WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.700 Welcome back to the Deep Dive. I have to be honest, 00:00:02.879 --> 00:00:04.820 looking at the stack of research on the desk 00:00:04.820 --> 00:00:09.539 today, I feel like we need a disclaimer. A disclaimer. 00:00:09.839 --> 00:00:12.019 Yeah. Usually we're looking at a specific topic, 00:00:12.119 --> 00:00:13.800 you know, a business case study, something we 00:00:13.800 --> 00:00:17.980 can neatly categorize. But today, today we are 00:00:17.980 --> 00:00:21.219 looking at a human life. And it's a life that 00:00:21.219 --> 00:00:26.609 reads like a suspense thriller script. that got 00:00:26.609 --> 00:00:28.829 rejected for being too unrealistic. That's a 00:00:28.829 --> 00:00:31.530 very fair assessment. It really is. If you wrote 00:00:31.530 --> 00:00:33.909 this down as fiction, I mean, the death penalty 00:00:33.909 --> 00:00:36.490 charges, the cancer survival, the massive chart 00:00:36.490 --> 00:00:39.810 -topping hits, the constant looping legal battles, 00:00:40.030 --> 00:00:42.329 any editor would tell you to tone it down. Exactly. 00:00:42.329 --> 00:00:44.210 They'd say it's just too much for one character 00:00:44.210 --> 00:00:46.409 arc. Way too much. And that's why we're aiming 00:00:46.409 --> 00:00:48.409 the spotlight today on Terrence Ivey Hatch Jr. 00:00:48.909 --> 00:00:51.130 Better known to the world, of course, as Boosie 00:00:51.130 --> 00:00:53.310 Badass. Or, depending on how old you are. Google 00:00:53.310 --> 00:00:55.850 Boosie! Right. But the mission for us today is 00:00:55.850 --> 00:00:58.109 to go way beyond the headlines, beyond the Instagram 00:00:58.109 --> 00:01:01.109 rants. Yeah, we really need to unpack a life 00:01:01.109 --> 00:01:03.990 that has been lived on a razor's edge. And I 00:01:03.990 --> 00:01:06.310 use that phrase very deliberately. We are not 00:01:06.310 --> 00:01:09.109 just looking at a musician today. We are looking 00:01:09.109 --> 00:01:13.030 at a survivor. A survivor of the legal system, 00:01:13.129 --> 00:01:15.269 a survivor of the American health care system, 00:01:15.329 --> 00:01:18.109 and frankly, a survivor of the poverty trap. 00:01:18.329 --> 00:01:21.189 He's a walking contradiction. A man who writes 00:01:21.189 --> 00:01:24.790 what he calls reality rap to make you cry. But 00:01:24.790 --> 00:01:27.170 he's best known for songs that make the entire 00:01:27.170 --> 00:01:29.989 club shake. It's a fascinating duality. It is. 00:01:30.049 --> 00:01:31.629 And we have to talk about the controversies. 00:01:31.629 --> 00:01:34.689 We just can't do a deep dive on Boosie without 00:01:34.689 --> 00:01:37.090 addressing the fact that he is. He's a lightning 00:01:37.090 --> 00:01:39.370 rod for criticism in the modern era. Oh, absolutely. 00:01:39.709 --> 00:01:42.489 He refuses to filter himself for better or for 00:01:42.489 --> 00:01:44.209 worse. But we're going to try to look at all 00:01:44.209 --> 00:01:47.109 of this, the good, the bad, the really ugly through 00:01:47.109 --> 00:01:49.489 the lens that he himself provides. He has this 00:01:49.489 --> 00:01:52.469 core concept that defines his work. Reality rap. 00:01:52.650 --> 00:01:55.629 Exactly. Reality rap. It's the foundational thesis 00:01:55.629 --> 00:01:59.269 of his life's work, really. He famously said 00:01:59.269 --> 00:02:02.099 it, and it's a great quote. Hip -hop music can 00:02:02.099 --> 00:02:04.239 make you dance and bob your head, but it can't 00:02:04.239 --> 00:02:06.299 make you cry or touch your heart like reality 00:02:06.299 --> 00:02:09.460 rap. That says it all. It does. And if you understand 00:02:09.460 --> 00:02:12.500 that he views his job not as entertainment but 00:02:12.500 --> 00:02:15.620 as documentation, then the rest of his wild, 00:02:15.759 --> 00:02:18.740 chaotic story starts to make a little more sense. 00:02:19.060 --> 00:02:21.259 So let's get into it. We've got the court transcripts, 00:02:21.259 --> 00:02:23.780 the full discography, the interviews. Let's start 00:02:23.780 --> 00:02:26.599 right at the beginning. Baton Rouge, Louisiana. 00:02:27.419 --> 00:02:31.300 The early 80s. November 14th, 1982. That's when 00:02:31.300 --> 00:02:34.039 Torrance Hatch is born. He grows up on West Garfield 00:02:34.039 --> 00:02:36.620 Street in Baton Rouge. Now, in a lot of hip hop 00:02:36.620 --> 00:02:38.639 biographies, you hear about the rough upbringing 00:02:38.639 --> 00:02:40.719 and that becomes sort of a cliche. It's almost 00:02:40.719 --> 00:02:42.819 a required part of the narrative. Right. But 00:02:42.819 --> 00:02:45.719 Boozy's situation was unique. It was truly unique 00:02:45.719 --> 00:02:49.240 because of the immediate duality. A split right 00:02:49.240 --> 00:02:51.300 inside his own household. It's almost like a 00:02:51.300 --> 00:02:54.219 sociological case study under one roof. On one 00:02:54.219 --> 00:02:56.379 side, you have his mother. Connie Hatch. Right. 00:02:56.500 --> 00:02:58.860 And she wasn't just, you know, around. She was 00:02:58.860 --> 00:03:01.780 a school principal. A principal. Wow. Her father 00:03:01.780 --> 00:03:05.539 was a pastor. So you have this incredibly strong 00:03:05.539 --> 00:03:08.919 lineage of education, of discipline, literacy, 00:03:09.280 --> 00:03:11.419 religious structure. That is a very specific 00:03:11.419 --> 00:03:14.319 type of Southern upbringing. Strict, respectable, 00:03:14.719 --> 00:03:17.659 very community focused. Very. But then, then 00:03:17.659 --> 00:03:20.479 you have the other side of the coin. His father. 00:03:21.000 --> 00:03:23.379 Torrance Hatch Surnier. The other extreme. The 00:03:23.379 --> 00:03:26.400 complete other extreme. His father was deep in 00:03:26.400 --> 00:03:28.219 the streets. The sources are clear. He passed 00:03:28.219 --> 00:03:32.120 away in 1997. And Boozy has been incredibly brutally 00:03:32.120 --> 00:03:34.919 open about the cause. He doesn't sugarcoat it. 00:03:34.979 --> 00:03:37.960 He released a documentary, a DVD, where he states 00:03:37.960 --> 00:03:40.300 it explicitly. His father died due to drugs. 00:03:40.400 --> 00:03:42.539 He watched addiction completely destroy the man 00:03:42.539 --> 00:03:44.759 who gave him his name. I mean, just imagine being 00:03:44.759 --> 00:03:47.460 a child trying to navigate that. You can't. You 00:03:47.460 --> 00:03:49.060 have the school principal mother telling you 00:03:49.060 --> 00:03:50.900 to study, to follow the rules, to stay in line. 00:03:51.120 --> 00:03:53.199 And then you have the father figure showing you 00:03:53.199 --> 00:03:56.300 in real time the absolute devastation of the 00:03:56.300 --> 00:03:58.599 street life. It's a heavy psychological burden 00:03:58.599 --> 00:04:00.639 for a kid. It has to create a split worldview. 00:04:00.879 --> 00:04:03.099 How could it not? He clearly respects the discipline, 00:04:03.240 --> 00:04:05.639 but he's also drawn to the chaos because, well, 00:04:05.659 --> 00:04:08.580 because that's where his father was. As if that 00:04:08.580 --> 00:04:10.939 wasn't complicated enough, nature throws this 00:04:10.939 --> 00:04:13.520 massive curveball at him while he is still just 00:04:13.520 --> 00:04:16.199 a child. A diagnosis that changes everything. 00:04:16.480 --> 00:04:19.040 Everything. Type 1 diabetes. Exactly. And we 00:04:19.040 --> 00:04:20.579 really need to pause on this for a second because 00:04:20.579 --> 00:04:22.519 I think a lot of people hear diabetes and they 00:04:22.519 --> 00:04:25.199 just think, oh, he has to watch his sugar. Right. 00:04:25.279 --> 00:04:28.459 They don't get the severity. No. Type 1 is an 00:04:28.459 --> 00:04:30.949 autoimmune condition. it means your pancreas 00:04:30.949 --> 00:04:33.670 just stops producing insulin it shuts down if 00:04:33.670 --> 00:04:36.290 you do not actively inject insulin you will die 00:04:36.290 --> 00:04:38.889 it's that simple it's a constant ticking clock 00:04:38.889 --> 00:04:42.490 it is so diagnosed as a child busi had to learn 00:04:42.490 --> 00:04:45.730 to manage this instantly it adds this layer of 00:04:45.730 --> 00:04:47.750 physical vulnerability that you almost never 00:04:47.750 --> 00:04:50.329 see in the gangsta rap archetype that's a great 00:04:50.329 --> 00:04:52.430 point most of these figures they present themselves 00:04:52.430 --> 00:04:56.769 as invincible right bulletproof but busi from 00:04:56.769 --> 00:05:00.129 childhood knew on a fundamental level that his 00:05:00.129 --> 00:05:02.449 own body could kill him if he wasn't careful. 00:05:02.689 --> 00:05:05.370 That has to shape your entire personality. You're 00:05:05.370 --> 00:05:08.970 living with this constant internal threat. So, 00:05:09.029 --> 00:05:10.970 OK, he's dealing with this major health issue, 00:05:11.050 --> 00:05:13.449 this intense family dynamic and the environment 00:05:13.449 --> 00:05:17.670 of late 90s Baton Rouge. How does he find music 00:05:17.670 --> 00:05:19.629 in the middle of all that? Through the camp. 00:05:19.930 --> 00:05:22.230 In the South, especially back then, the music 00:05:22.230 --> 00:05:24.230 scene wasn't just a bunch of guys with hobbies. 00:05:24.230 --> 00:05:26.569 It was organized almost like a trade guild or 00:05:26.569 --> 00:05:29.129 a union. Okay. His cousin, a guy named Young 00:05:29.129 --> 00:05:32.110 D, introduced him to a local legend, a man named 00:05:32.110 --> 00:05:34.490 Seelock. And Seelock runs a collective called 00:05:34.490 --> 00:05:37.110 the Concentration Camp. Yeah. Which honestly 00:05:37.110 --> 00:05:39.389 is a jarring name, but it's the name that stuck. 00:05:39.550 --> 00:05:42.009 It is. And it was a collective of the absolute 00:05:42.009 --> 00:05:44.990 best local talent. You had Young Bleed, Happy 00:05:44.990 --> 00:05:47.370 Perez, Max Minnelli. You should think of it like 00:05:47.370 --> 00:05:49.810 a sports team's farm system or maybe a dojo. 00:05:50.050 --> 00:05:51.990 You had to be good to even be there. You had 00:05:51.990 --> 00:05:55.470 to be. And Boosie joins in 1998. He's mentored 00:05:55.470 --> 00:05:58.769 by Young Bleed and Sealock. And here is the absolute 00:05:58.769 --> 00:06:01.759 key to his early development. He was the youngest 00:06:01.759 --> 00:06:04.160 member by far. Hence the name, Little Boosie. 00:06:04.279 --> 00:06:07.120 Exactly. He was literally the kid at the group. 00:06:07.220 --> 00:06:10.620 He's what, 15, 16 years old? 15 or 16 years old, 00:06:10.680 --> 00:06:13.019 hanging around grown men who are navigating the 00:06:13.019 --> 00:06:16.860 independent music business. In 2000, he makes 00:06:16.860 --> 00:06:19.540 his debut on C -Lock's album, It's a Gamble. 00:06:19.860 --> 00:06:22.579 But then, a vacuum opened up. What happened? 00:06:22.759 --> 00:06:24.800 Young Bleed, who was the undisputed star of the 00:06:24.800 --> 00:06:27.540 camp, he left. He moved on. And Boosie, this 00:06:27.540 --> 00:06:30.680 teenager, he steps right into that spot. He seizes 00:06:30.680 --> 00:06:33.759 the moment. At just 17 years old, he records 00:06:33.759 --> 00:06:37.199 and releases his debut album, Youngest of DeCamp. 00:06:37.439 --> 00:06:41.779 Wow. 17. And this contest is so crucial. He wasn't 00:06:41.779 --> 00:06:43.939 just an artist. He was an apprentice. He was 00:06:43.939 --> 00:06:45.879 learning independent distribution. He was learning 00:06:45.879 --> 00:06:48.319 how to press CDs, how to hustle albums out of 00:06:48.319 --> 00:06:50.660 a car trunk. He learned the business of survival 00:06:50.660 --> 00:06:53.160 before he was even legally an adult. And that 00:06:53.160 --> 00:06:54.980 independent hustle, that really defines that 00:06:54.980 --> 00:06:57.800 entire era of Southern rap. But to really blow 00:06:57.800 --> 00:07:00.019 up, to get out of Baton Rouge and onto the national 00:07:00.019 --> 00:07:03.199 stage, you needed a co -song. You needed a bridge. 00:07:03.259 --> 00:07:06.240 And in 2001, Boosie found the ultimate bridge. 00:07:06.439 --> 00:07:08.740 The Pimp C connection. Okay, so for any listeners 00:07:08.740 --> 00:07:10.500 who might not be deep into Southern hip -hop 00:07:10.500 --> 00:07:12.819 history, you have to explain the magnitude of 00:07:12.819 --> 00:07:16.009 Pimp C. Pimp C was. I mean, he was a giant. He 00:07:16.009 --> 00:07:19.490 was one half of UGK, the Underground Kings. He 00:07:19.490 --> 00:07:22.329 was the soul of Texas rap and by extension, a 00:07:22.329 --> 00:07:24.670 huge part of the soul of Southern rap. He was 00:07:24.670 --> 00:07:27.069 more than a rapper. Oh, much more. He was a tastemaker. 00:07:27.269 --> 00:07:29.250 If Pimp C said you were good, you were good. 00:07:29.310 --> 00:07:32.149 Period. End of discussion. He was the gatekeeper 00:07:32.149 --> 00:07:35.550 of what was Trill, which stood for true and real. 00:07:35.790 --> 00:07:38.350 So Pimp C takes Lil Boosie under his wing. He 00:07:38.350 --> 00:07:40.050 brings him into his company, Trill Entertainment, 00:07:40.290 --> 00:07:44.629 in 2001. And this. This is the launch pad. This 00:07:44.629 --> 00:07:46.230 is where things start to take off. They really 00:07:46.230 --> 00:07:49.490 do. Boosie releases For My Thugs in 2002. And 00:07:49.490 --> 00:07:51.509 this is where we see the formation of a dynamic 00:07:51.509 --> 00:07:54.389 duo that would absolutely run the mid -2000s, 00:07:54.389 --> 00:07:56.829 Boosie and Webby. The chemistry between those 00:07:56.829 --> 00:07:58.949 two. Yeah. It was just instantaneous. It was 00:07:58.949 --> 00:08:00.870 a perfect balance. You know, Webby had this kind 00:08:00.870 --> 00:08:04.509 of loose, bouncy, almost laid back flow. And 00:08:04.509 --> 00:08:07.329 then Boosie had this sharp, aggressive, really 00:08:07.329 --> 00:08:09.589 high pitched nasal delivery that just cut right 00:08:09.589 --> 00:08:11.850 through any beat. It was unmistakable. You always 00:08:11.850 --> 00:08:14.069 knew when it was him. They released Ditto Stories 00:08:14.069 --> 00:08:17.009 in 2003 and then Gangsta Music in 2004. They 00:08:17.009 --> 00:08:19.370 were just flooding the market with music. And 00:08:19.370 --> 00:08:21.329 the major labels, they had to start paying attention. 00:08:21.529 --> 00:08:23.610 They couldn't ignore the numbers anymore. Universal 00:08:23.610 --> 00:08:25.850 came knocking. There was a lot of interest. But 00:08:25.850 --> 00:08:28.490 Boosie eventually signed a major distribution 00:08:28.490 --> 00:08:32.490 deal with Warner Bros. Records in January 2005. 00:08:33.009 --> 00:08:35.570 And this is the beginning of the Trill era. If 00:08:35.570 --> 00:08:37.870 you were in high school or college around 2005, 00:08:38.169 --> 00:08:41.990 2006, 2007, you remember this. You couldn't escape 00:08:41.990 --> 00:08:45.370 it. The South had the radio in a chokehold. Absolutely. 00:08:45.549 --> 00:08:49.490 His major label debut, Badazz, drops in 2006. 00:08:49.809 --> 00:08:53.350 That had the single Zoom with Young Jock, which 00:08:53.350 --> 00:08:57.110 was huge. A massive hit. But the cultural phenomenon, 00:08:57.289 --> 00:08:59.889 the moment that really cemented him in the national 00:08:59.889 --> 00:09:02.909 consciousness, was the remix to White Me Down. 00:09:03.370 --> 00:09:05.990 Shoulders, chest, pants, shoes. I mean, it was 00:09:05.990 --> 00:09:07.750 literally an instruction manual for how to get 00:09:07.750 --> 00:09:10.049 ready and go to the club. It was completely inescapable. 00:09:10.070 --> 00:09:11.830 It was on the Survival of the Fittest compilation 00:09:11.830 --> 00:09:15.169 album in 2007. And at the exact same time, he's 00:09:15.169 --> 00:09:17.470 featured on Webby's massive hit, Independent. 00:09:17.870 --> 00:09:20.970 I -N -D -E -P -E -N -D -E -N -T. That spelling 00:09:20.970 --> 00:09:22.649 chant is probably still being yelled at bachelorette 00:09:22.649 --> 00:09:25.070 parties somewhere right now. I guarantee it is. 00:09:25.070 --> 00:09:26.769 It crossed over. It went from the streets to 00:09:26.769 --> 00:09:29.590 the suburbs. It went pop. And this is that paradox 00:09:29.590 --> 00:09:32.230 we keep coming back to with him. Boozy is writing 00:09:32.230 --> 00:09:35.169 these gut -wrenching songs about his struggle, 00:09:35.289 --> 00:09:38.730 about his diabetes, about police brutality. But 00:09:38.730 --> 00:09:42.679 he becomes famous for... These massive high energy 00:09:42.679 --> 00:09:46.039 party tracks. Such a strange split. And he was 00:09:46.039 --> 00:09:48.659 collaborating with everyone. He was on DJ Khaled's 00:09:48.659 --> 00:09:51.080 Out Here Grinding. He was jumping on everyone's 00:09:51.080 --> 00:09:53.399 remixes. He was dropping mixtapes constantly 00:09:53.399 --> 00:09:56.039 like Day Beginning and The Return of Mr. Wipe 00:09:56.039 --> 00:09:57.799 Me Down. He was working like he was running out 00:09:57.799 --> 00:10:01.620 of time. And as it turns out, in a way. He was 00:10:01.620 --> 00:10:05.120 because just as he hits this absolute peak major 00:10:05.120 --> 00:10:08.120 label deal, radio hits, the money is rolling 00:10:08.120 --> 00:10:11.419 in, the reality part of his reality rap comes 00:10:11.419 --> 00:10:13.820 crashing down on him. We enter the legal gauntlet. 00:10:13.899 --> 00:10:15.559 And this is where the story shifts dramatically. 00:10:15.679 --> 00:10:18.740 It goes from a music biography to a very dark, 00:10:18.820 --> 00:10:21.860 very complicated legal drama. Very fast. Very, 00:10:21.860 --> 00:10:23.519 very fast. Okay, so let's break down the timeline 00:10:23.519 --> 00:10:25.740 because it's really a domino effect. Yeah. It 00:10:25.740 --> 00:10:30.039 all starts in 2008. October 22, 2008. East Baton 00:10:30.039 --> 00:10:32.620 Rouge sheriff's deputies pull Boosie's car over. 00:10:32.720 --> 00:10:35.120 They search the vehicle. And they find? They 00:10:35.120 --> 00:10:38.120 find marijuana and a Glock pistol. Now, this 00:10:38.120 --> 00:10:40.919 is key. Boosie already has a criminal record. 00:10:41.100 --> 00:10:43.700 So this isn't a simple possession charge. This 00:10:43.700 --> 00:10:46.860 is a third offense possession of marijuana charge. 00:10:47.159 --> 00:10:49.080 Which in Louisiana is a felony. It is a serious 00:10:49.080 --> 00:10:52.200 felony. So he pleads guilty in September of 2009. 00:10:52.519 --> 00:10:55.860 And the expectation, the deal on the table was 00:10:55.860 --> 00:10:58.409 for a two -year sentence. Okay. Not great for 00:10:58.409 --> 00:11:01.809 a career at its peak, but manageable. That was 00:11:01.809 --> 00:11:04.610 the deal. But then Judge Chip Moore steps in. 00:11:04.649 --> 00:11:06.850 And things change. Drastically. See, Boosie was 00:11:06.850 --> 00:11:08.909 on house arrest with an electronic monitor while 00:11:08.909 --> 00:11:11.049 he was awaiting his sentencing, and he violated 00:11:11.049 --> 00:11:13.370 the terms of that house arrest. The judge looked 00:11:13.370 --> 00:11:15.269 at that violation, looked at his record, and 00:11:15.269 --> 00:11:17.590 basically said, no, two years is not enough. 00:11:17.710 --> 00:11:20.250 And he doubled it. He doubled the sentence. Four 00:11:20.250 --> 00:11:22.230 years in state prison. So, Jill, I'm trying to 00:11:22.230 --> 00:11:24.850 imagine that mindset for a second. You are at 00:11:24.850 --> 00:11:26.769 the absolute peak of your career. You're a star. 00:11:27.259 --> 00:11:29.360 And suddenly you are looking at four years in 00:11:29.360 --> 00:11:32.860 a cell. Your entire momentum is just halted. 00:11:32.919 --> 00:11:35.679 It's a career death sentence for most artists. 00:11:35.919 --> 00:11:38.379 But that that was just the appetizer. Right. 00:11:38.440 --> 00:11:41.279 It gets so much worse. While he is sitting in 00:11:41.279 --> 00:11:43.980 that cell serving that four year sentence, his 00:11:43.980 --> 00:11:48.519 entire world collapses. June 17th, 2010. Boozy 00:11:48.519 --> 00:11:51.419 is indicted for first -degree murder. This is 00:11:51.419 --> 00:11:53.820 the Terry Boyd case. The murder of a man named 00:11:53.820 --> 00:11:56.299 Terry Boyd. And we need to be very, very clear 00:11:56.299 --> 00:11:58.259 about the stakes here. This wasn't a manslaughter 00:11:58.259 --> 00:12:00.360 charge. This wasn't a lesser charge of assault. 00:12:00.580 --> 00:12:03.000 This was first -degree murder. The highest charge 00:12:03.000 --> 00:12:05.019 you can face. And the state alleged it was a 00:12:05.019 --> 00:12:07.759 murder for hire, that Boozy paid a teenager to 00:12:07.759 --> 00:12:10.820 kill Terry Boyd over a turf war. The district 00:12:10.820 --> 00:12:13.240 attorney, a man named Hiller Moore, he went for 00:12:13.240 --> 00:12:15.730 the throat. He cited the potential for the death 00:12:15.730 --> 00:12:17.629 penalty. He did. He announced he was seeking 00:12:17.629 --> 00:12:19.490 the death penalty. The death penalty. I want 00:12:19.490 --> 00:12:21.450 the listener to really process that. He's sitting 00:12:21.450 --> 00:12:24.570 in prison for weed and a gun violation, and suddenly 00:12:24.570 --> 00:12:27.210 the state of Louisiana is saying, we want to 00:12:27.210 --> 00:12:30.190 execute you. It is the ultimate nightmare scenario. 00:12:30.610 --> 00:12:33.110 Yeah. And the DA wasn't stopping there. They 00:12:33.110 --> 00:12:34.929 started telling the press that Boosie might have 00:12:34.929 --> 00:12:36.990 been involved in at least five other murders. 00:12:37.269 --> 00:12:38.950 So they weren't just trying to convict him of 00:12:38.950 --> 00:12:40.929 one crime. No, they were trying to paint him 00:12:40.929 --> 00:12:45.539 as the head of a criminal snake. A kingpin who 00:12:45.539 --> 00:12:49.080 is using his rap money to fund a bloody war in 00:12:49.080 --> 00:12:51.720 the streets of Baton Rouge. It's an incredible 00:12:51.720 --> 00:12:56.200 story. So the trial happens and the defense strategy 00:12:56.200 --> 00:12:58.759 that his team employed. I mean, when I was reading 00:12:58.759 --> 00:13:00.379 about this, I had to read it two or three times 00:13:00.379 --> 00:13:02.620 to make sure I understood it correctly. It seems 00:13:02.620 --> 00:13:05.399 insanely risky. It is the kind of strategy they 00:13:05.399 --> 00:13:08.700 teach you about in law school as a Hail Mary 00:13:08.700 --> 00:13:11.980 play, a high risk, high reward gambit. So what 00:13:11.980 --> 00:13:14.200 do they do? Boosie's defense team, led by Jason 00:13:14.200 --> 00:13:16.379 Williams and Michael Fowler, they looked at the 00:13:16.379 --> 00:13:18.899 prosecution's case. And what did the prosecution 00:13:18.899 --> 00:13:21.879 have? They had some of Boosie's rap lyrics, which 00:13:21.879 --> 00:13:24.000 they tried to use as confessions. A classic and 00:13:24.000 --> 00:13:26.679 very controversial tactic. Right. They had circumstantial 00:13:26.679 --> 00:13:29.120 evidence. And their star witness was a man named 00:13:29.120 --> 00:13:31.559 Michael Marlowe Mike Louding, who had already 00:13:31.559 --> 00:13:34.399 changed his story multiple times. He was not 00:13:34.399 --> 00:13:36.820 a credible witness. So the defense team saw this 00:13:36.820 --> 00:13:40.000 and did what? They did nothing. Or I should say. 00:13:40.330 --> 00:13:42.750 They strategically did nothing. They stood up. 00:13:42.750 --> 00:13:45.289 They acknowledged that Boosie had ongoing cases, 00:13:45.409 --> 00:13:48.409 that he wasn't an angel. But they emphasized 00:13:48.409 --> 00:13:52.190 one point over and over. He is not a murderer. 00:13:52.429 --> 00:13:56.830 And then? And then they rested their case. They 00:13:56.830 --> 00:13:59.710 didn't call a single witness? Not a single witness, 00:13:59.809 --> 00:14:03.809 not one. Okay, so explain the logic there. Why 00:14:03.809 --> 00:14:06.769 would you not call anyone to defend your client? 00:14:07.149 --> 00:14:09.370 when his actual life is on the line it's all 00:14:09.370 --> 00:14:11.870 about the burden of proof in the american legal 00:14:11.870 --> 00:14:14.929 system the burden is 100 on the prosecution to 00:14:14.929 --> 00:14:17.649 prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt right by 00:14:17.649 --> 00:14:19.610 resting immediately the defense was effectively 00:14:19.610 --> 00:14:22.289 standing up and saying to the jury they haven't 00:14:22.289 --> 00:14:24.149 proved anything their case is so weak we don't 00:14:24.149 --> 00:14:26.269 even need to dignify this with a response it 00:14:26.269 --> 00:14:28.450 sends a message of supreme confidence supreme 00:14:28.450 --> 00:14:32.289 confidence but if you're wrong if you misread 00:14:32.289 --> 00:14:35.620 that jury Your client gets a lethal injection. 00:14:35.980 --> 00:14:39.080 It's a massive, massive gamble. But the jury's 00:14:39.080 --> 00:14:41.080 reaction tells us everything we need to know 00:14:41.080 --> 00:14:42.899 about whether it worked. The jury deliberated 00:14:42.899 --> 00:14:45.419 for less than 10 minutes. 10 minutes? That's 00:14:45.419 --> 00:14:47.919 a coffee break. That's not even enough time for 00:14:47.919 --> 00:14:50.620 everyone to use the restroom. To decide a capital 00:14:50.620 --> 00:14:54.000 murder case, it is almost unheard of. They came 00:14:54.000 --> 00:14:57.019 back with a unanimous not guilty verdict. A full 00:14:57.019 --> 00:14:59.379 acquittal. It strongly implies that they saw 00:14:59.379 --> 00:15:01.759 the prosecution's case as completely hollow. 00:15:01.879 --> 00:15:04.259 They didn't buy a single second of it. So he 00:15:04.259 --> 00:15:06.919 beats the murder charge. He beats the death penalty. 00:15:07.539 --> 00:15:09.980 Relief in that moment must have just been overwhelming. 00:15:10.779 --> 00:15:13.500 But, and with Boozy there's always a but, he's 00:15:13.500 --> 00:15:16.860 not free. No. Not even close. He still had the 00:15:16.860 --> 00:15:19.159 original drug charges to serve out, and while 00:15:19.159 --> 00:15:21.360 he was in prison fighting the murder case, he 00:15:21.360 --> 00:15:23.940 caught another case. The drug ring allegations. 00:15:24.299 --> 00:15:26.740 Right. The state accused him of conspiring to 00:15:26.740 --> 00:15:29.120 introduce contraband into the prison, specifically 00:15:29.120 --> 00:15:32.779 codeine, cocaine, and marijuana. They said he 00:15:32.779 --> 00:15:34.820 was running a smuggling operation from his cell. 00:15:35.419 --> 00:15:38.500 Essentially, yes. But his lawyers used another 00:15:38.500 --> 00:15:40.899 fascinating defense here. They didn't just deny 00:15:40.899 --> 00:15:44.809 it. They argued entrapment. How did that work? 00:15:45.090 --> 00:15:47.509 They argued that an informant who was working 00:15:47.509 --> 00:15:50.350 for the authorities offered to provide codeine 00:15:50.350 --> 00:15:53.590 to Boozy in exchange for his help. Now, Boozy 00:15:53.590 --> 00:15:56.049 has never hidden the fact that he was, at that 00:15:56.049 --> 00:15:58.789 time, addicted to codeine lean syrup, whatever 00:15:58.789 --> 00:16:00.509 you want to call it. So the defense was? The 00:16:00.509 --> 00:16:03.250 defense was basically, he's not drug kingpin 00:16:03.250 --> 00:16:06.129 trying to make a profit. He is an addict. And 00:16:06.129 --> 00:16:08.409 you sent an informant to dangle his addiction 00:16:08.409 --> 00:16:10.879 right in front of his face to set him up. That 00:16:10.879 --> 00:16:13.460 is a very human defense. It completely strips 00:16:13.460 --> 00:16:16.370 away the boozy badass persona. It admits to a 00:16:16.370 --> 00:16:19.129 profound weakness. And it worked, at least enough 00:16:19.129 --> 00:16:21.509 to manage the damage. He eventually pled guilty 00:16:21.509 --> 00:16:24.070 to the drug charges in November 2011 and was 00:16:24.070 --> 00:16:26.809 sentenced to eight years. But with credit for 00:16:26.809 --> 00:16:28.990 time served and good behavior, everyone knew 00:16:28.990 --> 00:16:30.809 he was looking at a release date sometime in 00:16:30.809 --> 00:16:33.669 2014. So he's in there. He has literally faced 00:16:33.669 --> 00:16:36.370 death and won, but he's still locked up for years. 00:16:36.590 --> 00:16:38.990 And for most artists, four or five years out 00:16:38.990 --> 00:16:41.289 of the game is a career death sentence. Absolutely. 00:16:41.490 --> 00:16:44.350 Fans move on. The sound of hip hop changes. But 00:16:44.350 --> 00:16:47.389 Boosie. He didn't just sit there doing push -ups 00:16:47.389 --> 00:16:50.029 and waiting. No, he didn't. And this brings us 00:16:50.029 --> 00:16:52.190 to the prison productivity chapter of his life. 00:16:52.570 --> 00:16:54.990 This is what separates Boozy from so many other 00:16:54.990 --> 00:16:57.690 incarcerated artists. He treated prison like 00:16:57.690 --> 00:17:02.629 a monastery or an incubator. In January 2014, 00:17:02.990 --> 00:17:05.349 just before he was released, he did an interview 00:17:05.349 --> 00:17:07.289 from prison and he dropped a bombshell number. 00:17:07.710 --> 00:17:10.589 He said, I have about 500 songs at the moment. 00:17:11.259 --> 00:17:13.920 500 songs. Yeah. Even if half of those are just 00:17:13.920 --> 00:17:17.500 hooks or loose verses, the sheer volume is staggering. 00:17:17.740 --> 00:17:19.819 And he said, and this is another key quote, the 00:17:19.819 --> 00:17:21.859 more I go through in life, the better my music 00:17:21.859 --> 00:17:24.559 gets. He was channeling all of it, the frustration, 00:17:24.740 --> 00:17:26.880 the fear of the death penalty, the isolation, 00:17:27.079 --> 00:17:29.519 directly into writing. He didn't have a studio, 00:17:29.599 --> 00:17:31.680 so he was just filling out books. And it wasn't 00:17:31.680 --> 00:17:34.099 just rap lyrics he was writing either. No. In 00:17:34.099 --> 00:17:36.299 2013, it was announced that he had earned his 00:17:36.299 --> 00:17:39.519 GED certificate while incarcerated. So he was 00:17:39.519 --> 00:17:41.240 educating himself? He was educating himself. 00:17:41.500 --> 00:17:43.519 He was preparing for the second act of his life. 00:17:43.819 --> 00:17:45.900 He knew that when he got out, he couldn't just 00:17:45.900 --> 00:17:47.980 be the same guy who went in. He had to be smarter, 00:17:48.160 --> 00:17:51.240 more prepared. And when he finally walks out, 00:17:51.279 --> 00:17:54.220 that was March 5th, 2014, he signals that change 00:17:54.220 --> 00:17:56.279 immediately. The very first thing he does is 00:17:56.279 --> 00:17:58.259 change his name. The shift from Little Boozy 00:17:58.259 --> 00:18:01.130 to Boozy Badass. It seems like a small thing 00:18:01.130 --> 00:18:03.329 on the surface, but names mean everything in 00:18:03.329 --> 00:18:05.690 hip hop. They're brands. They are. And I have 00:18:05.690 --> 00:18:07.650 a quote here from an interview he did with Noisy 00:18:07.650 --> 00:18:10.470 in 2015 that explains it perfectly. He said, 00:18:10.470 --> 00:18:13.769 quote, I got tired of just people, grown men, 00:18:14.009 --> 00:18:16.930 like, what up, Lil Boosie? No, I'm grown. Should 00:18:16.930 --> 00:18:19.750 be Mr. Filion. You know, I'm Boosie Badass. I'm 00:18:19.750 --> 00:18:22.069 a dad, man. It's a rite of passage. It really 00:18:22.069 --> 00:18:24.910 is. He went into prison as a young man with a 00:18:24.910 --> 00:18:27.670 little prefix attached to his name. He came out 00:18:27.670 --> 00:18:29.809 having beaten a capital murder charge, having 00:18:29.809 --> 00:18:32.869 educated himself, having survived the penitentiary. 00:18:32.950 --> 00:18:35.049 You can't call a man who has been through all 00:18:35.049 --> 00:18:37.289 that Lil anymore. He demanded the respect of 00:18:37.289 --> 00:18:40.509 a grown man. And he'd earned it. So, 2014. The 00:18:40.509 --> 00:18:43.589 Return. He holds this press conference that felt 00:18:43.589 --> 00:18:46.309 more like a political event than a rapper's release 00:18:46.309 --> 00:18:48.950 party. The whole industry was watching. He signs 00:18:48.950 --> 00:18:51.730 a new deal with Atlantic Records. He immediately 00:18:51.730 --> 00:18:54.809 drops Show Day World with Webby getting the band 00:18:54.809 --> 00:18:57.289 back together. He releases the comeback album, 00:18:57.490 --> 00:19:00.509 Touchdown 2 Cause Hell. The momentum is back. 00:19:00.710 --> 00:19:02.809 Everything is looking up. And then just when 00:19:02.809 --> 00:19:04.890 things are stable, life reminds him once again 00:19:04.890 --> 00:19:08.150 that he is mortal. The health battles return. 00:19:08.430 --> 00:19:11.730 November 2015. He's been out of prison for about 00:19:11.730 --> 00:19:14.529 18 months. He's touring. He's making money. Life 00:19:14.529 --> 00:19:18.049 is good. And then he posts a photo on his Instagram 00:19:18.049 --> 00:19:20.750 with a caption explaining that he's been diagnosed 00:19:20.750 --> 00:19:23.730 with kidney cancer. At 33 years old. It's just 00:19:23.730 --> 00:19:25.930 devastating. You survived the state's lethal 00:19:25.930 --> 00:19:28.390 injection table only to find out that your own 00:19:28.390 --> 00:19:30.390 cells are trying to kill you. But in typical 00:19:30.390 --> 00:19:32.170 Boosie fashion, he attacked it aggressively. 00:19:32.630 --> 00:19:35.470 Immediately. He underwent surgery to remove the 00:19:35.470 --> 00:19:37.410 cancerous part of his kidney. And thankfully, 00:19:37.549 --> 00:19:39.799 the surgery was successful. But it was... This 00:19:39.799 --> 00:19:42.079 stark, terrifying reminder of his underlying 00:19:42.079 --> 00:19:44.380 health issues. And that links right back to the 00:19:44.380 --> 00:19:46.839 diabetes. There was another moment, this was 00:19:46.839 --> 00:19:49.420 in 2020, that I found incredibly striking. It 00:19:49.420 --> 00:19:51.700 wasn't a song. It wasn't a controversy. It was 00:19:51.700 --> 00:19:55.970 a plea for help. I remember this. April 2020, 00:19:56.230 --> 00:19:58.509 he's in Jacksonville, Florida for a show or something. 00:19:58.690 --> 00:20:01.630 He goes on Instagram Live, but he isn't stunting. 00:20:01.650 --> 00:20:03.849 He isn't showing off jewelry. He's not bragging. 00:20:03.950 --> 00:20:06.230 No, he's panicking. He is panicking. He had run 00:20:06.230 --> 00:20:09.029 out of his specific type of insulin. It's called 00:20:09.029 --> 00:20:12.109 Lantus. And for whatever reason, he couldn't 00:20:12.109 --> 00:20:14.230 get a prescription filled in time. So he was 00:20:14.230 --> 00:20:17.470 on social media publicly asking his fans in the 00:20:17.470 --> 00:20:20.170 Jacksonville area to bring him insulin. Does 00:20:20.170 --> 00:20:22.980 anyone in Jacksonville have any Lantus? Imagine 00:20:22.980 --> 00:20:26.720 that. A millionaire, a famous celebrity, relying 00:20:26.720 --> 00:20:29.079 on the kindness of strangers on social media 00:20:29.079 --> 00:20:32.039 to get the medicine he needs to stay alive. It 00:20:32.039 --> 00:20:34.299 just shatters the entire illusion of celebrity. 00:20:34.440 --> 00:20:36.920 It brings us right back to his core idea of reality 00:20:36.920 --> 00:20:39.660 rap. He showed his fear. He showed his vulnerability. 00:20:40.019 --> 00:20:42.200 And I honestly think that is why his fan base 00:20:42.200 --> 00:20:45.839 is so fiercely, unbelievably loyal. Because he 00:20:45.839 --> 00:20:47.920 lets them see the cracks in the armor. Exactly. 00:20:47.920 --> 00:20:49.579 They know that when he says he's struggling, 00:20:49.700 --> 00:20:52.440 he's not using a metaphor. He is literally physically 00:20:52.440 --> 00:20:55.619 struggling to survive another day. However, that 00:20:55.619 --> 00:20:59.500 no filter, show everything approach is a massive 00:20:59.500 --> 00:21:02.099 double edged sword. A huge one. Because being 00:21:02.099 --> 00:21:05.279 real means you share your pain. But for Boosie, 00:21:05.380 --> 00:21:08.420 it also means you share your opinions. And in 00:21:08.420 --> 00:21:10.940 the last five or six years, his opinions have 00:21:10.940 --> 00:21:13.019 generated just as many headlines as his music. 00:21:13.200 --> 00:21:15.140 We have to talk about the controversies. And 00:21:15.140 --> 00:21:16.559 I think it's important to frame this carefully. 00:21:17.109 --> 00:21:20.390 Our job here is to report what happened and analyze 00:21:20.390 --> 00:21:23.549 the fallout. We aren't here to endorse or condemn 00:21:23.549 --> 00:21:25.849 his views, but we have to look at the friction 00:21:25.849 --> 00:21:29.150 between Boozy's worldview and the modern world. 00:21:29.329 --> 00:21:31.450 Because that friction is now a huge part of his 00:21:31.450 --> 00:21:33.730 public identity. It really is. It seems like 00:21:33.730 --> 00:21:35.630 every few months he's trending on social media 00:21:35.630 --> 00:21:37.430 for saying something that makes half the internet 00:21:37.430 --> 00:21:40.650 absolutely furious. So where do we start? Let's 00:21:40.650 --> 00:21:42.690 start with his comments on parenting and social 00:21:42.690 --> 00:21:45.289 norms. Okay. There were a couple of incidents, 00:21:45.509 --> 00:21:48.329 one in 2017 and another in 2020, that involved 00:21:48.329 --> 00:21:51.529 his own family. Boozy faced massive widespread 00:21:51.529 --> 00:21:54.109 backlash for comments he made about hiring a 00:21:54.109 --> 00:21:57.089 prostitute to perform sexual acts on his underage 00:21:57.089 --> 00:21:59.430 son and nephew. And these were children? These 00:21:59.430 --> 00:22:01.170 were children. According to his own statements, 00:22:01.329 --> 00:22:03.829 they were between the ages of 12 and 14. And 00:22:03.829 --> 00:22:06.349 he admitted to this? He boasted about it. In 00:22:06.349 --> 00:22:09.210 a 2017 social media post, he treated it as a 00:22:09.210 --> 00:22:12.059 rite of passage for them. Later, when he got 00:22:12.059 --> 00:22:14.440 a lot of heat for it, he claimed he was joking 00:22:14.440 --> 00:22:17.500 about that specific instance. But then in 2020... 00:22:17.799 --> 00:22:20.119 He basically doubled down on the philosophy behind 00:22:20.119 --> 00:22:22.559 it. But what was his justification? He argued 00:22:22.559 --> 00:22:24.779 that exposing his sons to that kind of sexual 00:22:24.779 --> 00:22:27.920 activity was, in his view, preferable to them 00:22:27.920 --> 00:22:30.420 seeing cartoons that depicted same -sex relationships. 00:22:30.799 --> 00:22:33.819 That is a very specific and to many, many people, 00:22:33.920 --> 00:22:37.000 a shocking moral calculus. It is. And that leads 00:22:37.000 --> 00:22:39.660 us directly into his recurring and very public 00:22:39.660 --> 00:22:42.559 conflict with the LGBTQ plus community. This 00:22:42.559 --> 00:22:44.519 has become a major part of his current public 00:22:44.519 --> 00:22:46.920 profile. The most high -profile incident, of 00:22:46.920 --> 00:22:49.240 course, involved Dwyane Wade's daughter, Zaya. 00:22:49.420 --> 00:22:52.160 Right. Zaya Wade came out as transgender. And 00:22:52.160 --> 00:22:55.220 in February of 2020, Boozy went on a long public 00:22:55.220 --> 00:22:58.339 rant criticizing Dwyane Wade's parenting. And 00:22:58.339 --> 00:23:00.380 this wasn't a polite disagreement about parenting 00:23:00.380 --> 00:23:03.259 styles? No, no. It was graphic, it was aggressive, 00:23:03.359 --> 00:23:05.819 and it was deeply personal. He used misgendering 00:23:05.819 --> 00:23:08.460 language and was widely condemned for it. And 00:23:08.460 --> 00:23:11.500 he faced actual real -world consequences for 00:23:11.500 --> 00:23:13.339 that, right? It wasn't just Twitter tough talk. 00:23:13.420 --> 00:23:20.220 There were real -world consequences. Now, his 00:23:20.220 --> 00:23:22.319 side of the story is that the manager was gay 00:23:22.319 --> 00:23:24.940 and was offended by his comments and threw him 00:23:24.940 --> 00:23:27.460 out for that reason. And Planet Fitness's side. 00:23:27.900 --> 00:23:30.000 Planet Fitness said it was because he was filming 00:23:30.000 --> 00:23:32.660 in the locker room and being disruptive and harassing 00:23:32.660 --> 00:23:35.859 staff, which violated their policies. But Boosie 00:23:35.859 --> 00:23:38.339 spun it as him being a martyr for free speech. 00:23:38.579 --> 00:23:41.099 He framed it as being canceled for his views. 00:23:41.259 --> 00:23:44.579 Exactly. And then the situation with the artist 00:23:44.579 --> 00:23:47.099 Lil Nas X took it to another level. That was 00:23:47.099 --> 00:23:49.980 the peak of the tension. By far. After some online 00:23:49.980 --> 00:23:53.059 rumors, just rumors that he and Lil Nas X might 00:23:53.059 --> 00:23:56.059 collaborate, Boosie unleashed this unbelievably 00:23:56.059 --> 00:24:00.230 homophobic. tirade on Twitter in late 2021. He 00:24:00.230 --> 00:24:03.349 used slurs. He used slurs and he explicitly told 00:24:03.349 --> 00:24:05.950 Lil Nas X to commit suicide. I mean, telling 00:24:05.950 --> 00:24:09.509 another person to kill themselves. In most industries, 00:24:09.630 --> 00:24:13.289 for most public figures, that is the end. That 00:24:13.289 --> 00:24:15.670 is a career -ending moment. Brand deals are gone, 00:24:15.769 --> 00:24:19.329 the label drops you, you're done. But boozy is 00:24:19.329 --> 00:24:21.910 still here. And that right there is the fascinating 00:24:21.910 --> 00:24:24.859 analytical question. Why hasn't he been canceled? 00:24:24.980 --> 00:24:27.079 So what's the answer? How does he survive that 00:24:27.079 --> 00:24:29.940 kind of firestorm? I think it's because he has 00:24:29.940 --> 00:24:32.859 very successfully positioned himself as the unfiltered 00:24:32.859 --> 00:24:35.700 truth teller for a specific demographic of people 00:24:35.700 --> 00:24:39.039 who feel alienated or confused by changing social 00:24:39.039 --> 00:24:42.180 norms. Okay. When he says these things, his core 00:24:42.180 --> 00:24:44.339 fan base, and these are people who often grew 00:24:44.339 --> 00:24:46.440 up in similar environments with similar old school 00:24:46.440 --> 00:24:49.259 values, they don't necessarily hear hate speech. 00:24:49.539 --> 00:24:51.920 They hear resistance. Resistance to what? Resistance 00:24:51.920 --> 00:24:54.700 to what they perceive as Hollywood or liberal 00:24:54.700 --> 00:24:57.759 social pressure. They see a guy who has refused. 00:24:57.839 --> 00:25:00.180 to bow down, refusing to apologize for what he 00:25:00.180 --> 00:25:03.000 believes. So his refusal to apologize is the 00:25:03.000 --> 00:25:05.519 product. That's the brand. That's the brand. 00:25:05.660 --> 00:25:08.700 Exactly. If he apologized, he would lose all 00:25:08.700 --> 00:25:11.599 credibility with his base. By doubling down, 00:25:11.819 --> 00:25:14.440 by getting kicked out of Planet Fitness, by fighting 00:25:14.440 --> 00:25:17.180 with everyone on Twitter, he reinforces his brand 00:25:17.180 --> 00:25:20.079 as the badass who doesn't care what the mainstream 00:25:20.079 --> 00:25:23.880 thinks of him. He has, in a strange way, monetized 00:25:23.880 --> 00:25:26.700 being the villain in the modern cultural narrative. 00:25:27.049 --> 00:25:30.190 a strategy of pure defiance. And speaking of 00:25:30.190 --> 00:25:35.130 strategy, he has tried to channel this this maverick 00:25:35.130 --> 00:25:37.789 energy into legitimate business in recent years. 00:25:37.930 --> 00:25:40.150 He has. He founded his own record label, the 00:25:40.150 --> 00:25:42.650 Badass Music Syndicate. He runs it with his brother 00:25:42.650 --> 00:25:46.150 and manager, Corey Hatch, who goes by TQ. I noticed 00:25:46.150 --> 00:25:47.869 they changed the name. It used to be Badass Entertainment. 00:25:48.049 --> 00:25:49.849 Now it's Syndicate. Is there a reason for that? 00:25:50.029 --> 00:25:52.369 Yeah. TQ explained this in an interview. While 00:25:52.369 --> 00:25:54.390 Boosie was in prison because the name Badass 00:25:54.390 --> 00:25:56.309 is somewhat generic, you had all these random, 00:25:56.390 --> 00:25:58.809 unaffiliated people online claiming to be part 00:25:58.809 --> 00:26:01.470 of Badass Entertainment. It created a mess. So 00:26:01.470 --> 00:26:03.900 they needed a rebrand to clean things up. Exactly. 00:26:04.000 --> 00:26:06.079 They rebranded to Syndicate to clean up the business, 00:26:06.359 --> 00:26:08.960 legitimize all the paperwork, and also to signal 00:26:08.960 --> 00:26:11.380 that they were looking to expand. They wanted 00:26:11.380 --> 00:26:13.779 to sign more diverse acts R &B artists, maybe 00:26:13.779 --> 00:26:15.759 even country artists that wanted to grow beyond 00:26:15.759 --> 00:26:19.619 just street rap. And in 2022, he put his story 00:26:19.619 --> 00:26:22.140 down on paper, releasing a memoir called Cross 00:26:22.140 --> 00:26:25.039 the Tracks. Which is a primary source for a lot 00:26:25.039 --> 00:26:27.039 of what we're talking about today. He is making 00:26:27.039 --> 00:26:29.839 a very conscious effort to ensure that his history 00:26:29.839 --> 00:26:32.859 is written by him, not just by court reporters 00:26:32.859 --> 00:26:35.779 and journalists. But as we start to wrap up the 00:26:35.779 --> 00:26:38.059 timeline here, we have to mention that the legal 00:26:38.059 --> 00:26:42.200 drama is It's Not Over, The San Diego Saga. It's 00:26:42.200 --> 00:26:44.240 a legal loop. It's almost confusing how many 00:26:44.240 --> 00:26:46.339 times he was arrested and rearrested in the span 00:26:46.339 --> 00:26:48.220 of a few months. It really is. What happened? 00:26:48.440 --> 00:26:51.599 So in 2022 and 2023, he's facing gun charges 00:26:51.599 --> 00:26:54.779 again. In May of 2023, he was arrested in San 00:26:54.779 --> 00:26:57.180 Diego for being a felon in possession of a firearm. 00:26:57.400 --> 00:26:59.140 A pretty standard charge for someone with his 00:26:59.140 --> 00:27:02.660 record. Okay. But then in June of 2023, the state 00:27:02.660 --> 00:27:04.819 charge is dismissed. He walks out of the courtroom 00:27:04.819 --> 00:27:07.460 a free man. He's hugging his lawyer. He thinks 00:27:07.460 --> 00:27:10.940 it's over. And it wasn't. No. literally on the 00:27:10.940 --> 00:27:13.440 courthouse steps as he's walking out, federal 00:27:13.440 --> 00:27:16.000 agents swoop in and arrest him again for the 00:27:16.000 --> 00:27:17.839 same incident. It sounds like a scene from a 00:27:17.839 --> 00:27:20.049 movie. It really does. The feds picked up the 00:27:20.049 --> 00:27:22.049 case because the gun had crossed state lines, 00:27:22.289 --> 00:27:25.210 making it a federal issue. Then, as recently 00:27:25.210 --> 00:27:28.690 as July 2024, more charges were added for possessing 00:27:28.690 --> 00:27:31.210 a gun while using controlled substances. So where 00:27:31.210 --> 00:27:33.769 does it stand now? He is currently out on bond 00:27:33.769 --> 00:27:36.170 fighting for his freedom all over again. He's 00:27:36.170 --> 00:27:39.329 facing up to 10 years in federal prison if convicted. 00:27:39.509 --> 00:27:42.329 The cycle just it continues. It is exhausting 00:27:42.329 --> 00:27:43.950 just hearing about it. I can't imagine living 00:27:43.950 --> 00:27:46.150 it. So let's try to zoom out here. Let's look 00:27:46.150 --> 00:27:48.170 at the legacy. When we take a step back from 00:27:48.170 --> 00:27:50.930 the chaos and the headlines, what has this man 00:27:50.930 --> 00:27:54.130 actually produced? The sheer volume of work is 00:27:54.130 --> 00:27:57.410 staggering. The numbers are 13 solo studio albums, 00:27:57.710 --> 00:28:01.450 seven collaborative albums, and 44 mixtapes. 00:28:01.450 --> 00:28:03.910 44 mixtapes. That is a lifetime of work for most 00:28:03.910 --> 00:28:06.990 artists. And his key projects, albums like... 00:28:07.150 --> 00:28:10.069 Touchdown 2, Cause Hell, Incarcerated and Bupac, 00:28:10.190 --> 00:28:13.390 they really serve as public diary entries. If 00:28:13.390 --> 00:28:15.069 you want to know what he was feeling in 2010 00:28:15.069 --> 00:28:17.670 when he was facing the death penalty, you just 00:28:17.670 --> 00:28:19.549 listen to the tape he made about it. It's all 00:28:19.549 --> 00:28:21.269 there. And what about his personal philosophy? 00:28:21.329 --> 00:28:23.390 We talked about his kids, but what are his views 00:28:23.390 --> 00:28:26.099 on things like marriage? He doesn't believe in 00:28:26.099 --> 00:28:29.099 it. He's very pragmatic about it, almost coldly 00:28:29.099 --> 00:28:31.980 so. He views marriage as a financial liability. 00:28:32.339 --> 00:28:34.779 He said in interviews, I'm not giving half my 00:28:34.779 --> 00:28:37.880 money to anyone in a divorce. So he stays unmarried 00:28:37.880 --> 00:28:40.539 by choice. By choice. He has eight children with 00:28:40.539 --> 00:28:42.859 six different women, and he seems to be a very 00:28:42.859 --> 00:28:45.880 involved father, but he has philosophically rejected 00:28:45.880 --> 00:28:48.359 the institution of marriage. So bringing it all 00:28:48.359 --> 00:28:50.880 together now, we have a guy who defined a specific 00:28:50.880 --> 00:28:53.759 sound in Southern rap, who beat the death penalty, 00:28:53.920 --> 00:28:57.190 who beat... and who now fights the entire culture 00:28:57.190 --> 00:28:59.990 war on Twitter every other week. What is the 00:28:59.990 --> 00:29:02.329 final takeaway here? I think Boosie Badass proves 00:29:02.329 --> 00:29:05.789 that for him, reality rap isn't a genre or a 00:29:05.789 --> 00:29:09.250 marketing term. It's a deposition. He is documenting 00:29:09.250 --> 00:29:12.829 in real time a life that is chaotic, dangerous, 00:29:13.049 --> 00:29:15.910 controversial, and somehow incredibly productive. 00:29:16.309 --> 00:29:18.069 So here's the final question, the provocative 00:29:18.069 --> 00:29:22.529 thought. Is he an artist or is he a reality show? 00:29:22.839 --> 00:29:24.819 That's the million dollar question, isn't it? 00:29:24.839 --> 00:29:28.059 In an era where every pop star is media trained 00:29:28.059 --> 00:29:30.500 and PR managed to be as safe and inoffensive 00:29:30.500 --> 00:29:34.180 as possible, Boozy is just pure, unfiltered chaos. 00:29:34.579 --> 00:29:36.960 And I think people are addicted to watching that 00:29:36.960 --> 00:29:39.440 survival. So it's not just the music? I don't 00:29:39.440 --> 00:29:40.960 think so. I think at this point, we aren't just 00:29:40.960 --> 00:29:43.680 consuming his music. We are consuming his incredible 00:29:43.680 --> 00:29:46.079 ability to keep standing up every single time 00:29:46.079 --> 00:29:47.799 the world tries to knock him down, whether it's 00:29:47.799 --> 00:29:51.049 the law, his health or public opinion. He is 00:29:51.049 --> 00:29:53.170 the survivor's survivor. Well, if you want to 00:29:53.170 --> 00:29:55.230 dive deeper into this story, go read his memoir, 00:29:55.349 --> 00:29:58.009 Cross the Tracks, or listen to the album Touchdown 00:29:58.009 --> 00:30:00.750 to Cause Hell. It is a wild ride. Stay curious. 00:30:00.910 --> 00:30:02.309 Thanks for listening to The Deep Dive. We'll 00:30:02.309 --> 00:30:02.849 see you next time.