Three 6 Mafia may not have released an album in a decade, but the long-running group’s influence only grows with time. Its classics, or those by its extended family of artists, have been sampled or interpolated in tracks by Travis Scott, Cardi B, ASAP Ferg, J. Cole, G-Eazy, Rae Sremmurd, and many more.
So when DJ Paul’s rep reached out to Complex to make a big announcement about the future of the group, we were all ears. We got Paul on the phone while he was in between “practicing minimalism” by throwing out or donating a bunch of old stuff and putting the finishing touches on the new mixtape by his nephews’ group Seed of 6ix, and he gave us the scoop. Juicy J, Paul’s Three 6 cohort with whom he had alternately been publicly fighting and planning a reunion for years, had “resigned” from the group.
“Me and him had a conversation maybe four months back,” Paul explained. “What he told me was, ‘I’m done with Three 6 Mafia and I’m just gonna keep moving forward with my solo stuff.’ His solo stuff has been successful, so I wasn’t tripping out. Everyone has seen it coming. Me and him haven’t worked together in years. The last album we brought out together was in 2008, and it was called Last 2 Walk, because it was the last two to walk from a group of six. I had to respect his decision, and I wish him the best on his journey. I know it’ll be good for him. It’s been good for him already.”
What he told me was, 'I'm done with Three 6 mafia.' - DJ Paul
The other former group members, Paul explained, were not consulted on this, since they were no longer part of the project. Crunchy Black backed this up when Complex reached out. “I haven’t talked to nobody about it,” Crunchy said. “I guess they was keeping it a secret, and now they’re gonna let it out. They’re grown men… I’m not trying to be in the mix of what Paul and Juicy got going on.”
Paul wanted to make the resignation public so that the group’s supporters, who continue to hold out hope for a reunion, would know the truth.
“It’s time to tell the fans, because they keep asking,” he elaborated. “They need to know. There ain’t no use in us playing like it’s going to happen one day.”
And there is plenty of interest. There have been, according to Paul, offers for reunion concerts in recent years that would pay $250,000 or more.
he's not resigning from the group. we're still planning to do some three 6 mafia stuff. - ray, juicy j's manager
“I was down to do them, because I know the culture needed it,” he explained. “We’ve been turning those down because we could never really see eye to eye on how the business side of it would go.”
But Juicy J’s team has a different perspective than Paul on the situation. Juicy’s longtime manager Ray told Complex that no resignation occurred.
“He’s not resigning from the group,” Ray said. “We still planning in the future [to] do some Three 6 Mafia stuff.”
When told of Ray’s response, Paul stuck by his initial statement. Ray wasn’t on the phone for the conversation about the resignation, Paul insisted.
“I don’t deal with his manager,” he continued. “Me and Juicy deal with each other as we have for the last 25-plus years.”
Shortly after this article was initially published, former group member Gangsta Boo weighed in on the confusion.
“Paul told me we may get back on the road together minus Juicy and ask[ed] me if I was down, I told him yes,” she told Complex via text message. “I don't know what they pillow talk about but I am always 3 6 mafia and will ride for the name til the end. I don't use the name to throw it away when it's convenient. It made me who I am today and I'm okay with that.”
Resignation or no, DJ Paul stands ready to continue the Three 6 legacy. “I’m down for the group. I’m down for Three 6 Mafia. I’m down for the crew,” he says. “If it comes back and [is] done right, I’m down with it. It just has to be written out. It has to be like a movie. It has to be planned out right, have all the right parts, and then we can press play.”
