Three 6 Mafia 'Last 2 Walk' album

Oscar wins and reality shows take some of the stress out of pimping, but real players know haters are always just around the corner waiting for them to slip. There was some question as to whether Three 6 Mafia were going to stay on their grind after snagging their golden statue from the Academy and moving out to Hollywood under an MTV microscope. After all, they'd gone through yet another lineup shakeup, and it'd been three years since they dropped the platinum-selling Most Known Unknown with their new album enduring numerous release delays. So with the group distilled down to core members, and main producers, DJ Paul and Juicy J, the two hit the studio as a duo and came back with their latest thug symphony, Last 2 Walk. Featuring guest turns from Akon, UGK and Project Pat among others, the album stays true to their Memphis roots with its bruising lyrics and towering beats. Interested to see how they walked the fine line between super stardom and hood fame, we sat down for an interview with DJ Paul. Along the way, he told us why you should never underestimate L.A., Soulja Boy or the power of lemonade.

interview
Question [q]: What was it like having the cameras in your face 24 hours a day on your show [Adventures in Hollyhood]?

Answer [a]: It was cool.

q: It wasn't too much for you?

a: No, I mean when you're making money, man, you don't really think about that. I've got certain friend's houses that I go to, and there will be cameras shining on me anyway. They're under surveillance.

q: When you watch it, do you feel like they captured who you really were?

a: In a clean way, yeah. They couldn't really show you who we really are. They would've gotten a call from the FCC or whoever.

It wouldn't have been a daytime show.

It would've had to be on Cinemax, after dark.

q: Whose got the bigger freaks, L.A. or Memphis?

a: Both. They're just different. Memphis has big girls. L.A. has thinner girls who work out and don't eat meat and stuff.

q: Out here in Hollywood, it's the land of actors and pretenders. Did you feel like you ran into some real hustlers, or was everyone out here faking?

a: I've got a lot of homies out there. They're real cool. If I met someone out there that was fake, I got away from them. L.A. got gangstas like hell.

We've been bumpin some of the new cuts off the album. The first time I heard "Loli Loli (Pop That Body)" in the club, the ladies went crazy, and that's all I needed to know.

q: Did you dance?

a: I was out there. No holding up the wall allowed.

Cool. Sweat it a little bit.

The album is fresh, but it still sounds like Three 6 Mafia. Some folks thought you were going to go Hollywood on us.

It was all about keeping the same sound-what the fans wanted to hear. That's what we were trying to do. Just keep the same sound.

q: With only two people in the studio for this record, was it tougher or easy getting the songs made?

a: For a majority of the records, we produced all the beats and mixed all the songs. It was easier this time, because we controlled everything in the studio.

q: Since you had less people to please, do you feel like you came out with a product that you were even happier with than before?

a: Hell yeah. It's easier with less people. Look at Michael Jackson vs. The Jackson 5.

q: You've got a lot of powerhouse collaborations on the album-Akon, Good Charlotte. How did you decide who you were going to work with?

a: It was actually a lot of people who we hung with. We hung out with Good Charlotte. We didn't hang out with Akon, but we chose people who we were fans of too.

q: Where did you record?

a: Memphis and L.A. both.

q: Did you have everybody come in or did you send tracks out?

a: With Akon, we went to his studio in L.A. It was a little of both. Good Charlotte came to our house. Lyfe Jennings came to our house.

q: "That's Right" with Akon sounds like Three 6, but he dropped the perfect hook on it. When you were putting it together, did you have him in mind specifically?

a: He produced that. Akon put the whole track together. Then he let us hear it, and we loved it.

q: The industry is all about having that monster single, or monster ringtone, right now. For folks to really appreciate what you do, they've got to hear the whole record though. Do you ever feel torn between making an entire record and just putting these singles out there?

a: We don't really try and make singles. They're almost impossible. We cut 40 or 50 songs, and we sit back and listen to them. We bring DJs in and have them fill out a survey. We go by what people think and by what we hear themselves.

q: You seem to be doing this with the streets, with the clubs, with the DJs and with the fans in mind. Did you ever have to break it down to the record company, and tell them you were going do something they weren't feeling, because that's what the people wanted?

a: No, they listen to our opinion. They know we know our fans more than they do.

q: You said you recorded 40-50 tracks this time around. You already dropped "Dope Boy Fresh" on us, and that wasn't on the album. Are we going to be able to hear any of the other cuts?

a: Yup. Some of them are on an exclusive, which I don't think is available anymore. We did a Circuit City exclusive mixtape. When the album came out, there was a bonus on iTunes, and it had some of the songs. The rest you'll hear on another album.

I feel like the game's poppin' all over the map. You've got cats down South, NY is doing their own thing and Miami is obviously hot this year. There's room for everybody to get a piece right now.

Yeah, it's a beautiful thing. You've got all kinds of things now. Soulja Boy and other people are rapping about report cards and stuff. And you've got stuff like Puffy and Jay Z, with more grown up music-expensive alcohol and expensive clothes and valet parking. Then there's Three 6 Mafia for people doing drugs and tripping in clubs.

q: Folks take their shots at Soulja Boy saying that he ruined hip hop. Do you feel the younger generation is on the right track to keep this music going?

a: I think Soulja Boy did a great thing. I wish my 12-year-old son sold a million of anything-CDs, lemonade, whatever. Soulja Boy did his thing. I bet he cashed some checks.

biography
Three 6 Mafia secured its place in hip-hop history and the annals of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences when "It's Hard Out Here For A Pimp," from the highly acclaimed "Hustle & Flow," took home the Best Achievement In Music Written for Motion Pictures (Original Song) Oscar statue on Sunday, March 5, 2006.

The Academy Award win was the most visible of a long series of triumphs for Three 6 Mafia. That year's Best Song Oscar also represented a major victory for hip-hop itself as the groundbreaking art form, as represented by Three 6 Mafia, broke out of the underground to achieve bona fide recognition from the mainstream. That same year, Three 6 Mafia was presented with the Key to The City of Memphis by Mayor Willie W. Herenton, the city's first African-American mayor and became the first rap performers to be given a "Note on Beale Street," the Memphis equivalent of a star on Hollywood Boulevard.

Originally released in late 2005, Most Known Unknown, the last major label release from Three 6 Mafia prior to Last To Walk, was singled out as "one of the year's best hip-hop albums," by Kelefa Sanneh in a "Critic's Choice" review in The New York Times. The RIAA platinum-certified Most Known Unknown entered the Billboard Top 200 album sales chart at #3 while also debuting at #1 on both the R&B Album Sales and the Rap Album Sales charts.

Most Known Unknown once again upped the ante on Three 6 Mafia, whose previous album, the RIAA Gold-certified Da Unbreakables, debuted at #4 on the Top 200 in 2003 and the Rap album sales chart at #1. Da Unbreakables became the #1 best-selling album in Birmingham, Chattanooga, Jackson, Knoxville, Little Rock, Memphis, Mobile, Nashville, and Paducah.

Garnering a cult-like following since their humble beginnings peddling TDK mix tapes, the Memphis, Tennessee-based Three 6 Mafia personify the essence of Down South Hip-Hop. With an ever-growing string of gold and platinum accomplishments, the group has never lost its core connection to the pulse of the underground. Three 6 Mafia has had a series of successful recordings dating back to 1995 and the group's initial releases: the first independent release, Smoked Out, Loced Out, the first full-length album, Mystic Stylez (which sold more than 200,000 copies), and the Live By Your Rep EP.

Three 6 Mafia scored its first major label success in 1997 with Chapter 2: World Domination (Relativity), which sold more than 800,000 copies. The group claimed gold status on the destructive lead single, "Tear Da Club Up." Even more success came with the follow-up album, When The Smoke Clears, in 2000. That album debuted at #6 on Billboard's Top 200 album sales chart, and has sold well over one million copies. As if musical success weren't enough, the group moved into the video realm, releasing the Choices DVD and Choices soundtrack album in 2001. The Choices DVD has sold more than 100,000 units (which is platinum status for home DVDs/videos). A well-received follow-up DVD, Choices II: The Set-Up, was released in March 2005.

Three 6 Mafia starred in the MTV reality show "Adventures In Hollyhood."

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Three 6 Mafia - Last 2 Walk