Every cultural movement has its agitators. From polemic media personalities to artists whose output pushes the boundaries of taste, each era has a star or two whose sensibilities seem unaligned with their time.
Raised on the south side of Baton Rouge, Torrence Hatch, formerly known as Lil Boosie before rechristening himself Boosie Badazz in 2013, is one figure that most certainly fits the bill.
A true underground king in hip-hop who has made millions without so much as obtaining a gold album, Boosie’s uncompromising sound and engrossing hood storytelling has been gripping listeners since he first came out the gate in 2000 with Youngest Of Da Camp.
Once a protege of Pimp C, Boosie-along with Trill Entertainment co-conspirator— gradually amassed one of the biggest cult followings in hip-hop and to this day, he commands a lot of attention for an independent veteran.
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A pillar of the south, Boosie is all too aware that there are fans who see him as the man to convey their story.
“My music, it does more than make people jump or bob their heads,” Boosie told The Undefeated in 2017. “It touches people… My fans see me and they cry to me. I’m a friend to my fans, and that’s that different music. You can make music that makes you jump, but you’re gonna get tired of dancing. When you make music that sits with people and make people think, it’s different. I have a crazy following, and my fans love the sh*t out of me. You can’t tell them nothing about Boosie.”
As enviable a position as this is, Boosie’s indelible bond with his fans is counterbalanced by the outright derision that he’s acquired in mainstream discourse. Now at 39 years of age, the prolific MC has wilfully taken on a role as an outspoken commentator on issues of all variety. On most occasions, leaning heavily on his own, unorthodox form of conservatism. In doing so, Boosie is now almost unrivaled in his ability to generate headlines and thinkpieces by simply voicing his opinion to the world via IG live, Twitter, or, as a click-incentivizing fixture on the VladTV YouTube channel.
While pockets of the mainstream have likely learned of Boosie for the very first time in recent months due to some more high-profile outbursts, avid hip-hop heads know that the Louisianan has been ruffling feathers long before he ever angered the whole world.
From derogatory statements to legal precedents, here are some of the occasions in which Boosie’s mouth or music has sparked public outcry.
“187”
Long before it became commonplace for a rapper’s on-wax proclamations to be admissible as evidence, the news that some of Boosie’s bars from 2011’s “187” were to be used in his murder trial had hip-hop in an understandable uproar. Although this tactic had been deployed on lesser-known, local MC’s, an artist as high-profile as Boosie being faced with his own words in a court of law was unprecedented at the time.
While prosecutors are now emboldened to use huge swathes of work from the likes of Tay-K and YNW Melly when presenting their cases, the judge mandated that only the line “Any n***a who ever tried to play me, they dead now” and references to “murk” and “cake” could be used in his trial for the murder of Terry Boyd. With Boosie potentially facing the death penalty at the time, the jury eventually returned a unanimous not guilty verdict.
Beef with Kevin Gates
Although he counts himself as a mentor to NBA Youngboy and is largely on good terms with Lil Wayne, Boosie hasn’t always been on amicable terms with all of his fellow artists from Baton Rogue. Alongside an on-again, off-again friendship with Webbie, the architect of the GOAT Talk series has also had animosity with Kevin Gates. Despite their come-ups arising from two very different eras, it was their peers from the streets that placed the pair at odds. In the years since Gates’ associate Chris “Nussie” Jackson was killed in 2009, the pair had maintained an uneasy truce that overcame the speculation– and court testimonies– which claimed that Boosie had arranged the BWA affiliate’s murder.
But when the pair were both present at an unofficial Kentucky Derby afterparty in 2016, violence erupted between the the two Atlantic Records backed artists’ entourages.
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In 2018, Boosie invited Gates to perform at that year’s edition of Boosie Bash and while the beef has since been squashed, even Kevin Gates’ official statement of peace felt as though it could pop off again at any moment.
“That’s crazy, I never had a situation with him. I’m super polite in public, I don’t have any problem,” he told BET’s Raq Rants. “Now, if you just want that from me, I’mma slam right there. In front of my child, whatever, I’mma do a life sentence and he know that. I don’t want that for my life.”
R. Kelly Stan
Given that he’s a polarizing and controversial public figure in his own right, it should perhaps be no surprise that Boosie feels an affinity to other maligned musicians. Once the biggest star in R&B, Boosie’s opinion on the now-incarcerated R. Kelly– who outran allegations of pedophilia and child abuse for years before finally being sentenced to eight counts of sex trafficking– haven’t changed a bit. In fact, he sees R. Kelly as the biggest star in the history of music.
“Nobody got more hits than R. Kelly,” he told DJ Vlad in June 2020. “He can’t f*ck with no R. Kelly. Stevie Wonder can’t f*ck with no R. Kelly! Let’s keep it real man… I don’t give a damn what he did, who he f*cked. I know he f*cked up, but when it come to talent, we cannot take this away from R. Kelly.”
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Unwilling to rescind his membership to the Kelz fan club, Boosie defended him against claims of coercion or holding women against their will even after his sentencing.
“I just feel like R. Kelly like the young bitches. All that shit, seducing and kidnapping and all this shit… if you leave a bitch at the house and she don’t go nowhere for two weeks, that bitch ain’t been kidnapped, she is waiting on daddy coming home,” Boosie unapologetically declared. “He just fucked up on the age part… The rest of that s**t they exaggerating bro.”
Naturally, many people were repulsed by Boosie’s victim-blaming comments in the wake of everything that’d emerged from 2019’s Surviving R. Kelly documentary and the ensuing criminal trial.
Boosie Vs Dwayne Wade’s Daughter
In hip-hop circles, it was common knowledge that if you give Boosie a platform, there’s every chance that he’ll say something incendiary. However, prior to February 2020, this wasn’t quite as well-known among the masses. Until, during one of many lengthy online rants that’d eventually see him given a lifetime ban by Instagram, Boosie went on a hugely transphobic rant against Dwyayne Wade and Gabrielle Union’s then-12-year-old daughter, Zaya.
“Don’t cut his d*ck off, bruh,” he said. “Like, bruh, for real, if he gonna be gay, let him be gay. But don’t cut his d*ck off, bruh. Don’t dress him as a woman, dawg. He’s 12 years old. He’s not up there yet. He hasn’t made his final decisions yet. Don’t cut his f*cking d*ck off, Dwyane Wade.”
Dwayne Wade with Zaya and Gabrielle Union – Rich Fury/Getty Images
The catalyst for a massive backlash that even led his mother to advise him to lay low and got him banned from Planet Fitness, Boosie refused to back down and eventually found himself being confronted by none other than Mike Tyson
In an unexpected turn of events, Wade later expressed gratitude to Boosie for bringing the dialogue into the public eye.
“So, Boosie, all the people who got something to say about my kids, I thank you because you’re allowing the conversation to keep going forward”, Dwyane remarked in March of 2021. “Because you know what? You might not have the answer today, I don’t have all the answers, but we’re growing from all these conversations.”
Among Boosie’s most newsworthy moments, this certainly wouldn’t be the last time that he’d caused outrage on a global scale.
Boosie’s Parenting Skills
Although many of Boosie’s values could be considered outdated or old-fashioned, one area in which the Louisianian has some really out-there views is on how to turn boys into men.
In comments that led many fans and commentators to call for child protective services to get involved, Boosie revealed that he had made a tradition out of soliciting prostitutes for his kids and nephews once they turned “12 or 13.”
Boosie and his son – Bennett Raglin/Getty Images
“I’m training these boys right,” he brazenly told Instagram Live. “Yeah, that’s how it’s supposed to be. Hell yeah I got my fuckin’ son d*ck sucked. Yes, a grown woman, grown, super grown … checked his ass out. Checked all my nephews out, super grown. Is she grown? She check me out. I know what the fuck she did to them, she checked me out, that bitch. I’m getting them prepared, man.”
Viewed by many as Boosie facilitating the “statutory rape” and “molestation” of his own flesh and blood, these comments were a bridge too far for even some of Boosie’s most fervent supporters.
Bill Cosby Endorsements
On top of his advocacy for R. Kelly, another disgraced public figure that Boosie unrepentantly carried the flag for was Bill Cosby. From hoping to lead a petition to free him through to erroneously claiming that whatever he did was “consensual,” Badazz has maintained that the former comedian should be cleared of all charges. So, when it came time for Boosie to unveil his own film, My Struggle– which unfortunately has the same title as Hitler’s autobiography– the news that he’d received an endorsement from none other than Mr. Huxtable prompted audible groans from the world.
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“Lil Boosie, I have always appreciated your truth and support,” Cosby’s Instagram account proclaimed. “My publicist, Mr. Andrew Wyatt told me about your film, ‘My Struggle’ and I am encouraging all of my supporters and fans to make this American Citizen, Lil Boosie’s film, ‘My Struggle’ a box office success.”
Boosie Vs Lil Nas X
If there was any single incident that finally led to lines in the sand being drawn when it comes to Boosie, it’s his high-profile feud with Lil Nas X. After initially taking umbrage with Lil Nas X’s decision to come out in 2019, the promotional campaign for his Montero album, which saw Lil Nas X proclaim that he was “pregnant” with the record, pushed Boosie over the edge.
After baselessly claiming that Lil Nas X is trying to turn the next generation of men gay, Nas’ jibes about making a song with Boosie prompted the Baton Rogue MC to launch into a vitriolic and deeply homophobic tirade against him.
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“STOP TROLLING ME F—– LOL!!” he wrote in the since-removed tweet. “U A WHOLE B—- PLAYING WITH A GANGSTA SMH U CAN KEEP SUCKING D— N GETTIN F—ED N YOUR A– N PEACE N #uhateyourself I WOULD TOO IF I WAS YOU LOL NASx IF YOU #commitsuicide YOU WOULD DO THIS WORLD A HUGE FAVOR NOBODY WANTS U HERE.”
Once again, Boosie’s words were met with widespread condemnation, so much so that even other controversial figures such as Charlamagne Tha God and Azealia Banks went out of their way to lambast him for his hateful words.
Boosie has refused to retract any of his sentiments.
Boosie Vs Fraternities
The past two years have seen Boosie offending in a more secular capacity as well. Back in January 2020, the rapper enraged members of Kappa Alpha Psi by wearing their sweater to a Houston Rockets game. Within hours of him being pictured in the get-up, the comments were flooded with enraged fraternity members who went as far as to claim that he could be “sued.”
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At the time, Boosie issued an apology of sorts, but suggested that he needed “some apologies” too as they had “people in my DM’s talking like they built like me.” Initially, it seemed like Boosie had learned his lesson about messing with black fraternities, but we should’ve known better. Earlier this month, Boosie repeated the feat when he donned an Alpha Phi Alpha letterman, even going so far as to say that he reminded himself of the “Great Dr Martin Luther King.”
This time, members of the fraternity advocated for Boosie’s provocations to be ignored as they believed that all he was looking for was attention.
