Veteran West Coast rapper Lichelle Marie Laws, better known as ’90s pioneer Boss, has reportedly died at the age of 54. According to multiple peers via Instagram, including Bun B, DJ Premier, and Warren G, news of the vet rapper’s passing came on Monday (March 11).
Although Boss was the first female rapper signed to the short-lived Def Jam West division of the groundbreaking label, she was originally born in Detroit. She relocated to Los Angeles after graduating high school, recording early work with DJ Quik and AMG. That work caught the attention of Russell Simmons, who signed her to the then-new West Coast division of Def Jam.
Her first and only album on the label, Born Gangstaz, released on May 25, 1993, and debuted at No. 22 on the Billboard 200. It debuted at No. 3 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, and produced two singles: “Deeper” and “Recipe Of A Hoe.” Its ironic content made light of Boss’ middle-class upbringing with the unrelenting gangsta rap themes popular at the time in a commentary on the twisted expectations and stereotypes placed on rappers (and Black folks as a whole) in the early ’90s.
She eventually left Def Jam after the label rejected demos for a follow-up and became a radio DJ. She released two self-funded mixtapes in the 2000s. However, from 1999 on, she suffered from renal disease; in 2021, a GoFundMe created to raise $15,000 for a needed procedure was able to reach its goal only after it was publicized by NME.
Rappers, it’s time to start a union.