Boss

Lichelle Marie Laws (September 12, 1969 – March 11, 2024), better known by her stage name Boss (stylized as Bo$$), was an American rapper from Detroit. Her debut album, Born Gangstaz, reached number three on Billboard's Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart in 1993. Laws became best known as a part of the burgeoning West Coast gangsta rap scene in the early ’90s. Laws relocated to Los Angeles after graduating high school, accompanied by her DJ Irene 'Dee' Moore. She was spotted by DJ Quik who stuck her on a track with AMG. Russell Simmons liked the track and promptly signed her to Def Jam West. and the singles, "Deeper" and "Recipe for a Hoe", hit number one on the Billboard Hot Rap Tracks chart. On the track "Progress Of Elimination", Bo$$'s line "Yes sir master, no sir master- I'll work faster" is an homage to the rapper who influenced her style, Detroit's Derek "Chef Word" Washington. It was a frequent Chef Word bar.

In 1994, Laws was interviewed by a reporter from The Wall Street Journal, who revealed that she grew up in a middle-class neighborhood (on the West Side, Detroit), studied ballet and piano, and attended Catholic private school (where she was a cheerleader), before majoring in business for two years at Oakland University. Laws had never attempted to disguise the truth of her upbringing; the intro of her 1993 album Born Gangstaz, "Intro: A Call from Mom", has her mother Lillie describe her as "a young lady who was brought up through Catholic school for 12 years; and dance schools, tap dance, jazz, piano lessons and all of that; plus, you went to college for three years..." "The album is, in fact, bracketed with a mockery of her rearing; phone messages from mama and papa particularizing a privileged suburban upbringing (Catholic-school, piano-playing, tap-dancing)" belying the record's "unyielding vulgarity and embroidered aggression" with a "brilliant... self-mocking disclaimer". Def Jef, who produced the album and suggested the inclusion of Laws's parents, observed, "I can't believe none of the reviews saw the irony of that. No one did!" Having left Detroit for south-side Los Angeles in 1990, Laws and Moore encountered its "squalid side... derelict hotels, feudal gangs, dealing and hustling". Prior to securing a record deal, they lived in poor circumstances, selling drugs, sleeping on benches, and living in low-rent hotels. Her parents were unaware of the lifestyle she was leading. In the wake of her first album, Laws and Moore stopped working together, Laws noting, "We couldn't work together anymore, but we were still cool"; Moore's Def Jam deal never came to anything. In 2004, Laws observed of her more recent work, "It's still hardcore... it's me. I've been through so much. I try to put a message in there, but it's not preachy shit." Def Jef claimed to have "shopped (Laws) to almost every major and indie label and met with resistance... People are always asking about how she looks, what her age is... it's never about the music. I'll work with Boss when she's 45 years old. She gave me a new perspective on women." In 2017, Laws suffered from "a major stroke and seizure", and on 31 January 2021 a GoFundMe was set up to raise $15,000 for a recommended medical procedure. By February 17, the NME reported it had reached $2,215; by March 3, it had surpassed the $15,000 goal, reaching $16,314. Laws died at a hospital of kidney failure in Southfield, Michigan on March 11, 2024, at the age of 54.

Discography Studio albums TitleReleasePeak chart positions US USR&B Born Gangstaz1993223

Mixtapes The Six Million Dollar Mixtape (2004) Doin Everythang with D.E.T. (2008)

Singles

Guest appearances Title Release Other artist(s) Album "Mai Sista Izza Bitch" 1991 AMG Bitch Betta Have My Money "Don't Ring the Alarm (The Heist)" 1993 Spice 1, G-Nut 187 He Wrote "No Peace" 1995 South Central Cartel, Ice-T, Powerlord Jel, Spice 1, Ant Banks, Treach, Dori Murder Squad Nationwide "A Thugga' Level" 2001 Krayzie Bone, LaReece Thug on da Line "Rollin' Up Some Mo'" Krayzie Bone, LaReece, Asu, K-Mont, Keef G "Detroit Stand Up RMX'" 2006 Esham, Big Proof, Chedda Boy Malik, Big Herk, Al Nuke, Poe Whosaine "Detroit Stand Up" single

Soundtrack appearances Title Release Episode Soundtrack "Diary of a Mad Bitch" 1992 Zebrahead "Run, Catch & Kill" 1994 Mi Vida Loca "I Don't Give a Fuck" 2013 "Lesbian Request Denied" Orange Is the New Black "I Don't Give a Fuck" 2022 "Under Pressure" The Man Who Fell to Earth

Videography Music videos Title Release Other artist(s) Album "Deeper" 1993 Born Gangstaz "Recipe of a Hoe" "No Peace" 1995 South Central Cartel, Ice-T, Powerlord Jel, Spice 1, Ant Banks, Treach, Dori Murder Squad Nationwide