Boosie Badazz

Louisiana rapper Boosie Badazz, formerly known as Lil' Boosie, has taken his raw and uncut style from underground circles to mainstream success over the course of a long and winding career. After starting out as a teenager in the '90s as part of a collective called Concentration Camp, he was taken under the wing of Pimp C as a solo artist, and first charted in 2000 with Youngest of da Camp. From 2006 through 2017, he put together five consecutive charting projects distributed by major labels, starting with Bad Azz and continuing with titles such as the Top Ten Billboard 200 hits Superbad: The Return of Boosie Bad Azz and Touch Down 2 Cause Hell. During this period, he scored a handful of hit singles that included "Wipe Me Down," which went Top Ten R&B/hip-hop and Top 40 pop. Boosie has since earned his first gold RIAA certifications as a headliner for 2019's "Nasty, Nasty" (featuring Latto) and 2021's "Period" (joined by DaBaby), and has added to his large catalog with full-length projects such as 2022's Heartfelt, 2023's Lines for Valentines, and 2024's soul- and blues-themed Boosie Blues.

Originally known as Lil' Boosie, Boosie Badazz's tough Southern style comes from growing up in one of Baton Rouge's more notorious neighborhoods. Not having his father in his life was another challenge, but things began moving in a positive direction when Boosie immersed himself in basketball and eventually music. Still in his teens, he turned to rapping and eventually hooked up with C-Loc. An appearance on C-Loc's 2000 It's a Gamble became Boosie's debut. He soon released the full-length CD Youngest of da Camp on his own. His big breakthrough began when he joined Pimp C's Trill Entertainment camp. He was paired with fellow Trill artist Webbie for the 2003 release Ghetto Stories and again for 2004's Gangsta Musik, which featured the first appearance of Webbie's future hit "Give Me That." Trill then worked a deal with the Warner Bros.-associated Asylum, and both Webbie and Boosie were now on a major label.

Webbie released his album in 2005, and Boosie's release, titled Bad Azz, arrived the next year with features from Yung Joc, Pimp C, and Webbie. The Bad Azz DVD soon followed, featuring interview footage in which Boosie explained the drug-related death of his father and revealed his own battle with diabetes. Late in the year, the Streetz Is Mine mixtape appeared in cooperation with DJ Drama. His slick album Superbad: The Return of Boosie Bad Azz landed in 2009 along with the single "Better Believe It." The next year, Boosie followed up with Incarcerated, which was issued while he served time for drug possession.

After his 2014 release from prison, Boosie changed his name to Boosie Badazz and was featured on several tracks, including ones by Jeezy ("Beez Like") and T.I. ("Jet Fuel"). He also issued Life After Deathrow, a mixtape, as a free digital download. The proper album Touchdown 2 Cause Hell followed in 2015 on Atlantic. It featured the single "Like a Man" along with guest appearances from Chris Brown, Rich Homie Quan, T.I., and Rick Ross. In 2016 he dropped the crime-themed street release Thug Talk along with Penitentiary Chances, a collaborative album with the then-incarcerated C-Murder, who recorded his verses from behind bars. A slew of mixtapes arrived that same year, including In My Feelings (Goin' Thru It), Out My Feelings (In My Past), and Happy Thanksgiving and Merry Christmas. Studio full-length BooPac arrived in 2017, alongside the Hurricane Chris collaboration My Favorite Mixtape and its quick follow-up, 2018's My Favorite Mixtape 2. Boosie also tried his hand at being a romancing soul man on the silky Boosie Blues Cafe, which was followed by another seasonal tape, Savage Holidays, which featured appearances by YFN Lucci and Rich Homie Quan.

The prolific emcee continued in 2019 with multiple mixtapes. A streak of releases began in March of the year with Badazz 3.5, followed shortly afterward by Talk Dat Shit (highlighted by the gold-certified Latto collaboration "Nasty, Nasty"), Goat Talk, and the Zaytoven collaboration Bad Azz Zay. In February of 2020, another collaborative mixtape appeared, this time with Dallas rapper MO3. The project, appropriately titled Badazz MO3, quickly found its way into the Billboard charts, and was soon trailed by Goat Talk 2 and In House. Goat Talk 3, issued in 2021, produced another gold single for Boosie with "Period." The full-lengths Heartfelt and Lines and Valentines arrived over the course of 2022 and 2023. After the Jit the Beast collaboration In House 2: Boosie and the Beast, Boosie returned to themes of romance and heartache with Boosie Blues, released in April 2024. ~ David Jeffries, Rovi