Vernon Holman | Staff Writer  

Rapper Torrence Hatch, better known as Lil Boosie is once again a free man. Boosie, 31, was released from prison on March 5, after serving five years of an eight-year sentence in the Louisiana State Penitentiary. The self-proclaimed “bad ass” was jailed in 2009 on drug possession charges and later had years added on to his sentence for allegedly attempting to smuggle weed, ecstasy and codeine into the prison. After this mishap, Boosie entered into a religious and substance based self-help program and completed a program to receive his GED.

When it was announced that Boosie had been released, fans rejoiced. Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook were flooded with post in support of Boosie’s freedom and referencing his song lyrics. Much of this same fan base, particularly throughout the South, remained loyal to the rapper while he was incarcerated, showing their support through the years with the creation of several Lil Boosie fan pages.

Among those happy about Boosie’s release was his young daughter. A video was posted to instagram of the young girl saying, “I told yall n*ggas…he coming home today.”  Though many were shocked and appalled by the use of such language by a young child, Boosie said he was “too happy to fuss.” In an interview with allhiphop.com he said, “I told her I didn’t want her saying the word. But, she was one of those that went through ‘your daddy ain’t coming home’, ‘yo daddy this’ in schools and such. So, I think it was just..when I called her and told her I was coming home, I think it was all the stuff she went through coming out.”

In the midst of all those celebrating Boosie’s release, there were also those disheartened by the immense celebrating taking place. In his article, “The Curious Case of Lil’ Boosie,” Ferrari Sheppard wrote, “The thing I find most detrimental about the “Free Boosie” campaign and the jubilation surrounding his subsequent release is not that a misguided black man is free, nor that he has unyielding support from fans, but that the system is winning — we’ve become confused about who is qualified to lead us.” Ferrari also notes that his biggest complaint with the “Free Boosie” movement is that many of its supporters referred to Boosie as a “political prisoner,” something he is adamant Boosie was not.

Although it is true that Boosie was not a political prisoner, his prison release is rightfully something to be celebrated. He served five years, enrolled in self-help programs and received his GED— Boosie now has more power from what he achieved in prison then he does by rotting away in prison. Also, the people mocking his daughter for her vulgarity in the video should take into consideration that she is a very young girl who is happy about her father being back in her life after five years; she is also a product of her environment.

Since his release, Boosie has done several interviews sharing not only his story, but also his future plans. While in prison he said he wrote 1,018 songs and recently released a song with rapper Webbie, “Show the World.” The song was written before his imprisonment but is growing in popularity now. Now that he has been released, Boosie says feeding his family is the first thing he is concerned about.