Boss (born Lichelle Laws in Detroit, Michigan, in 1969) is an American
Midwest female gangsta rapper who enjoyed brief popularity in 1993
with her debut album Born Gangstaz. Her name is sometimes spelled
Bo$$.
Laws relocated to Los Angeles after graduating high school. Laws
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.[1]
Her debut album Born Gangstaz was released in 1993,[2] and the singles, "Deeper" and "Recipe
for a Hoe", hit number one on the Billboard Hot Rap Tracks chart.[3]
Laws' fledgling career took a major blow in 1994 when she interviewed
with a reporter from The Wall Street Journal. The reporter thought
he revealed that she grew up in an upper middle-class family and
attended private school.[4][5] Rumors later stated she was dropped
from the label for revealing she was from the middle class.[citation
needed] As it turned out, the reporter did not listen to the album
before interviewing the artist. Def Jam was well aware of her background
when she was signed, and she was never dropped from the label. In
the mid-1990s, she moved to Dallas, Texas, and went on to be a radio
DJ. In 2001, she collaborated with Krayzie Bone on his album Thug
On Da Line. In 2004, she released a mixtape titled The Six Million
Dollar Mixtape produced by Def Jef.[citation needed]
It was revealed in May 2011 that Laws is in need of a kidney due
to her suffering from renal disease, a disease which rendered her
kidneys useless for processing toxins in her body. Laws reached out
to the FaceBook community for a potential donor. A donor is yet to
be found.