/gangsta-boo-mn0000159904) • [2](https://apnews.com/article/83490a2c44d7238b28dfc104b985568b) She rapped on the group's cult-classic 1995 debut *Mystic Stylez* and its platinum 2000 album *When the Smoke Clears: Sixty 6, Sixty 1*, then built a solo career beginning with *Enquiring Minds* (1998).[2](https://apnews.com/article/83490a2c44d7238b28dfc104b985568b)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born / died | Lola Chantrelle Mitchell, born 1979 in Memphis, Tennessee; died January 1, 2023 in Memphis at age 43; cause of death not released[1](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/gangsta-boo-mn0000159904) • [2](https://apnews.com/article/83490a2c44d7238b28dfc104b985568b) |
| Group career | Noticed by DJ Paul at age 14 at a local talent show; joined Three 6 Mafia by 15, appearing on *Mystic Stylez* (1995) through *Choices: The Album* (2001)[2](https://apnews.com/article/83490a2c44d7238b28dfc104b985568b) |
| Solo albums | *Enquiring Minds* (1998), No. 46 on the Billboard 200; *Both Worlds *69* (2001), No. 29; *Enquiring Minds II: The Soap Opera* (2003)[2](https://apnews.com/article/83490a2c44d7238b28dfc104b985568b) |
| Signature song | "Where Dem Dollas At," featuring Juicy J and DJ Paul, from *Enquiring Minds*[2](https://apnews.com/article/83490a2c44d7238b28dfc104b985568b) |
| Later work | 2014 EP *Witch* with La Chat; guest spots with OutKast, Eminem, Gucci Mane, Lil Jon, E-40, T.I., and Run the Jewels; "FTCU" with Latto and GloRilla (2022)[3](https://rapreviews.com/archive/2014_07_witch.html) • [2](https://apnews.com/article/83490a2c44d7238b28dfc104b985568b) • [4](https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts-entertainment/2023/01/04/gangsta-boo-appreciation/) |
| Unfinished album | *The BooPrint*, which she said weeks before her death was on the verge of release[2](https://apnews.com/article/83490a2c44d7238b28dfc104b985568b) |
| Legacy | Self-described "blueprint" for later female rappers including Nicki Minaj, Cardi B, Megan Thee Stallion, and GloRilla[4](https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts-entertainment/2023/01/04/gangsta-boo-appreciation/) |
## Three 6 Mafia
Mitchell grew up in Memphis and was rapping by age 14, when a performance at a local talent show caught the attention of [DJ Paul](https://www.edgepedia.org/dj-paul), a founding member of Three 6 Mafia.[1](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/gangsta-boo-mn0000159904) • [2](https://apnews.com/article/83490a2c44d7238b28dfc104b985568b) By 15 she had joined the collective, whose notable members included DJ Paul, Juicy J, Crunchy Black, and [Lord Infamous](https://www.edgepedia.org/lord-infamous).[2](https://apnews.com/article/83490a2c44d7238b28dfc104b985568b) She was the first and only female rapper to be a member of the group.[5](https://wearememphis.com/play/music/memphis-female-rappers/)
Three 6 Mafia played a dark, horrorcore-influenced style of Southern rap, and Mitchell gained notice with a rapid-fire, shoot-from-the-hip flow on the group's 1995 debut *Mystic Stylez*, which became a cult classic.[2](https://apnews.com/article/83490a2c44d7238b28dfc104b985568b) In the video for "Tear Da Club Up '97," the group's mainstream breakthrough, she was the only woman among the six members, delivering a confident verse that established her as a leading voice in the South's rap scene while she was still a teenager.[4](https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts-entertainment/2023/01/04/gangsta-boo-appreciation/) She appeared on six of the group's albums, including the platinum-certified *When the Smoke Clears: Sixty 6, Sixty 1* (2000).[4](https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts-entertainment/2023/01/04/gangsta-boo-appreciation/)
She left the group after *Choices: The Album* (2001) to focus on her solo career.[2](https://apnews.com/article/83490a2c44d7238b28dfc104b985568b) She departed well before Three 6 Mafia won the 2006 [Academy Award for Best Original Song](https://www.edgepedia.org/academy-award-for-best-original-song) for "It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp," but maintained an affiliation through the spinoff group Da Mafia 6ix, which she joined in 2013 without [Juicy J](https://www.edgepedia.org/juicy-j).[4](https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts-entertainment/2023/01/04/gangsta-boo-appreciation/) • [6](https://www.complex.com/music/a/complex/interview-gangsta-boo-three-6-mafia-lord-infamous)
## Solo career
Her debut solo album, *Enquiring Minds*, released in 1998, was led by "Where Dem Dollas At," a collaboration between Juicy J and DJ Paul, and reached No. 46 on the [Billboard](https://www.edgepedia.org/billboard-magazine) 200 albums chart.[2](https://apnews.com/article/83490a2c44d7238b28dfc104b985568b) • [4](https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts-entertainment/2023/01/04/gangsta-boo-appreciation/) Her second album, *Both Worlds *69* (2001), reached No. 29 on the Billboard 200, and her third, *Enquiring Minds II: The Soap Opera*, followed in 2003.[2](https://apnews.com/article/83490a2c44d7238b28dfc104b985568b)
Critics noted her range within the hardcore style. Reviewing *Both Worlds *69*, the *Atlanta Journal-Constitution* described her moving between a "sassy stripper confronting cheap patrons" on "Can I Get Paid?", a "convincing, heartless female player" on "They Don't Love Me," and a heartbroken subject on "Love Don't Live."[4](https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts-entertainment/2023/01/04/gangsta-boo-appreciation/) A VICE profile by writer Wilbert L. Cooper observed that even when her verses began suggestively they ended defiant, and that she helped forge a space for women in hardcore rap on records such as *Choices: The Album*, *When the Smoke Clears*, and *Enquiring Minds*.[7](https://www.vice.com/en/article/gangsta-boo-reviews-azealia-banks-mia-iggy-azalea-brooke-candy-and-more/)
Through the 2000s and 2010s she worked mainly as a featured guest and on mixtapes, appearing on tracks by OutKast, Eminem, Gucci Mane, Lil Jon, E-40, T.I., and [Run the Jewels](https://www.edgepedia.org/run-the-jewels).[1](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/gangsta-boo-mn0000159904) • [2](https://apnews.com/article/83490a2c44d7238b28dfc104b985568b) She was among the artists featured on OutKast's 2000 album *Stankonia*.[4](https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts-entertainment/2023/01/04/gangsta-boo-appreciation/) In 2014 she teamed with fellow Memphis rapper and Three 6 affiliate La Chat for the EP *Witch* on Select-O-Hits/Phixieous Entertainment.[3](https://rapreviews.com/archive/2014_07_witch.html)
## Influence and final year
Gangsta Boo framed her own legacy in blunt terms. "I have to admit, respectfully and humbly, that I am the blueprint," she told Billboard in an interview published in late 2022, adding that her sound was a Memphis sound and a Three 6 Mafia sound. "I am the blueprint and I wear that badge proudly."[4](https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts-entertainment/2023/01/04/gangsta-boo-appreciation/) In a 2012 interview she had said she wanted to be remembered as "Gangsta Boo from Three 6 Mafia. The first lady of crunk music."[4](https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts-entertainment/2023/01/04/gangsta-boo-appreciation/)
**Mentorship of younger artists.** In her later years she collaborated with and championed women emerging from the Southern scene, including GloRilla, whom she praised on the "Drink Champs" podcast in September 2022.[4](https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts-entertainment/2023/01/04/gangsta-boo-appreciation/) She appeared alongside GloRilla on Latto's "FTCU," released in early December 2022.[4](https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts-entertainment/2023/01/04/gangsta-boo-appreciation/) After her death, GloRilla shared messages Gangsta Boo had sent her early in her career, writing that Boo "always supported me & the girls way back before we blew up. A REAL LEGEND."[4](https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts-entertainment/2023/01/04/gangsta-boo-appreciation/) Writers tracing the lineage of current female rap hear echoes of her delivery and unabashedly sexual lyrics in artists from [Nicki Minaj](https://www.edgepedia.org/nicki-minaj) to [Cardi B](https://www.edgepedia.org/cardi-b) to [Megan Thee Stallion](https://www.edgepedia.org/megan-thee-stallion).[4](https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts-entertainment/2023/01/04/gangsta-boo-appreciation/)
She died on January 1, 2023, in her hometown of Memphis, at age 43; the cause of death was not released.[2](https://apnews.com/article/83490a2c44d7238b28dfc104b985568b) Her mother, Veronica Mitchell, issued a statement thanking fans for their condolences on behalf of the family.[2](https://apnews.com/article/83490a2c44d7238b28dfc104b985568b) At the time of her death she was working on her fourth studio album, *The BooPrint*, which she had said weeks earlier was on the verge of release, and had recently filmed an unreleased video, "Imma Mack," with producer Drumma Boy.[2](https://apnews.com/article/83490a2c44d7238b28dfc104b985568b)
## References
1. [Gangsta Boo — Biography, Discography, Albums & Expert Reviews, AllMusic](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/gangsta-boo-mn0000159904)
2. [Gangsta Boo, a former member of Three 6 Mafia, dies at 43, Associated Press](https://apnews.com/article/83490a2c44d7238b28dfc104b985568b)
3. [Gangsta Boo & La Chat :: Witch :: Select-O-Hits/Phixieous Entertainment, RapReviews](https://rapreviews.com/archive/2014_07_witch.html)
4. [Gangsta Boo's Southern hip-hop influenced a nation of female rappers, The Washington Post](https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts-entertainment/2023/01/04/gangsta-boo-appreciation/)
5. [Memphis Female Rappers | Top Female Artists in Memphis, We Are Memphis](https://wearememphis.com/play/music/memphis-female-rappers/)
6. [Interview: Gangsta Boo Talks About Her First Gun, Lord Infamous, & Jealousy Amongst Female Rappers, Complex](https://www.complex.com/music/a/complex/interview-gangsta-boo-three-6-mafia-lord-infamous)
7. [Gangsta Boo Reviews Azealia Banks, MIA, Iggy Azalea, Brooke Candy, and More, VICE](https://www.vice.com/en/article/gangsta-boo-reviews-azealia-banks-mia-iggy-azalea-brooke-candy-and-more/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Music › Music scenes › Transnational genre scenes › Hip hop scenes worldwide › Artists, groups, and people: Hip hop scenes worldwide › Southern US rap (Atlanta, Memphis, Houston, New Orleans, Florida) › Memphis and Tennessee rap*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 12, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license