The worldwide obsession with ‘trap’ was one thing, and then there’s Florida’s Raider Klan, who have based not only their entire sound on Three 6 Mafia’s early ’90s run, but their visual style and lyrical content too. While the band was on a hiatus of sorts, a litany of young producers were falling out of the woodwork quoting Three 6 Mafia as their primary influence. It didn’t work quite as well as they’d hoped – despite pre-empting a worldwide trend, dwindling sales meant that the group’s tenth album Laws of Power was shelved indefinitely by Sony, and Juicy J’s interest shifted to his newly successful career as a solo performer. Oscar in hand, Three 6 Mafia (who had now gone through umpteen line-up changes) then attempted to move past their underground Memphis roots and make a move towards genuine mainstream pop music, racking up collaborations with Good Charlotte and DJ Tiesto in the process. Even this, however, pales in comparison with the events of 2005, when DJ Paul and Juicy J were honored with an Oscar for their contribution of ‘It’s Hard Out Here For A Pimp’ to Craig Brewer’s Hustle & Flow. The band continued their ascent with breakout hit ‘Tear Da Club Up ‘97’ and the gold-selling LP Chapter 2: World Domination, but it wasn’t until 2000’s When the Smoke Clears: Sixty 6 Sixty 1 that they really began to make a mark, achieving platinum status and hitting number six on the Billboard chart. Indeed, quantifiable success would come much later. A far cry from the self-styled ‘crunk’ the band would make their calling card later on in their career, this fathoms-deep collision of horrorcore lyricism and corrosive samples would serve as the touchpaper for plenty of rap to follow, but failed to lift the band from their local scene. Cribbing the sub bass-heavy electro backbone of DJ Squeeky (something which Squeeky hasn’t forgotten), Paul and Juicy threw crumbling ambient textures and strings into the mix, resulting in a record that was as terrifying as it was heavy.įrom these decidedly lo-fi beginnings, the group switched up their name again, this time to Three 6 Mafia, absorbed core members Lola Mitchell (Gangsta Boo) and Darnell Carlton (Crunchy Black), and in 1995 released their first widely available album, the stone-cold-classic Mystic Stylez. Joined by Robert Cooper Phillips (Koopsta Knicca) and a plethora of backbenchers, they released their first full-length Smoked Out Loced Out in 1994, which cheaply laid out their raucous early style, punctuating it with comical skits and phone calls.
Paul was eventually introduced to fellow DJ and producer Juicy J (who had also become locally notorious for a popular series of tapes), and along with Lord Infamous they formed Backyard Posse, the group that would later become known as Triple Six Mafia. He took the blueprint of local pioneer DJ Spanish Fly and slowly began to make a name for himself, roping in his half-brother Ricky Dunigan (Lord Infamous) and other local artists such as Skinny Pimp and Playa Fly to spit bars over his beats. etc) to throwing together blends of original material. DJ Paul had been piecing together tapes since high school, and transitioned quickly from simply making compilations of tracks he liked (LL Cool J, N.W.A. You can’t talk about Southern rap without acknowledging pioneering Memphis posse Three 6 Mafia.įormed in the early ’90s by producers Paul Beauregard (DJ Paul) and Jordan Houston (Juicy J), the duo emerged from Memphis’s burgeoning mixtape scene.