Bo$$

Bo$$
Birth name	Lichelle Marie Laws
Born	September 12, 1969, Detroit, Michigan, United States
Died	March 11, 2024, Southfield, Michigan, United States
Genre	Hip hop
Years active	1991-2024
Label	DJ West
Associated acts	AMG, Coco Budda, Def Jef, DJ Quik, Krayzie Bone, Onyx, Spice 1

Lichelle Laws (September 12, 1969 - March 11, 2024), better known by her stage name Bo$$, was an American rapper. Bo$$ was the name of a duo consisting of Laws and her DJ partner Irene "Dee" Moore, but Laws kept the name for herself when Moore attempted to embark on a solo career in 1993.

Laws was born in Detroit, but moved to Los Angeles after graduating high school. She was discovered by DJ Quik's associates and producers Tracy Kendrick and Courtney Branch, who secured her a management deal. Soon after, she was heard by Russell Simmons, who signed Laws to the West Coast-focused Def Jam sublabel DJ West.

Bo$$ released her only album, Born Gangstaz, in 1993 to commercial success, reaching #3 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart and spawning two singles that reached the #1 position on the Hot Rap Songs chart. The album became a great source of controversy, and Bo$$' gangsta credibility took a big hit when a 1994 The Wall Street Journal article revealed her middle-class upbringing.

Bo$$ moved to Houston in 1994 to be with her partner Ricardo "Coco Budda" Royal, with whom she had a child with the following year. In Texas, she recorded demos for a sophomore album, but they were rejected by Def Jam and she was eventually dropped by the label. In 1995, she became the host of a nightly hip hop show on K104, which she worked on for five years.

It was revealed in 2011 that Laws was need of a second kidney transplant due to her suffering from renal disease, a disease which renders kidneys useless for processing toxins in the body. A donor was never found. She passed away of kidney failure on March 11, 2024, at the age of 54.

Discography

• 1993: Born Gangstaz