Oceans of blood, purple syrup, and pounding bass pervade every monstrous track by Three Six Mafia, currently touring as Da Mafia 6ix.
Straight outta Memphis and thuggin', DJ Paul's notorious crew of head smashers are a riotous force to be reckoned with. And like any great high-speed chase, you either have to roll with it or get rolled on.
Tomorrow night, they're gonna drop on downtown Miami's Grand Central like a ten ton subatomic bass bomb, alongside Flesh and Bizzy Bone, DJ Heron, Problem Kids, Layce, and a slew of openers. Here's what founding Three 6 Mafia member DJ Paul had to say about Wife Swap, Poison Clan, and dubstep.
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Crossfade: What do you think about what's going in Missouri right now?
DJ Paul: Ooooh ... Man, that's terrible. You know, this world so crazy right now with these police. Not all of 'em, but the ones that's crazy with it. I done went to jail a whole lot when I was young. Basically, what I always tell people is, when they get in a situation with the police, you gotta cooperate. As crazy as they be, you gotta cooperate. I can't speak on exactly what happened because I don't know. But it's sad. You would think they would taser him, especially if he ran off. If it was hand to hand and they didn't know if he had a gun or knife, I could see how it could happen. But for him to be down the street, that's terrible. It's serious out there.
What's the difference between police and a pig?
Police is the one that really does his job right. They try to save the dude jumping off the bridge or the lady that runs the stop sign. That's police. The pig is the ones that take the power of their job too far and treat people crazy and just abuse the power.
What's your history with Miami?
I been in Miami a bunch. We shot the "Sippin' on Some Sizzurp" video there. We did so many videos in Miami. I love it. I got a lot of friends in Miami. That's my town. Beautiful hot chicks.
What's your first musical experience with Lord Infamous, rest in peace?
When we was kids on Halloween years and years ago, we said, "We gonna be rappers," and we just started trying to rap.
How'd you meet Project Pat?
Through Juicy. That's Juicy's big brother.
What was going on when you got that stripper dancing on the fat guy?
Man, I was just hangin' with Orlando's finest, Mike Busey, at his booth at the Gathering of the Juggalos, just actin' a fool and playin' music and drinkin' and shit, and the girls was dancing on the poles and just started dancing on this man's lap and that shit went everywhere.
How's the response been so far to Da Mafia 6ix on this Massacre Tour.
Man, it's been great man. Real fun. Right now we're in Texas, one of our biggest markets, and it's been crazy. The shows and the fans been crazy. I love it over here on the Gulf Coast. Got to be in that water. All the tour has been in the Midwest and Northeast, so there wasn't any water to get in. But Dallas crunk, Houston crunk, real wild, 'bout 40 people on stage for the last song, and so much crazy shit I can't even remember.
See also: Five Signs You Might Be a Shitty Rapper
What are you working on now?
We just finished the Da Mafia 6ix and ICP album called "Killjoy Club." And that comes out Sept 2, and the new Mafia 6ix album we on now, and that's coming out on Halloween. It's going to be almost all dark shit. We just basically sticking to the old flavor. The fans want us just keeping it grimy. I don't wanna say too much about it. They steal ideas quicker these days. Everybody a musician 'cause it's easier to be one
What producers inspire you?
There's Doctor Dre, Hank Shocklee from Public Enemy, all the guys from Geto Boys, dudududududu, Bobcat, and The 45 King, a bunch of them, I could go on for days.
Did any Miami Bass records get to you in Memphis?
Definitely. Three 6 Mafia music was made with Ice-T in mind, Public Enemy in mind, Geto Boys and N.W.A in mind, and take all that and put a Miami drum beat up under it, like some DJ Magic Mike and some 2 Live Crew and some Bass Patrol, and some Poison Clan. We took the gangstaness of NWA and Ice-T, his dark sounds and his rock music, 'cause I grew up on rock as well and I liked that, and throw that bass in there 'cause we from the South, get the drums nice and loud. And Magic Mike was probably my favorite. He sold hundreds of thousands by himself with just a small distributor. And then we did the same thing and turned SelectoHits into the biggest gangsta rap distributor in the South, independently.
You were recently on Wife Swap trading wives with Plaxico Burress. If she would have been down, would you fuck?
Hahahahahaha. I like you, man. You don't hold nothin' back. Nah, you know why? For one, I got a good woman. If it had been chicks that I dated before her, yeah. But I still wouldn't have done it because of who her husband is. I'm a big fan of his. It was an unfortunate situation that happened to him [with that handgun]. One time, I almost shot a woman in the head the same way, This was in the '90s. The bullet went right over her head and into my wall. If it would have gone a little different, you wouldn't be talking to me right now, there would have been no Three 6 Mafia. So I got respect for him, and I got my girl, and I don't wanna mess that up. It's hard to find a good woman. I know how I used to be, and the niggas I hang out with, and if it was years back, fuck yeah, 'cause she's a nice-looking woman.
Do you record on the road?
Yeah, hell yeah. I'm actually doing some work right now with DJ Mister Gray from Miami, either he from there or he live there. I met him through Lil Jon. We all three doin' a record together right now.
Will you be going into any EDM trap releases?
Man, I made my first dubstep beat in '97, '98. But people wasn't ready for all that then, and they still ain't, even though Skrillex go out and make a million dollars a night. But I was always a fan of that. From '97 till now, I been making it, but nobody wanna believe in it, they like, "What the fuck is this?"
How'd you meet ICP?
I don't know exactly how we met, but we known each other forever. "Sippin' on Some Sizzurp," they was on that in 2000, and we crew.
If you could get sponsored by a pharmaceutical company, what drug would you want to represent?
Good question ... Maybe that company that used to make that Actavis. They made that purple syrup. I remember we made up that name, sizzurp, and it was so funny that it caught on to people. We made it, so they made millions of dollars. Before that song, nobody really knew about it outside of Tennessee, Philly, Texas. We tried to hold it back, but people found it, man. They found it.
Crossfade's Top Blogs
Three Six Mafia members performing as Da Mafia 6ix. With Bizzy Bone and Flesh-n-Bone. Hosted by 2 Live Crew, plus sets by Problem Kids, Layce, and DJ Heron. Grand Central, 697 N. Miami Ave, Miami. The show starts at 6 p.m. and tickets cost $25 to $75 plus fees via ticketfly.com. Ages 18 and up. Call 305-377-2277 or visit grandcentralmiami.com.
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