Oscar Winning Three 6 Mafia: A Surprise Victory for Hip-Hop

It's hard out there for a pimp. At least, according to hip-hop group Three 6 Mafia, who performed the song "It's Hard Out There For A Pimp" on the soundtrack for the film "Hustle & Flow", which stars Terrence Howard as an aspiring Memphis rapper. Howard's co-star in the film, Taraji P. Henderson, sang the hook for the song, which made history on March 5, 2006, at the 78th Annual Academy Awards ceremony, when Three 6 Mafia became the first hip-hop group, and only the second hip-hop act to take home an Academy Award. Eminem won in 2003 for "Lose Yourself" from the "8 Mile" soundtrack.

In another surprising move, the group, accompanied by Henderson, performed a virtually clean version of the song during the Academy Awards Ceremony.

Through various name and member changes over the past ten or eleven years, has emerged one of the hottest southern rap groups around today. The Memphis group, which started as an underground rap group, has been called Backyard Posse, Triple Six Mafia, Three Six Mafia, and finally, as we now know them, Three 6 Mafia.

Jordan (Juicy J) Houston and Paul (DJ Paul) Bearegard, along with label mate Cedric (Frayser Boy) Coleman, who were credited by their real names, were, surprised by the win, but not at a loss for words. Their excitement sparked a comment from host Jon Stewart about them being the most excited people in the crowd. Stewart went on to jokingly comment, for those who had not been watching, that Three 6 Mafia had one Oscar while filmmaker Martin Scorsese had none.

The official category title is "Acheivement in music written for motion pictures". The other two songs in the category were "In The Deep", written by Kathleen "Bird" York and Michael Becker for the motion picture "Crash", and "Travelin' Through", written by country legend Dolly Parton for the "Transamerica" soundtrack.

"Hustle & Flow" picked up one other Oscar nomination. That was in the "Performance by an actor in a leading role" category for Terrence Howard's portrayal of DJay. The award, however, went to "Capote" star Phillip Seymour Hoffman.

For more information and a complete listing of this year's Oscar winners, as well as winners from previous years, check out www.oscars.org or www.academyawards.com.