| Three 6 Mafia |
| Also known as |
Three 6, Triple Six Mafia |
| Origin |
Memphis, Tennessee |
| Genre(s) |
Horrorcore, Gangsta rap, Crunk, Southern hip hop, Chopped
and Screwed |
| Years active |
1991 – present |
| Label(s) |
Hypnotize Minds, Columbia,
Sony, Loud, Relativity, Prophet |
Associated
acts |
Hypnotize Camp Posse, Tear the Club Up Thugs, Da Headbussaz, Lil Wyte, 8 Ball & MJG, Project Pat, Lord
Infamous |
| Website |
www.triplesix.com |
| Members |
DJ Paul
Juicy J |
| Former members |
Lord Infamous
Koopsta Knicca
Crunchy Black
Gangsta Boo
Playa Fly
Kingpin Skinny Pimp
Indo G
Gangsta Blac
MC-Mack
Lil Glock & S.O.G.
La' Chat
T-Rock |
Three 6 Mafia (formerly known as Triple Six Mafia) is an American
hip hop group, consisting of two members. The group was formed in 1991 by DJ Paul, Lord Infamous, and Juicy J.
They were later joined by fellow Memphis rappers Koopsta Knicca, Gangsta Boo, and Crunchy Black. The group released many mixtapes by members and non
members on Prophet Entertainment before releasing their debut album
Mystic Stylez. Their early sound was a mix of both crunk and horrorcore, influenced by N.W.A. as
well as various Southern hip hop rappers. They are the first hip hop group to win an
Academy Award.
History
The group started in 1991 in Memphis with three members: DJ Paul (Paul Beauregard),
Juicy J (Jordan Houston), and Lord Infamous (Ricky
Dunigan). The original name for the hip hop group was Backyard Posse, followed shortly after by Triple Six Mafia.
The group formed through release of many EPs from their own record company with Nicky Scarfo, Prophet Entertainment, later launching their own label, Hypnotize Minds Records; during their early career, they also propelled the careers of several other
rappers.
At this point in the group's evolution, having signed to a major label and having scored an admirable hit single, group
leaders Juicy J and DJ Paul began extending their brand. They
started by releasing group member solo albums (Gangsta Boo, Koopsta Knicca), non-group member solo albums (Project Pat, The
Kaze) and also compilation-styled albums (Tear Da Club Up Thugs, Hypnotize Camp Posse, Da Headbussaz, and Prophet Posse). Around this time, they also released collections of tracks from earlier years
(Underground Vol. 1: (1991-1994), Underground Vol. 2: Club Memphis, Underground Vol. 3: Kings of Memphis).
Follow-ups and lineup changes
In 2000, the official Three 6 Mafia follow-up to the Chapter 2 album, When the Smoke Clears, was released. With the
success of the lead single, "Sippin’ on Some Sizzurp" in a few non-Southern markets, the album debuted at number six on the
Billboard 200. It received little MTV airplay and
little national radio rotation. This album also featured a much anticipated collaboration with underground favorites
Insane Clown Posse and Twiztid. Three 6 even wore
ICP merchandise in the video for "Sippin' On Some Sizzurp".
This era also saw the departure of two members. In 2000, Koopsta Knicca left due to a
monetary dispute; In 2001, Gangsta "Lady" Boo left to pursue a solo career, citing religious
differences.
The group later began work on the direct-to-video film, Choices: The Movie, and affiliated solo albums. Choices
and its accompanying soundtrack (Choices: The Album) were released in 2001. In
2002, there were two solo releases from the group's two producers. One from DJ Paul called Underground Vol. 16: For Da Summa and one called Chronicles of the Juice
Man by Juicy J.
In 2003, Three 6 Mafia released the album Da Unbreakables, which features collaborations with Lil' Flip, Pimp C (from UGK), Lil Wyte, Frayser Boy and Project
Pat. The album produced the hit "Ridin' Spinners," which featured Lil' Flip.
In 2005, the group released their follow up direct-to-video, Choices II: The Set Up, and their highly-anticipated
album, Most Known Unknown. It was notable that Lord Infamous was missing from this
album. The generally accepted reason was that he had been incarcerated; however, Three 6 Mafia
claimed he was "on vacation." The album includes the hit "Stay Fly", featuring Young Buck and
8 Ball & MJG. They also worked on the movie Hustle & Flow, which would lead them to an award and released a greatest hits album, Most Known Hits.
Academy Award win
On March 5 2006, Three 6 Mafia made history as they became the
first African American music group to win an Academy Award for Best
Song and also became the first hip-hop artists to ever perform at the ceremony.[1] The group was nominated for the song "It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp" from the Hustle
& Flow soundtrack. This marked only the second time a rap act has won an Academy Award, following Eminem in 2002.[2]
The Academy-winning members of Three 6 Mafia were credited by their real names, Jordan
Houston (Juicy J) and Paul Beauregard (DJ Paul), along with Cedric Duane Coleman (Frayser Boy), although host Jon Stewart did refer to them as "Three 6 Mafia" after their victory, saying "To recap, Three 6 Mafia: 1.
Martin Scorsese: 0."[2] However, Scorsese did win the next year.
Recent events
On June 7 2006, Sony officially acknowledged the departure of
original Three 6 Mafia member, Crunchy Black. He stated his reason for departure was to make a solo album that DJ Paul and Juicy
J had put off for years. DJ Paul, Juicy J and Lord Infamous then becoming the only members of the Three 6 Mafia. On May 22, 2007,
Lord Infamous left to work with his new record label, Black Rain Entertainment with
Memphis rapper II Tone.
The two producers of the group now have their own reality show, Adventures in
Hollyhood, on MTV. The show will focus on what it's like to be a member of the Three 6 Mafia,
balancing the increased fame after their Oscar win while attempting to stay true to their loyal fans. The show premiered on
April 5, 2007 at 10 p.m. Eastern time on MTV.[3]
The group made an appearance in Jackass Number Two, where they offered to
pay Dave England $200 if he would eat horse dung. England did so, and the group paid
up.
In December of 2006, Three 6 Mafia contributed the song "It's A Fight" to the soundtrack of the movie Rocky Balboa.
Three 6 Mafia are currently working on their newest album, Last 2 Walk, which is
due for release on December 4 2007.[4]
Controversy
Satanic accusations
Three 6 Mafia's name has been a topic of controversy because of some people's belief that their name refers to the
Number of the Beast (supported by their former name "Triple Six Mafia"). They are
known to have mentioned the occult in song topics and this, with their name, has potentially affected their amount of television
and radio play (until their success with "Stay Fly"). In their first full length horrorcore
LP, Mystic Stylez, the groups references to the occult reached its climax. The most notable example of the groups occult
references can be found in the song "Fuckin Wit Dis Click." Lord Infamous states "No I'm not a Christian," and DJ Paul's verse is
filled with blatant Satanic lyrics, such as "I'm on a cross, Lucifer, please cut me free," and "A mind for murder but the barrel
couldn't tell you half about this antichrist; Look into my eyes tell me what you see; The demonic man about scarecrowism; Saints
can you feel me." Also on the track "Murder On My Mind," the distorted voice of DJ Paul identifies "Lucifer" as "the leader of
the Three 6 Mafia." However the group has never claimed to worship Satan, and in their acceptance
speech at the 2006 Academy Awards group member Juicy J thanked Jesus for their nomination and win for Best Song in a motion picture.[5] The name's meaning is attributed to the fact that "it started with three people
in the group, [and] ended up with six; Three 6 Mafia" according to an interview with Juicy J.[6]
Their 2005 single, "Stay Fly," was also referenced in the argument of Three 6 Mafia's satanic "shoutouts" for the high
pitched, almost female voice, in the background at the beginning of the song. The voice was assumed, by at least some, to be
saying "Lucifer, Is My King, 'Til I Die" or "You're My God, You're My King, Lucifer." However, the track was actually derived
from the classic song "Tell Me Why Has Our Love Turned Cold" by funk/soul singer, Willie Hutch. The actual track says "You're my pride, you're my
dream, you're my dar-ling."
Juicy J and DJ Paul recently conducted an interview with Chris Loos and they were once again asked about the "Stay Fly" song
and Juicy J goes on to say that they aren't devil worshipers and that people should stop making that accusation. He even mentions
how his father is a preacher, "Father Houston", and that if he ever did worship Satan, his dad would kill him.
In an issue of Entertainment Weekly[citation needed], Juicy J defended the group, saying that the group's name was decided for
entertainment purposes: "Back then in the '90s, nobody knew who we were. We had to get ourselves out there and be known; put
something that would draw attention, and it did."
Dispute with Bone Thugs-n-Harmony
On the 1995 single Live By Yo Rep (B.O.N.E. Dis), Three 6 Mafia accused Cleveland group Bone Thugs-n-Harmony of stealing its style (a mix of quasi-harmonic rapping and blatant references
to the occult). A rebuttal from Bone Thugs-n-Harmony came on the track "All Original" and "U
Ain't Bone" on their album, The Art of War, that speaks critically of
Three Six. Bone continued to insult them on the song "Notorious Thugs", with
The Notorious B.I.G..There is also a song called Lay It Down with Kingpin Skinny Pimp,Lord Infamous, and Koopsta Knicca where Kingpin Skinny Pimp says "So fuck you bone biting our fuckin' style you hoes gonna
get kidnapped, you bitches lay it down". The dispute is over now. Krayzie Bone has been featured on an Project Pat album and in
the video for Lil Jon's "I Dont Give A F***", you can see Juicy J, DJ Paul, and La Chat standing
next to Krayzie Bone as he begins his verse.
Disputes with former members
The group was also able to make a number of other enemies with former members such as Playa
Fly, Gangsta Blac, T-Rock and Kingpin Skinny Pimp. They also lost several members such as Koopsta
Knicca, who left due to a monetary dispute, while La Chat and Gangsta Boo are currently pursuing solo careers. Gangsta Boo was rumored to have converted to a more
conservative form of Christianity, changing her name to Lady Boo, feeling that "Gangsta"
was no way to express her beliefs, but she switched back to Gangsta Boo and began rapping with her old style shortly after her
departure.
Discography
-
Albums
Filmography
Feature films
Television series
DVDs
- Choices: The Movie (2001)
- Choices II: The Setup (2005)
- Clean Up Men (2005)
- Ultimate Video Collection (2006)
Original television series
References
- ^ Three 6
Mafia, Santaolalla Win Musical Oscars Jonathan Cohen, March 06, 2006
- ^ a b Three 6 Mafia Wins Oscar Kim Osorio and Ivory M. Jones, March 06, 2006
- ^ Offical MTV site for Adventures in Hollyhood
- ^ Triple 6 Mafia official site. No direct link to information due to Flash site
- ^ Three 6 Mafia: Award Tour
- ^ Interviews: Three 6 Mafia, EightBall, MJG & Yo Gotti - True Hustlers of
Memphismemphisrap.com, July 29, 2005
External links
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