Ever since being released from prison this past March, Boosie Badazz has been squarely focused on building back his status as one of the South's brightest stars. He certainly hasn't lacked in the features department, with everyone from T.I. to Meek Mill to Jeezy calling upon his services. What's more, Boosie recently dropped his mixtape, Life After DeathRow, which displays his return to lyrical form and relentless demeanor.
With Boosie staking his claim as the biggest rap comeback of 2014—as well as today being his 31st birthday—we felt it was only right to highlight his best lyrical moments. These are Boosie Badazz's 10 Best Verses Since Being Released From Prison.
DJ Mustard f/ Boosie Badazz, Lil Wayne, Big Sean, and YG “Face Down”
Producer: DJ Mustard
Album: 10 Summers
The Baton Rouge "Girls, Girls, Girls," Boosie's "Face Down" verse is a cross-country role call of paramours, including a soul food chef from Mississippi, a tatted-up gangster from Chicago's West Side, and a cougar from Tallahassee whose groove he helps retrieve. (You know Boosie has to be at least 30 years old for referencing How Stella Got Her Groove Back in a rap song.)
Boosie Badazz “Crazy” (Verse 3)
Producer: B-Real
Album: Touchdown 2 Cause Hell
It's not always clear people realize what they have with Boosie; for all the artists who've dealt with or addressed the criminal justice system in song, few have survived the experiences Boosie has behind bars and returned in good enough shape to relay it. To say he conveys a person of strong character is an understatement. On "Crazy"—a remake of his 2006 record "Undeniable Talent"—Boosie asserts his sanity in a crazy world. The third verse opens with an "ask a stupid question..." experience with Boosie's label, but the song's boldest moment comes when he addresses his time in jail, circumstances that would drive a normal person insane: "23-hour lockdown, two years of cold showers/Couldn't turn me crazy, and couldn't turn me soft/They try to take my life, but they couldn't take my power."
Dorrough f/ Boosie Badazz “Beat Up the Block”
Producer: Digital University
Album: TexaFornia
A concise and to-the-point verse, Boosie's record-stealing "Beat Up the Block" bars run through a few favorite themes ("Everybody know I swang and beat up the block/My girl roll up the kush, we high now, I beat up the twat") before reaching a climax with this line dismissing fake block beaters: "Talkin' like you on, but searchin' for a fortune cookie."
Jeezy f/ Boosie Badazz “Beez Like”
Producer: Will-A-Fool
Album: Seen It All: The Autobiography
Boosie's guest spots tend not to focus so much on his more personal material, sticking to the tried and true blend of violent threats, sexual escapades, and enumerations of show prices. But Jeezy and Boosie have been close for a long time, so perhaps the latter had saved one of his more familiar 16s for Jeezy's recent album Seen It All. The verse opens with a quick fast-forward from his introduction to the drug game ("Stove water, heat cold water/Knew I'd touch a bird when I got my first quarter") to his time in prison ("Sell water to a well, nigga/Cold nights, cold hearts, tough love, that's what it be like in jail, nigga"), lamenting his mother's tears and missing his daughter's coming of age. Aboard this bouyant beat from Will-A-Fool, Boosie's verse is reminiscent of a sound and style that haven't been popular major label subject matter since Trick Daddy rapped about eating mayonnaise sandwiches on "In Da Wind."
Boosie Badazz “Murder Was the Case (Intro)” (1st Verse)
Producer: N/A
Album: Life After DeathRow
Few rappers, thankfully, can convincingly remake Snoop Dogg's "Murder Was the Case." But on the intro to his new tape, Boosie addressed past accusations directly on record—an evidently bold move for an accused murderer, even if protected from double jeopardy. Boosie recounts the events of the state's case against him, opening with the accusation: "You know they said I killed the whole damn city." The stakes are high as could be ("Told me if I lose they will hit me with the gas") but somehow it's not as cold a moment as his grim response to the allegation of six murders and two attempts: "I said, Sir you lying, cuz I don't do attempts."
K Camp f/ Boosie Badazz, YG, and Too $hort “Cut Her Off (Remix)”
Producer: Will-A-Fool
Album: N/A
In its original form I always found this song somewhat bogus, like K Camp was protesting a bit too much—come on, bro, you caught feelings, it's cool. But maybe I'm just projecting. Boosie, though, is completely believable, bragging about how much he got for a walkthrough in Atlanta ($80,000) and pointing out that the entire strip club is in love with him so it is very literally nothing for him, like to the extent that he might forget who he was talking to by the end of the sentence. At the end of the verse we get his real reasoning, though, which is that she wouldn't get a depo shot. Educating the kids on birth control or nah, this song is still brutal, but at least when Boosie raps it? Girl you know its true. (Milli Vanilli voice.)
Boosie Badazz f/ LIV “Gone Bad (American Horror Story)” (2nd Verse)
Producer: N/A
Album: Life After DeathRow
While most of his guest verses since getting out of prison were aggressive blunt force trauma raps, Life After DeathRow features some of Boosie's most heartfelt and expressive writing. The second verse of "Gone Bad" tells the story of a kid raised in an abusive household, and whose best friend is murdered, surviving only to push headlong into further danger: "Closest family he ever had, dead/Lost without his dog, now its all code reds." Boosie's most compelling work comes from him writing from an accessible point of view—creating empathy for a character while a smooth saxophone and bongo break envelop the listener.
Meek Mill f/ Boosie Badazz “Fuck You Mean”
Producer: J Oliver
Album: N/A
Boosie spits acid like the Dilophosaurus from the Jurassic Park Game Boy game on "Fuck You Mean"—a furious torrent of income claims that the IRS no doubt has already begun tabulating. Boosie is a rapper with a very human side, but when focused, it's all barbed wire bluntness, with searing force that reorders the world around it: "What the fuck you mean, what the fuck you mean/Fuck you, fuck your momma, and fuck your team."
Boosie Badazz “The Fall” (2nd Verse)
Producer: N/A
Album: Life After DeathRow
If anyone can compellingly convey the cold, raw feeling of distrust in song it's Boosie. Any optimism in his current situation is necessarily tempered by the memories of those who'd abandoned him the first time around. But "The Fall" is about more than that; it's a reflection of how one is perceived, and whether we internalize that treatment or resist. In Boosie's case, of course, the effect is magnified. "You know what they say about me and my clique/We don't belong on this planet, goddammit that's some cold shit."
T.I. f/ Boosie Badazz “Jet Fuel”
Producer: The Beat Bully, Kenoe
Album: Paperwork
One of the tightest 16s Boosie's dropped since getting out of jail, there's hardly a wasted word on "Jet Fuel." The song appears on T.I.'s latest album Paperwork, and the verse is reassuring mainly for reminding the world that no rappers can actually touch Boosie when it comes to unapologetic, straightforward sex raps. Comedian Norm MacDonald was once quoted saying he hates innuendo in comedy. Which is why Norm, like everyone, should be a fan of Boosie's transparency when it comes to his motivations. But which couplet best captures his libido in action? Opener "I'm a jet fuel smoker, crazy like the Joker/Suck it 'fore you fuck it is exactly what I told her" is a strong way to break into a record, and his promise that he was "high in the pussy same way that I was high in court" feels like an authentically errant thought. But the closing bars win for percussive concision: "Flip it, slap it, rub it down, finish, give it back up/Wash the dick off while she roll the kush sack up."
