Three 6 Mafia Most Known Unknown CD

Memphis's Three 6 Mafia had been slugging it out for over a decade and a half before they really hit the mainstream consciousness with their exhilarating performance at the 2006 Academy Awards. 2005's MOST KNOWN HITS is an appropriate introduction to the group led by Juicy J and DJ Paul. The album features album highlights dating back to 1997 and their album CHAPTER 2: WORLD DOMINATION, generally considered their breakthrough-it was certainly the first that made them a name outside of regional radio. Three 6's songs do tend to begin sounding the same: Simple 808 beats under mostly sparse synths, as the rappers boast about bitches and weed, while threatening their detractors. This type of hip-hop is made for parties, and thus the greatest-hits package finds hits like "Sippin' on Some Syrup" and "Hit a Muthafucka" better served than on their respective albums where they might get lost amid the filler.

MOST KNOWN UNKNOWN, Three 6 Mafia's second 2005 release, perfectly sums up the Memphis rap outfit's position in the hip-hop universe. The collective flies remarkably under the radar for a band who bounced hard & grimy rhymes off each other long before the South became nationally known as dirty, but their influence spans far and wide in Southern rap thanks to their release of consistently arresting records. MOST KNOWN UNKNOWN finds the rhymes racing at a hypnotically frenzied pace from Young Buck-toting "Stay Fly" to the sinister, crawling "Half On A Sack."

As with practically every successive Three 6 Mafia album, Most Known Unknown is more of the same, executed a little bit better than before. That means a parade of first-rate productions by Juicy J and DJ Paul, the group's primary members, and plenty of street-level rhymes of the most hardcore variety. "Stay Fly" stands out -- not only amid the rest of the album, but amid the entire Three 6 catalog -- with its propulsive intensity and crafty hook. Juicy and Paul sample an old Willie Hutch song here, and the result is striking. Sure, Three 6 has always had a knack for roof-raisers like this, going back to similarly styled anthems like "Tear da Club Up" and "Hit a Muthafucka," but none have had such crossover potential. Features by Eightball, MJG, and Young Buck -- who are also from Memphis -- make the song even more dizzying, as the verses come quickly and hit hard. Nothing else on Most Known Unknown comes close to matching the excellence of "Stay Fly," unfortunately, though there are plenty of good songs here. "Swervin'" and "When I Pull Up at the Club" are two such instances, while "Side 2 Side" shows off Juicy and Paul's ability to import concurrent trends, in this case the "we-don't-dance dance" of Terror Squad's "Lean Back." And of course, you'll find all kinds of gratuitous profanity, sex talk, and drug references, along with over-the-top showboating aggression -- everything that has come to be expected from Three 6. Clocking in at 20-plus songs in roughly 80 minutes Most Known Unknown is indeed more of the same, plus a little extra quality, so if you're a fan, you won't be disappointed. On the other hand, if you're new to the group, likely introduced to them via "Stay Fly," you should expect over-the-top hardcore Southern rap. The beats are all done in-house and are the main draw. The rapping is not bad, though what the guys lack in technique and invention, they compensate for with lyrical excess. Three 6 Mafia is the hardcore of the hardcore, and not for the faint of heart. [Columbia released a screwed and chopped edition, which had become par for the course for Southern rap releases by the mid-2000s.] ~ Jason Birchmeier

Audio Remixer: DJ Michael "5000" Watts .

Personnel: Three 6 Mafia (rap vocals); Chrome, DJ Kayslay, 8Ball, Frayser Boy, Grandaddy Souf, Lil Wyte, MJG, Paul Wall , Project Pat, Remy Martin, Young Buck, Lil' Flip, Boogie Mane (rap vocals); DJ Paul , Juicy J, Kurt Clayton, Carlos "6 July" Broady (programming).

Audio Mixers: DJ Paul ; Mike Foster; Juicy J.Vibe (p.150) - 4 discs out of 5 - "Juicy J and DJ Paul deftly retool the formula by sliding soul samples and unexpected instruments into UNKNOWN's mix."