Name	Thre 6 Mafia
Height
Naionality	Amercian
Date of Birth
Place of Birth	America
Famous for

Without compromising their dark image as a malevolent rap group from the South, Three 6 Mafia quickly evolved from a humble underground rap collective to a commercially successful dynasty by retaining their raw qualities and releasing countless albums under a number of monikers. Representing Memphis, TN, the group’s six core members — Crunchy Black, Gangsta Boo, Lord Infamous, Koopsta Knicca, Juicy “J,” and DJ Paul — give the group its dark image, vividly rapping about drug use, violent aggression, pornographic sex, and anything else remotely evil. Furthermore, group leaders Juicy “J” and DJ Paul’s cinematic production perfectly compliments the group’s theatrical rapping, causing many to call them the South’s Wu-Tang Clan, as both groups are led by in-house production, feature a closed roster of rappers, and also release innumerable affiliated solo and compilation albums. After releasing their first official album in 1995 and their first major-label album in 1997, Three 6 Mafia soon found themselves on the verge of superstardom; once When the Smoke Clears debuted at number six on Billboard’s album charts in summer 2000, it became evident that Three 6 Mafia no longer were an underground group.

Before Three 6 Mafia became a sprawling slew of loosely connected side projects, DJ Paul began his musical career as a popular Memphis DJ around 1990, creating mix tapes at home with his brother, Lord Infamous. In 1991, DJ Paul met up with another hot local DJ, Juicy “J,” who was a fan of his mix tapes; the two began producing tapes with them rapping over beats and they eventually began integrating local MCs into their music. After Juicy “J” and DJ Paul honed their beats to the point where they had developed a trademark sound (later showcased on Underground, Vol. 1, a collection of their early recordings from 1991-1994), they began officially collaborating with local MCs; these resulted in their first underground release as Triple 6 Mafia, Smoked Out Loced Out. After an enthusiastic response within the South, the group changed their name to Three 6 Mafia and put out their first official album in 1995, Mystic Stylez.

At this early point in their career, the early Three 6 Mafia camp prided themselves on being as raw as possible, rapping explicitly about sex, drugs, and violence. While these topics weren’t exactly MTV material, they did garner a considerable cult following — quite similar to what Esham was doing in Detroit at the time — and the group used controversy to further fuel their growing popularity via the media by releasing an EP, Live by Yo Rep, which took lyrical shots at Bone Thugs-N-Harmony. After following up their debut and EP with a second album, Da End, Three 6 Mafia signed to Relativity Records. Having released their early albums on the group’s independently run Prophet Entertainment label, their first major-label release, Chapter 2: World Domination, found the group polishing up their production and tweaking their image a bit. They also reprised “Tear the Club Up” from Mystic Stylez as “Tear the Club Up ‘97″ and found themselves with a respectable anthem that made its way out of the South.

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 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). Similar in approach to Master P’s No Limit Records at the end of the ’90s, a glut of Three 6 Mafia-affiliated albums soon flooded the market. Though even the most diehard fan couldn’t possibly keep up with every release, these many albums did help bring increased awareness about what was going on in Memphis. This became evident in summer 2000 when the long-awaited “official” Three 6 Mafia follow-up to 1997’s Chapter 2 album, When the Smoke Clears, finally hit the streets. Aided immensely by the surprising national success of the lead single, “Sippin’ on Some Syrup,” in a few non-Southern markets, the album debuted at number six on Billboard’s album charts. Following the success of this album (which received no MTV and little national radio rotation), began work on the direct-to-video film Choices and on affiliated solo albums. Choices and its accompanying soundtrack were released in 2001, while Three 6 Mafia returned in 2003 with Da Unbreakables. Known Unknowns followed in 2005. ~ Jason Birchmeier, All Music Guide

From MyBrain.com:

Since 9/03, Three 6 Mafia has put out 2 new albums. Three 6 Mafia presents Da Headbussaz came out around January in the south, later up north. Da Headbussaz consists of DJ Paul, Juicy J, and Fiend (formerly of No Limit). Hypnotize Minds has also recently released Three 6 Mafia presents Lil’ Wyte “Doubt Me Now”. Lil’ Wyte is the newest member of the Hyptnotize Camp Posse. Three 6 Mafia’s new album “Da Unbreakables” is set to be released 6/3/03. In related news, former HCP member, T-Rock, has finally released his debut album, “Rocksolid/4:20″, on Memphis Rap Records. The album was originally recorded in 1997, but was pushed back numerous times by Hypnotize Minds. Three 6 Mafia then must’ve encountered some beef with T-Rock because they never released the College Park, GA native’s album. Two tracks from “Rocksolid/4:20″ were featured on 2 previous Hypnotize Minds releases. “What’s Up” ft. Pastor Troy appeared on the Hypnotize Camp Posse compilation, and “Slang N Serve” which appeared on the “Choices Soundtrack”. T-Rock has followed in the footsteps of many former HCP/Prophet Posse members (Playa Fly, Kingpin Skinny Pimp, Gangsta Blac, Indo G, K-Rock, MC Mack, Scanman, Gangsta Boo, and Koopsta Knicca) and released his album on another label.

From their label Sony:

Much has changed in the lives of DJ Paul, Juicy J, Crunchy Black and Lord Infamous since their humble days of hawking TDK mix tapes on the streets of Memphis’ world-renowned chit’lin circuit. It’s been more than a decade since the group dropped its first indie album, Mystic Stylez, and Three 6 Mafia has gone from being known as a local phenomenon to creating one of the most consistent catalogs in hip-hop history.

Year after year, this dynamic super group continues outdoing itself with chart-topping albums and club-smashing singles without ever missing a beat: Chapter 2: World Domination (released November 1997, RIAA Gold); When The Smoke Clears Sixty 6, Sixty 1 (released June 2000; RIAA Gold and Platinum); Da Unbreakables (released June 2003; RIAA Gold). While a mantle-piece of RIAA gold and platinum plaques has earned Three 6 Mafia more cred in the rap game than a zebra has stripes, the group has yet to receive major mainstream attention. Hence the name of the fourth Three 6 Mafia major label release, Most Known Unknown.

The album’s release date is preceded by the history-making lead single, “Stay Fly,” which features the Three 6 henchmen riding a soulful yet energetic mid-tempo track beside G-Unit guerilla Youngbuck and fellow southern trailblazers Eightball and MJG–all of whom call Tennessee home.

“A lot of people know or heard of us but don’t know everything that we actually did. We had a bunch of platinum and gold albums. We even got some underground albums that went gold, still independent,” says DJ Paul AKA King of Memphis. “A lot of people don’t know that cause you don’t really see Three 6 Mafia. We are real successful, but we never had the cover of no national magazine. We’re known in the hood, but then again it’s a lot of people that don’t know about us.”

Known around the M-town as Backyard Posse back in the day when the clique first hit the scene with the underground debut Smoked Out, Loced Out, Three 6 was formed by cross town rivals DJ Paul and Juicy J. Both had their respective sides of town on lock with volumes of mix tapes, but when they joined forces in the early 90s, nobody could touch ‘em.

After adopting the name Three 6 Mafia, the group dropped its regionally distributed debut, Mystic Stylez, in 1995. The album sold a whopping 80,000 units, an impressive number for a local release. The group’s subsequent full-length effort, Da End, more than doubled those numbers with an astonishing 200,000 units, prompting Relativity Records to sign Paul and Juice to a major label deal giving Three 6 its own Hypnotize Minds imprint.

And Three 6 has yet to let up as the group generates hit after hard-hitting hit. While battle anthems like “Who Run It,” “Tear Da Club Up” and “Ridin’ Spinners” will forever cause dance riots in da clubs, label owners Paul and Juicy J (AKA Juice Man) have also loaned their frenzied production skills to such musically diverse artists as Mike Jones, Remy Martin, Ludacris and Ying Yang Twins. But despite all the cred and collegial props and consistent hit-making, the gentlemen in Three 6 Mafia are still the most under-appreciated pioneers in southern rap today.

“A lot of times we’ll do songs like ‘Sippin’ On Syrup’ or ‘Who Run It’ at shows and people are like ‘I didn’t know y’all sung that,’” Paul says. “A lot of other people probably got the credit for the songs that we did because they didn’t know whose song it was.

He continues, “When you’re drunk in the club, you be getting buck. When the song is over, you ain’t gone walk to the DJ booth and ask whose song that was.”

Most Known Unknown will undoubtedly add new tunes to Three 6’s long list of club bangers with cuts like the braggadocios “Don’t You Get Mad,” the pimped-out groove “Poppin’ My Collar,” featuring Houston hard hitter Lil Flip, and the angst-filled “Run Into Your Ass” featuring headlining label signee Project Pat, who was recently released from prison on probation violation charges.

Whether or not Three 6 Mafia is ever recognized as one of the most consistent and prolific groups to arise from the south, the Three 6 legacy will continue to speak for itself. Real will always be recognized amongst the real.

“We ain’t gone say we started it, but we are a part of the down south movement,” says Juicy. “Even if you don’t see it on TV or hear about it, we’re still selling.” With that, Three 6 Mafia’s moving ahead full-blast letting the world know that the Most Known Unknown is for real…and for keeps.