Boss (born Lichelle Laws, August 14, 1969) is an American gangsta rapper from Detroit, Michigan. Her debut album, Born Gangstaz, reached number three on Billboard's Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart in 1993. Her name is sometimes stylized as Bo$$.
Born in Detroit, Laws relocated to Los Angeles after graduating high school. Laws was spotted by DJ Quik who stuck her on a track with AMG. Russell Simmons liked the track and promptly signed her to Def Jam West. Her debut album Born Gangstaz was released in 1993, and the singles, "Deeper" and "Recipe for a Hoe", hit number one on the Billboard Hot Rap Tracks chart.
Laws' fledgling career took a major blow in 1994 when she was interviewed by a reporter from The Wall Street Journal. The reporter revealed that she grew up in an upper-middle-class family and attended private school.
In the mid-1990s, she moved to Dallas, Texas, and went on to be a radio DJ. In 2001, she collaborated with Krayzie Bone on his album Thug On Da Line. In 2004, she released a mixtape titled The Six Million Dollar Mixtape produced by Def Jef.
It was revealed in May 2011 that Laws is in need of a kidney due to her suffering from renal disease, a disease that rendered her kidneys useless for processing toxins in her body. Laws reached out to the Facebook community for a potential donor. A donor is yet to be found.