Critically Acclaimed Album's 1st Single, 'Lolli Lolli (Pop That Body),' Hits #1 on iTunes Top Hip Hop Songs Chart
Three 6 Mafia Named Featured Artist in Virgin Mobile USA's 'First Dibs' Program Offering Exclusive Access to Contests, Videos & Ringtones
NEW YORK, July 2 /PRNewswire/ -- "Last 2 Walk," the new album from the Academy Award winning hip-hop ensemble Three 6 Mafia, has just entered the Billboard Top 200 best-selling albums chart at #5, with first week's sales of 76,909 pieces, according to SoundScan. "Last 2 Walk" has also debuted at #2 on SoundScan's R&B Album and Rap Album charts while coming in at #8 on the Billboard Top Digital Albums chart.
"Lolli Lolli (Pop That Body)," the first single from "Last 2 Walk," is blowing up on radio and scaling the charts, hitting the #1 Hip Hop Song position (#20 Overall) while bulleting up a notch to #5 on the Billboard Rap Chart, giving Three 6 Mafia its second career Top 5 Rap track and first since 2005's "Stay Fly." A Top 5 track on the nation's Top 40 Rhythm radio stations (reaching an audience of 30 million), "Lolli Lolli" has sold more than 300,000 singles and sits at #4 on the Top 40 Rhythm Monitor chart and #26 on the Urban Mainstream Monitor. Three 6 Mafia is slated to perform "Lolli Lolli" on MTV's "TRL" on Wednesday, July 2 with BET set to premiere the new "Lolli Lolli" video on "Rap City" on July 8. "Lolli Lolli (Pop That Body)" is currently #29 on the Billboard Hot 100.
One of the year's most eagerly-anticipated album releases in any genre, "Last 2 Walk" is the first new full-length album from Three 6 Mafia since 2006, when the record-breaking history-making Memphis hip-hop ensemble became the first African-American rap group ever to win the Best Original Song Oscar. In addition to some recent high profile television guest appearances -- including the CBS cult hit, "NUMB3RS," in May and the "Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson" in June -- Three 6 Mafia has been enjoying some great reviews with "Last 2 Walk" drawing a three-and-a-half star (out of four) rave in Rolling Stone while the New York Times praised the group's "... arrangements that bend in curious, exciting ways."
In addition to the emerging hits "Lolli Lolli (Pop That Body)" featuring hardcore rapper Project Pat (Juicy J's brother and longtime member of the Hypnotize Minds' hip-hop collective) and "That's Right" featuring Akon (already #21 on the iTunes Hip Hop chart), "Last 2 Walk," the brainchild of Three 6 Mafia founding members DJ Paul and Juicy J, premieres "I'd Rather" featuring Unk and the long-awaited "My Own Way" collaboration with Good Charlotte.
In conjunction with the release of "Last 2 Walk," Three 6 Mafia has been picked as featured artist in Virgin Mobile USA's "First Dibs" program offering more than 5 million customers exclusive tracks and additional content from "Last 2 Walk" and the Three 6 Mafia catalog.
Virgin Mobile music fans will have access to exclusive ringtone tracks from the new album, as well as the opportunity to create their own dance videos for the "Lolli Lolli (Pop That Body)" contest with the chance to be featured on www.three6-mafia.com. Fans of the band will also have full access to the entire Three 6 Mafia ringtone catalog from their Virgin Mobile phones or online at http://www.virginmobileusa.com/stuff/ringtones/firstDibs.do .
"We're excited to add Three 6 Mafia to the ranks of our successful First Dibs artists," said Anthony Montenegro, Director of Music & Mobile Content at Virgin Mobile. "They are extremely popular with Virgin Mobile subscribers, and our fans will be energized by the opportunity to interact with them."
Three 6 Mafia secured its place in hip-hop history and the annals of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences when "It's Hard Out Here For A Pimp," from the highly acclaimed "Hustle & Flow," took home the Best Achievement In Music Written for Motion Pictures (Original Song) Oscar statue on Sunday, March 5, 2006.
The Academy Award win was the most visible of a long series of triumphs for Three 6 Mafia. That year's Best Song Oscar also represented a major victory for hip-hop itself as the groundbreaking art form, as represented by Three 6 Mafia, broke out of the underground to achieve bona fide recognition from the mainstream. That same year, Three 6 Mafia was presented with the Key to The City of Memphis by Mayor Willie W. Herenton, the city's first African-American mayor and became the first rap performers to be given a "Note on Beale Street," the Memphis equivalent of a star on Hollywood Boulevard.
Originally released in late 2005, "Most Known Unknown," the last major label release from Three 6 Mafia prior to "Last 2 Walk," was singled out as "one of the year's best hip-hop albums," by Kelefa Sanneh in a "Critic's Choice" review in The New York Times. The RIAA platinum-certified "Most Known Unknown" entered the Billboard Top 200 album sales chart at #3 while also debuting at #1 on both the R&B Album Sales and the Rap Album Sales charts.
"Most Known Unknown" once again upped the ante on Three 6 Mafia, whose previous album, the RIAA Gold-certified "Da Unbreakables," debuted at #4 on the Top 200 in 2003 and the Rap album sales chart at #1. "Da Unbreakables" became the #1 best-selling album in Birmingham, Chattanooga, Jackson, Knoxville, Little Rock, Memphis, Mobile, Nashville, and Paducah.
Garnering a cult-like following since their humble beginnings peddling TDK mix tapes, the Memphis, Tennessee-based Three 6 Mafia personify the essence of Down South Hip-Hop. With an ever-growing string of gold and platinum accomplishments, the group has never lost its core connection to the pulse of the underground. Three 6 Mafia has had a series of successful recordings dating back to 1995 and the group's initial releases: the first independent release, "Smoked Out, Loced Out," the first full-length album, "Mystic Stylez" (which sold more than 200,000 copies), and the "Live By Your Rep" EP.
Three 6 Mafia scored its first major label success in 1997 with "Chapter 2: World Domination" (Relativity), which sold over 800,00 copies. The group claimed gold status on the destructive lead single, "Tear Da Club Up." Even more success came with the follow-up album, "When The Smoke Clears", in 2000. That album debuted at #6 on Billboard's Top 200 album sales chart, and has sold well over one million copies. As if musical success weren't enough, the group moved into the video realm, releasing the "Choices" DVD and "Choices" soundtrack album in 2001. The "Choices" DVD has sold more than 100,000 units (which is platinum status for home DVDs/videos). A well-received follow-up DVD, "Choices II: The Set-Up," was released in March 2005.
Three 6 Mafia starred in the MTV reality show, "Adventures In Hollyhood."
www.three6-mafia.com
www.myspace.com/threesixmafia
www.columbiarecords.com
Source: Hypnotize Minds/Columbia Records
CONTACT: Tasha Stoute, tasha@thechambergroup.com, or Sherlen Archibald,
sherlen@thechambergroup.com, both of The Chamber Group for Hypnotize Minds-
Columbia Records, +1-212-366-5801, or +1-646-758-8170 (fax); or Yvette
Noel-Schure, Senior Vice President Media, Columbia Records, Sony BMG
Entertainment, +1-212-833-4483, Fax, +1-212-833-8536,
yvette.noel-schure@sonybmg.com
