With Three 6 Mafia members DJ Paul and Crunchy Black (and even fight catalyst Bizzy Bone) all dismissing any further beef following the Verzuz fight heard-around-the-world, both camps are happy to move past the drama.
Longtime Bone Thugs-n-Harmony manager Steve Lobel was spotted breaking up the fight on stage in real-time and took to Instagram to deliver his timeline of events while chastising the gossip-driven media.
“I want to address that all the blogs and sites & news outlets that only talked about the negative and probably wanted the guys to fight and for worse things to happen as well so they can report the bad things are clowns,” Lobel said in part on Wednesday (December 8). “So much got overlooked because of what happened but anyway thanks again to Triller & Verzuz and every person involved behind the scenes that worked so hard to make this happen which took a long time and hard work to do and make this possible!”
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DJ Paul Shares His Side Of Bizzy Bone Verzuz Fight: ‘I Just Stood Up For My Boy Juicy J’
Three 6 Mafia frontman DJ Paul couldn’t agree more. During a recent conversation with HipHopDX, he expressed an actual desire to produce a Bizzy Bone album (provided the proper self-reflection be conducted).
Looking past the madness, DJ Paul spoke highly of both his own and his crew’s track record, as well as their Verzuz performance. Bone Thugs-n-Harmony angered fans by not performing one of their signature songs, “1st Of Tha Month” from 1995’s E. 1999 Eternal, but DJ Paul can empathize.
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“I can go for days with Verzuz,” he exclaimed, trying to calculate what Three 6 Mafia records they could’ve possibly left on the table on December 2. “I can’t even have this conversation with you right now. Y’all already know what it is with Three 6 Mafia — we got so many hits. And we [Verzuz] opened up the gates to post any song we produced for, we got A$AP Ferg … A$AP Rocky … Cardi B. Just looking at my wall of plaques, we got everyone!”
The Memphis rap legends took full advantage of the established platform Verzuz has built since the unpredictable wifi days of remote Instagram rap battling. They flexed their extensive collaborator list and spotlighted guests such as Lil Wayne and Wiz Khalifa and fellow hometown legends in 8Ball & MJG and Young Buck.
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While the name Three 6 Mafia sounds resolute going into 2022, the grind was long and arduous, evidenced from their now-classic catalog of lo-fi underground mixtapes (as in actual cassettes) and aspiring blockbuster albums with each passing year.
In 2005, they even named their eighth studio effort Most Known Unknown — a cheeky nod to the notoriety that escaped a rap group who had compiled multiple platinum and gold plaques and even prior No. 1 album atop the Billboard 200.
And then, they won an Oscar for 2005’s “It’s Hard Out Here For A Pimp” from the Hustle & Flow film starring Terrence Howard (also a Verzuz guest). An Academy Award win is an extremely rare feat for a Hip Hop artist. Only Eminem and Common join Three 6 Mafia and Frayser Boy in the prestigious club.
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Crunchy Black Says Bizzy Bone Started Three 6 Mafia Verzuz Fight Because They Were Losing
DJ Paul attributes the group’s success to having a universal sound, saying, “At the end of day, everybody loves Three 6 Mafia. We literally changed the sound of music. Our drum patterns, our high-hats — all of that changed the sound of music. We produced everyone from Miley Cyrus to Katy Perry and everybody you can name right now. And that’s what people need to recognize. You got country singers out here doing DJ Paul drum patterns. I really saved music.”
Three 6 Mafia’s last official album arrived in 2007 in the form of Last 2 Walk. In the ensuing years, DJ Paul, Juicy J and Project Pat established themselves as solo rap legends outside the group. Original collaborators Lord Infamous and Koopsta Knicca, unfortunately, passed away. But with Gangsta Boo and La Chat actively making music and Crunchy Black actively talking to DJ Vlad, the stars appear to be aligned for a proper reunion.
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“We’ll make it happen, we’re talking,” DJ Paul assured.
Three 6 Mafia fans should take the words and run wild with it. Relieve their Bone Thugs-n-Harmony Verzuz battle as the plans are finalized.
