It’s easy to see why Lola Mitchell loved Emmet Flores. Even in death, Flores—who’d been with Mitchell, better known as Gangsta Boo, for nearly a decade—remains steadfast in his loyalty to her. Flores’ Instagram page is flooded with photos and videos of the Memphis rap legend, which are now just distant memories of a life well-lived. 

Mitchell, who died unexpectedly on New Year’s Day, rose to prominence as a member of Three 6 Mafia in the mid-90s. She appeared on six albums with the group and simultaneously embarked on a solo career beginning with 1998’s Enquiring Minds. Following 2003’s Enquiring Minds II: The Soap Opera, Mitchell stepped back from the studio but re-emerged in 2014 with Witch, a collaborative album with La Chat.

It was her appearance on Run The Jewels’ "Love Again (Akinyele Back)” that same year that revitalized her career and soon, she was off to the races, appearing on RTJ’s 2020 single “walking in the snow” and GloRilla’s “FTCU” just last year. In fact, she was in the middle of working on another solo album called The BooPrint when she died. Flores is committed to ensuring the tentatively-titled project sees the light of day—but that’s only a small fraction of what he’s doing for Mitchell’s legacy. 

Not only has Flores launched a Queen of Memphis website and Instagram account with the support of Gangsta Boo's mother, Veronica Mitchell, but he’s also the muscle behind a new Gangsta Boo merch line. As he explains to ROCK THE BELLS, 10 percent of profits will go toward the Stax Music Academy in Memphis, one of the last places Mitchell visited while she was still alive. 

“Stax is a legendary soul label,” Flores says excitedly. “It’s like the Motown of Memphis. It had Isaac Hayes and Al Green. They turned that into a museum and adjacent to the museum is a Music Academy for teens. They teach the kids music theory, they play instruments, they sing, they know how to run the recording consoles, they teach them recording engineering, they teach the music business—it’s amazing. I got a private tour from Isaac Hayes Jr., so that was brilliant. And what was really important to me was, it was one of the last places Lola went to while she was alive. She was so excited to go to Stax. So that's one way she’s giving back to Memphis because she loves Memphis so much. She was out here [in Los Angeles], but every day, all she talked about was Memphis.” 

Then, of course, there’s the album. Possible contributors to the posthumous project include Juicy J, DJ Paul, Run The Jewels, Latto, La Chat, Crunchy Black and a few surprises Flores can’t unveil quite yet. 

“She had crossed so many genres and worked with so many different people and so many different producers in the nation that she has material all over,” he says. “So basically, me being with her every day and one of the most intimate people around her, she would tell me everything, so I knew all the people she was working with. I had their contacts and I am putting it together. I’ve linked them all up to work on The BooPrint.”

Much like Swizz Beatz did for DMX, Flores won’t rest until it’s out. He’s aiming for an August 7 release, which would have been Mitchell’s 44th birthday. Of course, he would love to be celebrating with her, but it just wasn’t in the cards. When Flores recalls the day he found out about her passing, he doesn’t cry; he doesn’t feel sorry for himself; he speaks matter-of-factly, a remarkable feat considering it’s only been a few months. 

“I was at home watching football,” he says. “And it was so weird because I had just talked to her before I went to bed at like four in the morning, so that was like six in the morning her time. I'm still not exactly sure what time she passed. But I mean, it's just so weird. It was all so unbelievable. It was weird to be on the phone with her the night before. The last thing she sent me was a picture of us on New Year's in 2017. That's what I woke up to. By the time I woke up, I think she had already passed because I was up around like 11 a.m. to watch football, and I sent her a picture back.” 

But Mitchell never got the text. Flores was watching the game when he received an Instagram notification asking if Gangsta Boo was OK. He jokes, “I never called her Gangsta Boo or Boo. It was either Lola or ‘please stop [laughs].’ So I didn’t really take it too seriously.” 

The night before, New Year’s Eve, Mitchell attended an 8Ball and MJG show with her brother, who wound up being hospitalized following a drug overdose. Flores was aware of the incident, so he assumed that’s what the inquisitive person was asking about. He called Mitchell’s phone anyway. It went straight to voicemail. Still, he wasn’t alarmed—yet. 

“A lot of times, she would block me and shit, and I wouldn't really know why,” he says. “Like I pissed her off somehow, some way. So I was like, ‘Oh, you know what, she probably blocked me again.’ Maybe I didn't show enough compassion when she called last night about her brother.” 

That’s what he was hoping for at least. His confusion turned to panic when he tried her on Facebook Messenger and still didn’t reach her. So he searched her name on Instagram and that’s when he saw it. The love of his life, Lola Mitchell, was dead. 

“I believe the post said ‘Gangsta Boo, another legend gone’ if I remember correctly, and I fucking lost it,” he continues. “ I was like, ‘No!’ I just kept saying ‘no, no, no, no, no.’ My mom was there and she was like, ‘What's wrong?’ And I said, ‘There's a post that says Lola is dead.’ So I kept calling her, and it just kept going to voicemail. I called a lot.”

When he finally managed to confirm it was true, Flores started screaming in disbelief. But it got worse. Flores suddenly found himself in a hospital. 

“The day after it happened, I had to be hospitalized,” he confesses. “Yeah, I fucking lost it. I had a complete nervous breakdown.” 

Flores says he was sitting on the couch watching a movie with his son when he began to unravel. His son called 9-1-1 and he was taken by ambulance to a nearby hospital. 

“It was good for me though,” he says. “It gave me a fresh perspective. On my podcast [Kush & Chemtrails], I’m very cynical and I talk a lot of shit. I’d been shitting on doctors and nurses lately because of a certain respiratory health issue. But then, here I was, all of these people took care of me. None of them were dicks. I was the asshole.” 

Flores spent the night in the hospital and was released the next day. Now, he was faced with navigating this new reality. While no official cause of death has been reported (the Memphis police are allegedly still investigating and are in possession of Mitchell’s phone), Mitchell died of a suspected drug overdose. Anyone familiar with her music or who saw her on Marriage Boot Camp: The Hip Hop Edition are aware of her indulgent lifestyle. Of course, Flores was too, but he never saw her do anything other than drink or smoke weed. 

“Lola was so on point, man,” he says. “She had so much such confidence, it just kind of made you think that she had it under control. I never wanted to be too judgmental. She never did anything in front of me—ever. That's a fact. She smoked weed in front of me and drank in front of me, but I can honestly say I have never seen Lola do anything else. You just have to listen to her songs. It's not like it's a secret. People knew. She just didn't want me to see it.” 

In September 2021, Fuquan Johnson was among three comedians who died from a drug overdose during a party in Venice Beach, which is near Flores’ home. The coroner later discovered they’d all ingested the same fentanyl-laced cocaine. 

“There was definitely concern on my part at times,” Flores says. “The one time that I did actually voice my concerns and really said something to her was after those comedians died. I said, ‘I don't really like to pry into your personal business and shit, but this fentanyl shit is crazy.’ I can't even understand why they would use it as a cutting agent unless they were purposely trying to hurt that person. I remember challenging her after that and telling her ‘I don't want anything to happen to you.’ But I already knew how it works. If people don't want to stop, they're not gonna stop. Plus, she carried herself with confidence. She handled her business. It wasn't like she was struggling at all in terms of finance or functioning. She did what she did. And it’s your partner. You don’t want to be a drag, I guess.” 

As Flores grapples with Mitchell’s physical absence, he’s embracing the support he’s getting from his family and friends and simply focusing on the tasks at hand. 

"I've been working on her legacy,” he says. “And it’s an honor to do it for the woman I love and for someone who was so loved by everybody. Everybody loves Gangsta Boo.” 

“There was never any envy at all when it came to her success,” he says. “This is all pride. I was always just inspired by her. She kept me inspired and kept me striving. She always believed in me. I would sit there and shit on myself, and she would be like, ‘You shouldn't block your blessings.’ She was so on point with her spirituality. I love my girl.” 

For more information on Gangsta Boo’s legacy, merch and charitable efforts, visit www.queenofmemphis.com. 

*Gangsta Boo and Emmet Flores photos courtesy of Emmet Flores