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Three 6 Mafia
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Three 6 Mafia | |
|---|---|
| Image:Three six mafis.jpg |
|
| Background information | |
| Also known as | Three 6 Mafia, Triple Six Mafia, Backyard Posse |
| Origin | Memphis, Tennessee |
| Genre(s) | Hardcore hip hop, Gangsta rap, Crunk, Southern hip hop, Horrorcore |
| Years active | 1991 – present |
| Label(s) | Hypnotize Minds Columbia Sony Loud Relativity Prophet |
| Associated acts |
Lil Wyte, UGK, 8 Ball & MJG, Project Pat, Kia Shine, Lord Infamous , Indo G |
| Website | www.three6-mafia.com |
| Members | |
| DJ Paul Juicy J |
|
| Former members | |
| Koopsta Knicca Gangsta Boo Lord Infamous Crunchy Black |
|
Three 6 Mafia (formerly known as Triple Six Mafia, Backyard Posse) is an American hip hop group, consisting of two members (originally consisting of 6 core 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.
Contents |
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).
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 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. Videos for "Ridin' Spinners" and "Ghetto Chick" were also made.
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.
On March 5, 2006, Three 6 Mafia made history as they became the first Black 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] Scorsese won the next year.
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 allegedly put off for years. Thereafter Three 6 Mafia consisted of remaining members DJ Paul, Juicy J and Lord Infamous. 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 June 3rd 2008.[4] Also as heard from the Project Pat's Album "Walkin' Bank Roll".Three 6 Mafia has stated, that there will be three "undated" new movies coming out,under the Hypnotize Film Production which are: "Choices 3: The Return of Big Pat, Hollyhood The Movie, and Streets of Memphis".
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 High"). 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."
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 Fuck", you can see Juicy J, DJ Paul, and La Chat standing next to Krayzie Bone as he begins his verse. DJ Paul & Juicy J have also produced a song for Bone called "We Workin" for their latest album Strength & Loyalty, however it did not make the final cut for the album.
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.
- 1995: Mystic Stylez
- 1996: Chapter 1: The End
- 1997: Chapter 2: World Domination
- 2000: When the Smoke Clears: Sixty 6, Sixty 1
- 2001: Choices: The Album
- 2003: Da Unbreakables
- 2005: Choices II: The Setup (DVD & CD)
- 2005: Most Known Unknown
- 2008: Last 2 Walk
- Hustle & Flow (2005)
- Jackass Number Two (2006)
- Rocky Balboa (2006) – "It's a Fight" is on the official soundtrack to the movie
- Jackass (2002)
- Flavor of Love (2006)
- MTV's Jamie Kennedy's Blowin' Up (2006) – episode was banned due to controversy after the first time it aired
- The Simple Life (2006)
- Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip (2006) – episode: "Pilot" – musical guest on the fictional sketch comedy show within Studio 60
- WWE SmackDown! (2006) - performed Some Bodies Gonna Get It (a song they made for WWE Wrestler Mark Henry from the album WWE Wreckless Intent) live when Mark Henry wrestled Chris Benoit in May of 2006, Henry continues to use the song as his entrance music
- Entourage (2006)
- My Super Sweet Sixteen (2006) Three 6 Mafia was the musical performance at the party
- Criss Angel Mindfreak (2006) – episode: "Celebrity Séance"
- Wrestling Society X (2007) – episode #2
- Rob & Big (2007) – Three 6 Mafia rapped at a party on an episode
- Wild 'N Out (2007) – Spring Break edition
- Mind of Mencia (2007) – Season 3, Episode 2
- Adventures in Hollyhood (2007)
- The Girls Next Door (2006)
- Beauty And The Geek (2007) episode 2 DJ Paul and Juicy J are judges in a rapping contest between the geeks
- Choices: The Movie (2001)
- Choices II: The Setup (2005)
- Clean Up Men (2005)
- Ultimate Video Collection (2006)
- Choices III: The Return of Big Pat (2008)
- Hollyhood The Movie (2008)
- Streets Of Memphis (2008)
- ^ 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
- Maxim.com Rap Public Service Announcement featuring Three Six Mafia
- Hypnotize Minds official website
- Three 6 Mafia official website on Sony Urban Music/Columbia Records
- Three 6 Mafia profile on MemphisRap.com
- Three 6 Mafia at MySpace
- Three 6 Mafia at the Internet Movie Database
- Drum and Bass Tribute to Three 6 Mafia
- Three 6 Mafia Video Interview at The Rap Hype
- Three 6 Mafia Interview
- Three 6 Mafia Yahoo Group
Categories: All articles with unsourced statements | Articles with unsourced statements since June 2007 | Best Song Academy Award winning songwriters | Horrorcore groups | Hypnotize Minds | Memphis rap artists | Southern hip hop musicians | Musical groups with siblings | Participants in American reality television series | People from Memphis, Tennessee | Three 6 Mafia | Southern rappers