Louisiana-born rapper Boosie Badazz has come a long way in the rap game since his days as a member of the Southern hip-hop collective Concentration Camp. Formerly known as Lil Boosie, Boosie Badazz's influence in the rap game, especially in Southern hip-hop, is undeniable. Hence, it isn't surprising that some of the greatest talents in rap music gained inspiration from Boosie.
However, his impact on the genre came into question recently following remarks made by Kanye West. Still, Boosie knows his worth and is ready to defend his legacy at any opportunity. Thus, when Kanye West claimed to have invented every style of music for the last two decades, Boosie was among those who strongly disagreed with him. Taking to his Instagram page, the Baton Rouge rapper shared an excerpt from Kanye's interview and captioned it, "NOT ALL GENRES NOT EVERY STYLE NOT BOOSIE MUSIC ‼️ YOU CANT RELATE TO NOTHING I RAP ABOUT R YOUR MUSIC‼️NOBODY LISTENS TO KANYE N THE PROJECTS R THE TRENCHES ‼️IM,A GON HEAD N SAY IT “ MY PEOPLE DO NOT RELATE TO YOU.”"
In October 2022, Boosie also claimed to have influenced more "street n****s" than any other rapper in history. Boosie made this claim during an interview with VladTV. While discussing Kodak Black's tribute to him in the song, "Too Boosie," Boosie Badazz declared, "Ain’t nobody ever in rap history never raised more street n****s than me. I'm talking 'bout no rapper in history raised more street n****s" than me." Boosie further claimed that every generation loves him, adding that he is always thankful when people credit him for his career.
It takes a man worth his salt to make such claims, and Boosie wasn't playing when he made those comments. But how true are his words? Is Boosie Badazz's influence in the rap game as great as he makes it out to be? Here are five rappers who credited Boosie Badazz for influencing their music.
Young Dolph
Memphis-born rapper Young Dolph opened up about how Boosie Badazz influenced him to start rapping. A clip from an interview before Young Dolph's death showed him admitting to Boosie Badazz's influence. The late rapper shared that he met Boosie through a friend, and they smoked weed together. In that moment, Young Dolph stated that he knew Boosie was an authentic individual, even as he lived a particularly affluent lifestyle. That attitude and show of wealth struck a chord with Young Dolph, who declared soon after they left Boosie's place that he would start rapping.
Boosie also talked about his influence on Young Dolph's career during an Instagram Live on Feb. 5, 2024. He revealed that Young Dolph decided to start rapping after selling him weed. Boosie shared, "[Young Dolph] said that after he sold me that weed, man, that n***a got there from rappin’? I’m fixin’ to rap. That was 2006. I inspired a lot of muthafuckas. A lot of muthafuckas. I just don't like to give me my flowers. You gotta be a real n**** to give me my flowers."
MO3
Besides Young Dolph, another late rapper who rose to fame thanks to Boosie Baddazz's influence was Dallas MC MO3. MO3 was signed to Boosie's label and collaborated with him on different occasions. They worked on the 2019 song "Errybody," before collaborating on the joint album BadAzz Mo3 a year later. Boosie and Mo3's album peaked at no. 136 on the US Billboard 200 chart.
MO3 spoke about Boosie Badazz's influence on his musical career during a chat with Flaunt to promote his and Boosie's joint album. MO3 was dubbed the Boosie of Dallas then and expressed his delight at earning that title. "It feels good. That's an accomplishment. That means I'm destined to be legendary. I'm holding all that weight right now. I'm this generation's Boosie," he said. MO3 also described Boosie as his favorite rapper, saying, "That's my favorite. I don't have any other favorites. Because he rapped my life. He helped me get through my days. Before I was rapping, I was 14 listening to him." MO3 is no longer alive, but he managed to make a great impact in his lifetime, thanks to Boosie.
Kodak Black
Kodak Black is very grateful to Boosie Badazz for his influence and has never hidden his admiration for him. During an appearance on DJ Whoo Kid's podcast, Whoolywood Shuffle, about five years ago, Kodak was asked which rappers inspired him while growing up. In his response, Kodak said, "Lil Boosie and Plies." To show his appreciation for Boosie even more, Kodak released the song "Too Boosie," in 2021. In the track, he paid tribute to Boosie and referenced how he acts like the Baton Rouge rapper. Kodak also rapped about Boosie's influence on his lifestyle.
TEC
Baton Rouge rapper is another MC who gained inspiration from Boosie. Being from the same city as Boosie, it isn't surprising that TEC was greatly influenced by him. TEC endured so much to get to where he is today and those life lessons taught him to be stronger. Tec, who has spoken about Boosie's influence on his music, adopts the latter's brash and vulnerable style. In October 2021, TEC released an album, Web The World, in which he featured Boosie in the song, "Clapped Up."
In an interview with Passion Of The Weiss, Tec opened up about how it felt to feature Boosie on a song. He said, "That shit meant a lot. That was like a goal in itself. Everyone from Baton Rouge wanna get a song with Boose. He was everybody’s favorite rapper at some point. Especially if you from our city – f**k rapper, he’s a role model and shit. Everybody wanted to be that n***a, fa real. So, to have him on my album? That s**t raw." In another interview with Thirty Visuals, TEC named Boosie Badazz as one of his biggest influences.
YFN Lucci
During YFN Lucci's rise to fame, one of those who helped him was a close friend, Nut. In an interview with Complex, Lucci said, "I met Nut when I was like, 22." Nut believed Lucci would become successful in the rap game and supported him willingly. However, Nut died right after Lucci dropped his first mixtapes. Lucci made an EP titled Long Live Nut to honor his late friend. The last song on the EP was the track "Testimony," featuring Boosie, who was Nut's favorite rapper. Like Boosie, the Atlanta-based YFN Lucci employs emotive storytelling in his lyrics. He also loves using melodic hooks to keep his listeners tuned in.
Boosie Badazz has a great influence on hip-hop, especially the Southern hip-hop scene. Rappers like Young Dolph, Kodak Black, MO3, and TEC seem to have adopted Boosie's musical style, making them more appealing to Southern hip-hop fans. Hence, though not everyone likes Boosie Badazz, he is not wrong when he says he influenced many artists in the rap game.