Three 6 Mafia

Founded in 1991, Three 6 Mafia is a hardcore Southern hip-hop act from Memphis, Tennessee with a cult following thanks to their brand of horrorcore underground rap. The group's membership has fluctuated from album to album and numerous spin-offs and alternate incarnations of the group have come and gone, but producers Juicy J and DJ Paul have been constant figures, as have other core members Crunchy Black, Gangsta Boo, Lord Infamous and Koopsta Knicca. Side projects have included Tear da Club Up Thugs, Hypnotize Camp Posse, Da Headbussaz, not to mention various independent labels. The group first came together as Triple Six Mafia, recording a number of tracks through the early part of the decade. Their debut, however, was 1995's Music Stylez. A second album, Da End, came the following year and led to a distribution deal with Relativity and a flurry of further releases and solo projects. Eventually, Three 6 Mafia landed at Columbia and finally hit mainstream success with the album Most Known Unknown (2005), and its hit single “Stay Fly.” The next year saw them pick up an Academy Award for Best Original Song for “It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp,” which was featured in the film Hustle & Flow (2005). Although the group's most recent studio album as Three 6 Mafia was Last 2 Walk in 2008, various collaborations and side projects have surfaced since, including a mixtape and album from Da Mafia 6ix, which featured various members of Three 6 Mafia. In December 2013, Lord Infamous died of a heart attack and was followed two years later by the death of Koopsta Knicca, who passed away following a stroke and intracranial aneurysm. Gangsta Boo was found dead at her home on January 1, 2023. Despite the deaths and prolonged hiatus, rumors of more material from Three 6 Mafia have continued to circulate, though no firm commitments have ever emerged.