Detroit Rapper Boss, Def Jam Records' First Female Rapper, Dead at 54
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Detroit rapper Boss, the first female rapper that Def Jams Records ever signed, has died at the age of 54.
News of the rapper’s death was shared on Instagram MC Lyte, Bun B. and DJ Premier on Monday.
“RIP to one of the hardest that ever did it!,” MC Lyte wrote on Instagram. “#Boss will forever be missed. A mainstay. Also many bricks to this femme fatale house of hip hop.”
While no cause of death has been released, the rapper, who also went by the name Bo$$, had suffered a stroke in 2017 and has had health problems for years.
Indeed, in 2021, supporters launched a GoFundMe page to help raise the money for a liver transplant.
Born Lichelle Marie Laws in Detroit, Boss moved to L.A. in her late 20s and in 1991 she earned the attention of Def Jam by appearing on AMG’s DJ Quik-produced track “Mai Sista Izza Bitch,” according to Stereogum.
Several years later, she released her only solo album, Born Gangstaz. Her tune, “Deeper,” made it to the Hot 100 at #65. While the album itself reached #22 on the Billboards chart.
By 1995 she had moved to Dallas, Texas, and became a radio DJ, but by the year 2000 she began suffering a series of health issues, though she continued to appear on other albums by other artists.
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