Broke Magazine returned to the Jazz Café, where we watched DJ Paul, a Memphis rapper, producer, and 3 Six Mafia originator, do his thing. Famous for their dark, hellish sound, with lyrics to match, Triple Six’s contributions to southern hip hop are cemented in history. DJ Paul’s international tours showcasing their classics and his newest releases are imperative in immortalising them in our minds.
The arguable godfathers of modern rap are renowned for their oscillation of genres and aesthetics ranging from rock, rap, electronic music, crunk, horrorcore, phonk and trap. The group discusses everything your favourite rapper does but with a sinister touch and a pinch of Southern hospitality. DJ Paul showcased just that and kept the crowd on their toes from beginning to end.
The night was electric—DJ Paul and the audience, clearly comprised of a welcome mix of OG fans and interested newcomers, recited Triple Six essentials such as Stay Fly, Lollipop, and Tear the Club up. He also let vintage tracks such as Live by Yo Rep echo through, highlighting the group’s reverence for all things gothic and dark. Towards the end of his time with us, DJ Paul decided to show off a little, sitting back and admiring his diverse producer catalogue. It was insightful to find out how many current songs he’d been responsible for behind the scenes, like Drake’s collab track featuring Jay Z titled” Talk Up”.
Triple Six are already embedded deeply in the culture, with hundreds of pop songs being branded with their distinct samples and sounds. This was a reminder to give artists such as DJ Paul their flowers and to appreciate their impact as musicians, curators, and tastemakers. So many rappers, such as ASAP Rocky, Gucci Mane, Lil Uzi Vert, Migos, Megan Thee Stallion, and more, have cited DJ Paul and Three Six Mafia as major influences in their style, and it’s easy to see why.
While showing off his ear and engineering chops a mosh pit inevitably occurred while DJ Paul spurred them on from the stage. A menacing circle of swinging limbs slowly expanded like something out of a cartoon before DJ Paul mercifully called it off as if empathizing with the poor souls not expecting to have to fight for their life on a Monday evening. Still, it was interesting to see how effortlessly the Memphis rapper was able to control the crowd’s mood at the drop of a beat.
With his performance, DJ Paul demonstrated that the dark is nothing to be afraid of. Instead, he manipulates the themes and feelings conveyed in his music and transmutes them into an exciting frenzy. Meshed all together it makes for a sick vibration your headphones will fail to replicate. DJ Paul showed up and showed out, as expected.
Photography – Eden Assiene