Like the precious metals in their grills, Three 6 Mafia are made up of the stuff to withstand the test of time. Band members have come and gone; collaborators have been jailed or born again. But at the group’s core, DJ Paul and Juicy J stay true to what they know best: Drinking and sex.
On their new release, Laws of Power, Triple Six take “Shots after Shots” of liquor, watch intoxicated women “Shake It” and still run with that “lil’ freak in Hollywood/ Sucks on dick/ Does it real good” that they mentioned in a previous, memorable hit, “Slob On My Knob.”
It would be fairly easy to nitpick Laws of Power for reused tropes from Three 6 Mafia’s previous work, but I prefer to think that these Tennessee good ol’ boys are perfecting their art.
On tracks like “Lil Freak (Ugh Ugh Ugh)” and “Medicine” (which, surprisingly, is not about a sticky herbal remedy), the beats are slow and typically Dirty South, layered with rapid hi-hat percussion and dramatic synthesizer riffs. DJ Paul, reportedly responsible for most of the production, seems to channel party anthems like Unk’s “Walk it Out” and Juvenile’s “Back that Ass Up.”
However, Laws is not all Southern fare. House music extraordinaire DJ Tiesto pumps up a staccato electronica beat on “Feel It,” previously released as a single, along with radio starlets Sean Kingston and Flo Rida joining Three 6 on the effects-laden vocals.
Three 6 Mafia may be a long way from their horrorcore beginnings (probably for the best; think Insane Clown Posse). Hell, they’ve even quit making claims to their “streetness.” But you don’t have to take them seriously in order to shake your ass on the dance floor, which is exactly what they want you to do.