Lil Boosie will be releasing his new album Incarcerated on September 28th under less than ideal circumstances. Warner Bros. Records sent over this background on the release: The album, full of all new music, is led by the contemplative and melancholy "Rain" where the rapper, despite his recent trials, testifies, "I can clearly see the sunshine, but I'm steady walkin' through the rain." Boosie adds, "This project is some of the songs I recorded right before I turned myself in in November."
Last fall, Lil Boosie (real name Torrance Hatch) was sentenced to four years in prison for violating his pre-arraignment probation and to a third-offense marijuana-possession charge that was in connection with an October 2008 arrest where police found a bag of marijuana, a blunt and a gun in his vehicle. The drug charge alone carried a 20-year sentence, with a mandatory minimum of fives years for the gun charge. After the plea, the judge ordered Lil Boosie to be electronically monitored and to clear all concert dates with the court while awaiting sentencing.
Prosecutors later indicted the rapper in June of 2010 with what they are calling the murder-for-hire of a local man last October. Lil Boosie has repeatedly maintained his innocence, denying the allegations as hearsay. "I'm innocent; I'm completely innocent" stated the rapper after he was transferred from Hunt Correctional Institute in St. Gabriel, LA to East Baton Rouge Paris Prison following the additional charges. "My situation is one that is unjust, unfair and based on an attack against hip-hop and rap as a whole."
In the four weeks prior to incarceration, Lil Boosie recorded his last days for a documentary that will be released in portions in the coming weeks. His Trill Entertainment label will continue in his namesake releasing their posse-cut CD Trill Family on October 26th led by the singles "Turn Tha Beat Up" and "My People." A portion of the sales from this album will go to the legal fund for those indicted.
Fans will get an additional bonus in the full-length DVD coming from Trill Entertainment this fall entitled "Ghetto Stories: The Movie." The film will star Lil Boosie, long-time collaborator Webbie, Tyrin Turner (Menace II Society, Belly), and "Flavor of Love" winner Nicole "Hoopz" Alexander, and guest appearances by Bun B and Paul Wall amongst others. The story is centered on a Baton Rouge turf war between rival drug dealers struggling to keep their illicit empires intact.
Despite all of the controversy, Boosie remains positive and grateful: "Even through these circumstances my family, labels and fans have stood by me and I thank you for that. My album Incarcerated comes at a real changing point in my life."
