PRESSED ON SPLATTER VINYL!

Years before their groundbreaking Oscar for “It’s Hard Out Here For A Pimp,” Memphis’ Three 6 Mafia were making a splash throughout the South with self-released, hard albums for a growing legion of street-rap fans. To anyone listening to their earlier work today, it will come as no surprise that they started out as a straight-up “horrorcore” group. Chpt. 2: World Domination is the group’s third album overall and their first on Relativity. In many ways, this was the country’s first introduction to the crew, centered around producers / MCs DJ Paul and Juicy J. The horrorcore aesthetic is never far from the surface with the crew, heard clearly on the rolling, menacing and downright catchy “Are U Ready 4 Us” (with Michigan’s The Dayton Family), “Spill My Blood” and “Bodyparts 2” (with guests including Memphis affiliate Project Pat). “Tear Da Club Up ‘97” was one of the album’s singles, and it resonates in Southern clubs to this day. “Late Nite Tip,” another single, has similar resonance among fans, showing a more serious side to the group’s lyricism. “Who Got Dem 9s” (with Project Pat) and the sex-fueled chatter on “Watcha Do” and “Neighborhood Hoe” show that they have range, even if it’s not what their neighborhood preacher might want to hear (or at least cop to it in public). The group was still on the rise in 1997 when this southern classic hit, and had even bigger things ahead of them. But 20 years ago they also had the template in place to create a sound that would still rock fans and shake car rims to this day.