By Gail Mitchell
LOS ANGELES (Billboard) - What do you do after becoming the
first African-American rap group to win an Academy Award for
best song? If you're Three 6 Mafia, you stay focused on what
brought you to the game in the first place: music.
Fresh off their first European tour, Three 6 Mafia members
Jordan "Juicy J" Houston and "DJ Paul" Beauregard are anxious
to spread the word stateside about their latest studio album,
"The Last 2 Walk." The Hypnotize Minds/Columbia Records project
bows June 24.
The album's title is a reference to the group's remaining
two members.
"We're the last two dudes to walk," Juicy J said of the
former six-member Memphis group that became an indie force in
the early '90s. "We've managed to stay true to our plan: making
good music and building our label/production company. We are
the two people who saw the dream. We'll never stop doing our
thing."
"We're grateful for the Oscar (for "It's Hard Out Here for
a Pimp" from "Hustle & Flow")," DJ Paul said during a visit to
Billboard's Los Angeles office. "But we polished it, put it on
the shelf and went back to the same frame of mind we've had the
last 18 years."
"It's time for us to shake hands, throw back with the
locals and make new friends as we promote this album," Juicy J
said. "We had to get back to the main thing: music and our
fans."
Right now, the fan base is building around the pair's
high-energy dance single "Lolli Lolli (Pop That Body)."
Featuring Project Pat, the song's co-producer Superpower and
Hypnotize Minds artist Yung D, the song is No. 50 on the
Billboard Hot 100 singles chart this week.
"It's a different single for us," DJ Paul said. "But all of
our singles have been different. We put out various songs over
the last year (including "Doe Boy Fresh," "Like Money" and
recent street single "I'd Rather"), trying to make sure we got
the right one. This is our fastest-growing song in Three 6
Mafia history."
