Three 6 Mafia To Perform at Oscars

A few days ago, telecast producer Gil Cates of the 78th Acadamy Awards announced that Three 6 Mafia will perform their nominated song from Hustle & Flow, "It's Hard Out Here For a Pimp". In the Acadamy Awards press release released February 17, Jordon "Juicy J" Houston, Paul "DJ Paul" Beauregard and Darnell “Crunchy Black” Carlton of Three 6 Mafia, along with the actress who sang the hook in the movie, Taraji Henson. This will be the first time that the Acadamy Awards will hold a rap performance. When many hip-hop fans first heard this, there was alot of criticism towards Three 6 Mafia, mostly because having them represent hip-hop as they perform for middle-aged white america on Oscar night is not the best first impression hip hop should make.

When it comes to hip-hop, it seems that whatever is fun to listen to but has no substance behind it is what these award shows like to expose to those who are uninformed in hip-hop. These older conservative crowds will always think of hip-hop as the image that keeps being shown to them, the champagne popping, iced-out-wearing, sex driven image. Now I'm not saying that Three 6 Mafia fit this stereotype but they do lean towards the "crunk" style that isn't exactly what many would categorize under the truest form of hip-hop.

As for me, I agree Three 6 Mafia isn't exactly the best embassador of hip-hop but it will get someone listening on Oscar night, and for those few people who have been blinded by the tainted image of hip-hop they may see or hear something they never seen or heard before and give hip-hop a try. After all, expanding hip-hop for everyone to hear is a good thing right?

If you haven't heard "It's Hard Out Here For A Pimp", I suggest checking it out along with the movie Hustle & Flow. The song itself isn't really anything special but it does have that Three 6 Mafia sound to it even though it has actor Terrance Howard rapping over it, but it fits the movie perfectly. Check back on Oscar night for the performance I'll have uploaded.

It's Hard Out Here For A Pimp.mp3