With nearly three decades in the music industry, Three 6 Mafia’s influence has been heard across the board. As hip-hop’s reached its pinnacle of popularity in the past five years, Three 6 Mafia’s influence has become inescapable. DJ Paul and Juicy J created this eerie, dark sound that inspired the uptick in rappers using the triplet flows that Lord Infamous introduced. Meanwhile, Travis Scott, Rae Sremmurd, and Cardi B are the tip of the iceberg when it comes to artists who’ve sampled or repurposed Three 6 Mafia tracks to their own success in recent years.
Paul and Juicy J’s humble beginnings in Memphis transformed into a giant empire that has claimed a stake in Southern hip-hop. In a tale that’s being groomed for a TV series, DJ Paul’s beginnings started when he was hustling mixtapes at school before ultimately landing a distribution deal with Select-O-Hits — an independent distributor owned by the Phillips family who put out Elvis’ records. The local fame snowballed into national success that molded the Three 6 Mafia empire.
“Me and Juicy paid $2,250 each,” DJ Paul told HNHH about making the first Three 6 Mafia project. “$4,500 to make the first Three 6 Mafia album and that shit probably turned into $450 million worth of shit over time, but that’s how it started.”
DJ Paul’s entrepreneurial spirit is a reflection of his overall interests, be it food or real estate. That’s the point of his newly relaunched Mafia Radio podcast with HotNewHipHop. DJ Paul will be diving into an array of subjects while remaining the “Hood News Man,” as he calls it.
“I just try and keep the guys up to date on it because I know a lot of these guys are just like me back in the day, they was in the streets,” Paul explained
“I try to be the Hood News Man. You know, let them know. Like, they standing on the corner doing what they gotta do and they get an alert that I just did a post. They look at it and be like ‘Oh shit, n***a, we gotta go back to Africa. They finna blow this motherfucka up n***a. Like okay, DJ Paul just tweeted we gotta go back to Africa, they finna blow the United States up.’ So, some shit like that or whatever. I just try and keep n***as informed of what’s going on and just try and help as much as I can.”
Ahead of the launch of Mafia Radio, DJ Paul chopped it up with HNHH about the new podcast, his relationship with John Singleton, paying homage, and so much more.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
HNHH: The new Three 6 drops are hard. I seen Metro rockin’ the other day in the “Runnin” video — crazy.
Man, all that shit hard. I been steppin it up here lately. I wanna turn it more into fashion. We got jogging suits and everything out.
Well, shit. Like, Three 6 is timeless in that sense. The influence goes beyond music and into the aesthetic. The shirt that I saw Metro rockin’ had that signature grungy Three 6 style.
Yeah, when I saw him wearing that shirt, I felt like — I ain’t even gon’ lie, I felt old. (Laughs) Nah, I’m just joking. But no, I felt like, I was like, now I know we were already this, but now we are an official household name. So it’s like when you go out and you see white kids and Asians and whatever, just all different races, rocking a RUN-DMC shirt. Like, I’ll be in a grocery store — the healthy grocery store — and I’ll see some hot white girl wearing a Public Enemy shirt. She probably can’t tell you none of the lyrics to “911 Is a Joke” but it’s just like (laughs) — It’s just, I don’t know, it’s just so huge. It’s just, like I said, it’s a household name, you know? And they love that vintage stuff. And when I saw that I was like, “Damn, we’re officially one of those groups right now. We’re officially one of those groups.” Like, I’m not in Hot Topic or nothing like that. I would love to be, but that felt like one of those Hot Topic moments to me. Growing up, walkin’ in there, buying a Van Halen shirt or something. And now seeing kids do the same for me, it’s just online. It’s cool.
Just like on that note of being a household name, do you think that the brand itself is as big as the music? Because you can’t deny how influential that sound is to the current sound of hip-hop right now.
Right now, our music is bigger than our brand. You know, I’m tryna get it the other way. ‘Cause, you know, right now, like, a lot of people are influenced by us and you hear it in every genre of music, basically, these days. I done heard country music. I have produced country music that’s been with some of our little seasonings of Three 6 Mafia. Our sound is everywhere. As far as our brand, it’s not everywhere like that because there’s still people who don’t even know our name. Like, they know it, but there’s still a lot of people that don’t. I be walking down the street and people are like, “Ain’t you that rapper? That dude, um?” You know, they know, and they know it and they know the songs and I’ll be like “Ah, yeah” and I’ll tell ‘em. Most of the time I don’t tell ‘em, but if I tell ‘em, I’ll be like “Yeah, Three 6 Mafia.” They’ll be like, “Three 6 Mafia! What did you guys sing?” Well, we had a little song called “Slob on the Knob,” “Stay Fly,” “Poppin’ My Collar.” And they be like, “Oh my god!” And they start going crazy about it, just from that. So, it’s still the name ain’t out there like it could be.
You know, we still get looked over for some stuff. This and that. Like, I think the last time they had that Hip-Hop Honors Awards or whatever it is that they had on TV. We still ain’t never been on none of those. Like, when you see a lot of these things about who’s the hottest producer or what was the hottest group in the 90s. And you see all these things and they still forget about us. But they’ll have a million people on there that was influenced by us and may even have remakes of our songs on there. So, you know, for whatever reason, people still wanna — I think they do it purposefully — some people do look over Three 6 Mafia so, that’s why I said the brand ain’t there but the music is there. They love the music. They just don’t wanna show no love to us for whatever reason (Laughs). But I’m not trippin’ though, because we got the Oscar (laughs).
“We still get looked over for some stuff. This and that. Like, I think the last time they had that Hip-Hop Honors Awards or whatever it is that they had on TV. We still ain’t never been on none of those. Like, when you see a lot of these things about who’s the hottest producer or what was the hottest group in the 90s. And you see all these things and they still forget about us. But they’ll have a million people on there that was influenced by us and may even have remakes of our songs on there.”
I mean, that’s what I was about to say. You guys kinda did what no rap group accomplished at the time and broke down the door for the culture moving forward. And it’s crazy that you even mentioned that you don’t feel like you get the recognition you deserve. You guys are the OGs who kicked off a lot of the wave that you know, I witnessed growing up. And I feel like kids nowadays are witnessing as they grow up.
Mhm. I mean there’s a lot of kids — I mean really, really love us now, because a lot of these kids just startin’ to find out who we are. You know, it’s cool. So the thing about it though, it’s like this because I never wanted the fame. You know, I never wanted the fame. When we first started off, we used to wear masks on our album covers like Mystic Stylez and Live by Yo Rep, and stuff like that. If it was up to me, I should’ve kept those masks on. But you know the fucking girls started getting at us at these concerts and we took ‘em off. But should’ve kept ‘em on. Should’ve kept ‘em on. Like, man, I’d love to be like a KISS or ICP or something like that. You can go to the grocery store and nobody recognize who you is. You can live where you want to. You don’t have to live behind gates and shit like that. Man, I would love that. Just live in a fucking forest somewhere by myself and go to the little town grocery store and nobody know who I am. Can you imagine how good that would be? I can’t live in a small town like that, but every day I wanna try. Every day, I was always able to laugh at it like, “What the fuck small town in South Dakota can I move to?” Something like that. You know what I’m saying? I don’t care about the fame. I like it being just like this. You know, the people who needed to recognize us [did it] with the Academy Award. We wrote a great song for that movie. It was a great movie. Had to do with our city. With great people. Rest in peace John Singleton. Craig Brewer, from Memphis, he was a big fan of ours.
John Singleton was a personal friend of mine. Even years before Hustle & Flow. We was in my hotel room in 2002. We was making Three 6 Mafia, Choices 2 movie. We was on on Sunset Boulevard and John Singleton came to my room. He was like “One day, I wanna make a movie like y’all.” I’m like “n***a, I wanna make a movie like yours,” like Boyz N Da Hood was the shit, you know? But he was like, “I wanna make a movie like y’all’s, like a Boyz N Da Hood, but in the South. In Memphis, just like y’all did with Choices 1, something gritty like that. You know?” Four years later, he came to Memphis and outta nowhere we was making Hustle & Flow together and won an Academy Award together. So it was great. And I like it just like that. I don’t want too much publicity.
No, for sure. And just on that topic of John Singleton. It was a tragic loss to cinema and the culture. Can you just like, expand a little bit just about your guys’ relationship? Even following the Oscar. Like how did that develop over the years, like up until his passing?
Man, all the way up to — I would have to ask my best friend Computer the exact day. But all the way up to, like, five months before he passed away, I got pictures of me and John when we went to some kind of get-together. Uh, ah yeah! It was a T.V. show that he had. And they did a premier for it at this kinda bar-lounge in Studio City. And we went out there. I went there with him. We hung out. And he was telling us that he was kinda, wasn’t feeling too good and was having issues with something. And my boy Computer was telling him, “Boy, you gotta start eating better, eating healthier, John.” And he was like “Man, I’m getting to it.” Or something like that. I don’t remember exactly how we worded it. My best friend do because we just had this conversation. But he was just telling us how he was getting to eating healthier and this and that and whatever. But we had been friends with John for a long time. We would see John out, and I would talk to John a lot. Juicy even went to John’s condo overlooking the water in Miami. Elevator opens straight up into the unit. View of the beach, view of the ocean and all that. I never went to that, but that’s how close we were with John Singleton. For years and years and years.
Johnny Nunez/WireImage/Getty Images
I didn’t even realize the relationship was that tight-knit between you guys.
Yeah, it was real tight.
Can you tell me — Like, obviously saying a film like Choices is something that he aspired to make and Boyz N Da Hood is a classic. I was just wondering, how do you think his influence bled into your music?
Yeah, man. When Boyz n the Hood came out man, that movie. When we was watching that movie, it felt like I was watching my own life. Because that’s the kind of life we was living then. That’s the kinda shit I was going through.
Like, I’ll never forget one day, you know, on the popular scene, where he hollerin’ “Ricky!” when he got shot, and this and that? Well I had a situation like that. You know, where I was walking and the opposite n***as rolled up on us. You know, he asked me a couple of questions and he was like, this and that and blah blah blah. And then, you know, I was like, “Fuck you” and I threw my shit up, you know? This and that. We didn’t have no straps on. We had left them at the house because we was just walking, just dudes walking up to the drug store just to get some fuckin’ candy. I always loved candy. So we left the straps at the house for the first time. Being stupid, knowing we had to walk through these n***as’ neighborhood. The opposites. And them motherfuckers saw us and pulled up in they goddamn truck. And I was like “Oh shit.” In Boyz n the Hood, when they pulled up on us — I didn’t even back down on him. I still repped my shit to the fullest. This and that. He holla’d some shit at me, like “Nah, n***as it’s this.” Blah blah blah blah blah blah. And this motherfucker just pulled his shotgun out. First thing came through my mind was that fuckin’ scene from that movie because this was around that time. This woulda been probably like ‘91 or — when did Boyz n the Hood come out? It probably came out in ‘90 or somewhere around there. But this was around that time. And that was the first — this maybe ‘91, ‘92, whatever — and that was the first thing that came to my mind. I was like “Damn, I’m ‘bout to get shot in the back, just like Ricky.” (Laughs).
Just like that. I started runnin’ and I was just waitin’ for it. Motherfuckas bust out to runnin’ and they never shot. Thank God they never shot. They didn’t even shoot. You know, then, the next day I had to revisit they neighborhood and the outcome was a little different because I had my shit with me then but yeah. They didn’t shoot me. Thank God they didn’t. We wouldn’t be havin’ the fucking conversation right now. You know what I’m saying? Wherever them n***as right now, I’m not even mad at you. We was enemies back then, but you know what? My n***a, peace.
That’s a crazy story.
But I was thinkin’ about that situation with the Boyz n the Hood. So, just to answer your question, when I used to look at the Boyz n the Hood, it used to just make me think of how we was. How we was growing up and this and that. And I was like, “Man, look, we gotta get up outta here. Like, this some bullshit here. Like n***a ‘bout to get killed and shit. You know, all this back-and-forth, going to war shit we doing with these n***as, all that shit.” I was like, “this shit is stupid. We gotta get outta this.” And you know, I just, I just stopped walkin’. I would go places and I would drive my car. Make sure I have my shit with me. But the walkin’ shit, I stopped. Then I just started lockin’ myself more in the studio in my mama’s bedroom house. You know what I’m saying? One day, I was at the studio, a n***a rolled past my mama’s house shot up in the air. Boom, boom, boom, this and that. Same n***as. I looked out the window. I saw speeding down the street in a Grey Lincoln. This and that and I was callin’ up my boys and I was like, “We gotta do the same thing that they just did, so get ready. I’ll be there in a minute.” You know, eventually, all that shit stops. The funny part about it is all them n***as who I was going back and forth to war with ended up buying tapes from me at school, and that’s what squashed our whole beef. They would secretly, lowkey come up to me, and meet me in bathrooms and shit like that and buy tapes from me. Even though we was opposites. And they didn’t want nobody to know that they were buying tapes from me. And today, me and all those n***as — not the ones who shot at me, they was older dudes, they were the OG’s or whatever. But the younger ones who was under them, who was trying to hate me, as well, those dudes are my friends now. Some of ‘em in jail or whatever, but all of us became friends through my music. They would sneak and buy tapes from me, that’s the crazy part about it.
How did you get into that hustle of pushing tapes? Even the fact that like that’s what brokered peace between you and your ops. Can you just tell me a little bit about those times?
Yeah, some I gotta save because we’re writing this TV show, but I’ll tell you a little bit about it because I’m in bed with you guys. We gon’ do business together. So I’ma tell you a little bit. Basically, how the whole thing started was when I had started making mixtapes my brother went to the feds, he was sending me money from feds to get some equipment. So I was paid $220 a month for some equipment I went and got. I got a four-track recorder, a keyboard, and a turntable. You know, one of my friends bought a mixer for me right after he killed his dad. Pretty weird. But he killed his dad, then he walked across the yard and was like, “Here you go Paul, I got a gift for you. Here’s the mixer. And I’ll see you later. I dunno. Probably finna go to jail for the rest of my life.” And I’m like, “Okay, that’s fucked up, but, alright, man. Lemme know how that go.” And he gave me the mixer, and I started making mixtapes just for fun. Just to learn how to use the equipment. I never wanted to be a DJ. I was kinda insulted when people called me a DJ, because I wanted to be like a producer. I didn’t wanna be a DJ. So, I just started making the mixtapes just to learn how to record simple loops and shit like that. How to use the equipment. And to make some money, I started selling the tapes at school for $2. I had this little brown bag where I could squeeze like 20 tapes in or whatever. And I go to school and sell ‘em for $2. It was 60-minute TDK tapes, but I only did one side, thirty minutes. And the kids would be like, “Man, this is jammin’, man. Can you do the other side?” And I was like, “Well, you gotta give another $2 and then I’ll do the other side.” And they was like, “Okay.” So they’d give me another $2, I’d go home, mix up some shit, and put it on the other side. And then from thereon, after like volume two on down, I just did the full 60 minutes. And it would be other people’s songs I was just mixing like a regular mixtape. But then, come volume four, I would start squeezing in my own songs. Songs that me and Lord Infamous — Rest In Peace, Lord Infamous — my brother, we would make. I’d just squeeze ‘em in there to ease ‘em in to just see what they thought about it. So it’d be like the fourth or fifth song, then it’d come around back in with some Ice Cube or something, N.W.A., whatever. Ease it in there. And people would come up to me like, “Aye, what was that fourth song in there?” I was like, “Ah, you like that? Eh, it’s some stuff. Just some stuff.” You know what I’m saying? So, after a while, I was just, I did that all the way up to volume ten. Come volume ten, it was all my beats. Just straight instrumentals, then the rest is history. After volume sixteen, it was all my songs, then that’s when we brought out an album.
“I got a four-track recorder, a keyboard, and a turntable. You know, one of my friends bought a mixer for me right after he killed his d
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