INTERVIEW: Three 6 Mafia is Still Fly

Juicy J, of Academy Award winning hip-hop duo, Three 6 Mafia has enough energy to power a big city during a summer blackout.  He speaks fast in a way that pulls you in, may make your head spin once in a while but still holds your attention with his high enthusiasm.  It’s this energy that has made Three 6 Mafia so successful over the past twenty years and it’s what keeps them going.  They have returned to the scene with their new single “Feel it,” with Tiesto featuring Sean Kingston and Flo Rida off of their forthcoming album, “Laws of Power”.

While the other half of the duo, DJ Paul was unable to speak with us, Juicy J filled us in on everything including what it means to “go ham”, why he’s seriously considering retirement, getting inspired on the toilet, why every teen should be on their grind and more.
   
I love the new song, “Feel It.”  In the video it looks like you, Sean Kingston and Flo Rida had a lot of fun on the set of the shoot in Vegas.  Are there any funny or memorable moments from the shoot?

Juicy J:  What goes on in Vegas stays in Vegas you know the rule.  It was great with a bunch of beautiful women.  We went to clubs and to make a long story short we went ham.  

Okay, this is a new slang word to me or maybe I’m just getting older but what is "going ham"?

Juicy J:  It means we went aggressive and went in at the party.  The next day you may go turkey or wild turkey!

I get it now.  So it’s been almost 20 years that you and DJ Paul have been in the music industry.  Do you feel like this is your peak now?

Juicy J:  I can feel retirement right around the corner soon.  As of now I'm gonna make as much as I can make.  Any millions stacked on top of some other millions is some good millions!

Wow, you just said that you can feel retirement coming soon.  So could this be the last Three 6 Mafia record?

Juicy J:  I’m not saying right around the corner but I'm not gonna sit here and lie to you.  I'm always thinking about the next 5 or 6 years.  I don't think I'll be rapping.  I'm always thinking ahead.  Nobody lasts forever and there is a starting point and a stopping point.  I'm close to where I got to start thinking about my stopping point.

So if you retire what do you think you will be doing?

Juicy J:  I always keep my ears to the street and will break bread on any level; on the clothing line level.  We also got some television stuff and a cooking show we are working on called “Cookin’ Ain’t Easy.”  As of now no I'm not retiring and still hustling.

I heard about the cooking show.  Do you both cook often?

Juicy J:  We from the Dirty South and that’s all we do is cook.  We throw some shrimp on the barbie or some barbecue ribs and season it with some dry rub.  That's the Dirty South way.  All we do is cook fried chicken and bringing that to the big screen is interesting.

What’s your specialty dish?

Juicy J:  I like Japanese food, fried rice or it can be whatever.

Do you cook Japanese food?

Juicy J:  I can fry some rice and chop some vegetables and chicken and you be like ‘damn’!

All this food talk is making me hungry so let’s go back to the music.  In your earlier songs the group had a lot of dark themes.  What attracted you to that sound and those themes?

Juicy J:  We grew up watching scary movies and love them.  I like the old ones like Jason and Freddy Krueger and Halloween. I like some new stuff but the old stuff like Prom Night, was better.  It inspired me with the sound and music.

I read that you’re always getting inspired at weird times and places for new songs.  So what’s the weirdest place where you wrote a song?

Juicy J:  Sitting on the toilet.  A lot of times you sit there and come up with all kinds of good music.

There’s a quote from you in your biography where you say that people in the hood are funny which is why you bring humor to some of your songs.  So do you have any funny hood stories?

Juicy J:  I think people in the hood are happy when they get money in their hand and that is funny.  They laugh, joke and roll dice and do all kinds of crazy stuff.  But that’s how we do it and keep doing what you do.

You and DJ Paul have been partners in crime for so long now.  So what do you respect about him the most?  What is the glue that keeps the relationship strong?

Juicy J:  We break bread together and we are on the same page.  I like making money and he does too.  We made so much money that we forget about arguing.  It's about working together and meeting halfway.  This is a business and we are doing something we love to do.  So we respect one another.

I saw some recent photos of DJ Paul and it looks like he lost a good amount of weight.  Is that so?

Juicy J:  He probably started jogging around the block.  These days we eat so much fried food sometimes you got to jog and stay in shape.  If you jumping on stage they want to see someone young.  So you can eat that fried stuff but still gotta watch your weight.  There’s so much diabetes going on.  There’s nothing wrong with some turkey or broccoli.  It won’t hurt you to eat a chicken sandwich or something.

What kind of teen were you?

Juicy J:  I was a hustler and grinder.  I would do something nobody else wouldn’t do.  I always had a plan of making it out the hood.  That was always me.

Would you say that’s your message to teens to always stay focused?

Juicy J:  Yes, always have a plan and don’t give up.  If you a rapper or producer it’s not for everybody.  It’s not easy and it’s a stressful and tough job.  You have to believe in yourself and don’t stop hustling.