American rapper, songwriter, and record producer. Originally from Memphis, Tennessee, he is a founding member of the Southern hip hop group Three 6 Mafia, established in 1991. He released ten studio albums with the group, which began as an underground act until attaining mainstream recognition and signing with Loud Records, an imprint of Columbia Records in 2000. The group's 2005 single, "Stay Fly" reached their furthest commercial success and peaked at number 13 on the Billboard Hot 100. That same year, they recorded the song "It's Hard out Here for a Pimp" for the film Hustle & Flow, which won an Academy Award for Best Original Song