But I’m happy that he went peacefully because he was asleep and he wasn’t hurt, because anyone who knew him, anyone who grew up with him know he escaped death a gazillion times,” Paul told HipHopDX. He started to dance on stage, wildn’ just like usual.” He got his speech back together he was getting over the whole cane situation. He was like, ‘We got to do this.’ It was supposed to be just me and him… But he wanted to do the group thing first, with the whole group.”Īsked about a stroke Dunigan suffered in 2010, DJ Paul says, “He seemed like he was all right. There have been few parties prior to the pandemic that didn. “Lately, he was so happy about everything that was going on like the regroup of the crew,” he adds. Crunchy Black says Juicy J created strict rules to make sure members of Three 6 Mafia didn't let their vices get in the way of business. But he never made anybody mad because everybody loved him… He was the nicest dude in the world.” Speaking about his brother as a person, he says, “He was telling his momma last week that he wanted to get right with everybody that he ever made mad in his life. All the drugs and the stuff that we talked about before rappers were even ready to do it… The whole crunk thing–the whole sound of the dirty South…it’s nationwide.” “He was one of the creators of crunk and the whole dark sound music with 808s and repetitive hooks that we did.

UPDATE: Dunigan’s half-brother, DJ Paul, has opened up about the rapper’s legacy in a new interview with XXL magazine, describing him as “the nicest dude in the world” and crediting him, along with the rest of the Three 6 Mafia crew, as “one of the creators of crunk.” Paul learned of Dunigan’s death via phone calls from the rapper’s mother and girlfriend.ĭunigan joined Three 6 Mafia at its inception in 1991, going on to score underground hits such as 2000′s Sippin’ on Some Syrup and crossover singles such as 2005′s Stay Fly and It’s Hard Out Here for a Pimp from the Hustle & Flow soundtrack, which won an Oscar for Best Original Song. Three 6 Mafia Members Juicy J, DJ Paul & Crunchy. He sat down at the kitchen table, put his head in his arms to lay down…to get some sleep,” Paul explained. Three 6 Mafia Members Juicy J, DJ Paul & Crunchy Black To Reunite.

“He passed away in his sleep from a heart attack… He said he was tired, he wanted to sleep. “He’ll be remembered as a legend, everybody knew him as a legend, an icon,” Paul told the magazine. Lord Infamous, real name Ricky Dunigan, was the half-brother of fellow Three 6 Mafia member DJ Paul, who confirmed the cause of death as a heart attack to The Hollywood Reporter. Fellow crew member Juicy J likewise extended condolences to his fallen friend via Twitter, along with a raft of other rappers including Lil Wyte and Bun B. “Rest in Peace Lord Infamous please respect the family and dear friends during this tragedy (sic),” wrote Gangsta Boo in his tweet. The 40-year-old rapper was found dead in his mother’s home in Memphis on Friday night US time, with fellow Three 6 Mafia member Gangsta Boo breaking the news via Twitter the next morning. He had also been preparing for the re-release of his old mixtape series, which is due out in March.Founding member of Memphis, Tennessee hip-hop group Three 6 Mafia, Lord Infamous, has died. Lord Infamous had been working with them on a new album, which is set for release in March 2014, DJ Paul said. In 2005, Three 6 Mafia became the first rap group to win a Best Original Song Oscar for their track “It’s Hard Out Here for a Pimp,” which was featured in the film Hustle and Flow.Įarlier this year, most of the group’s members reformed under the name Da Mafia 6ix and released a mixtape called 6ix Commandments. Along with Juicy J, the two formed Three 6 Mafia in 1991 and released their debut album, Mystic Stylez four years later. Lord Infamous began his hip-hop career alongside DJ Paul (his mother’s younger brother) in Memphis in the early 1990s. Although Paul says Infamous had not been ill recently, he did suffer a stroke and heart attack in 2010.

“He was at home sitting at the table and he just lay his head down and he just left us,” Paul said. His bandmate and uncle DJ Paul told Rolling Stone that the rapper died in his sleep of a heart attack at his mother’s house in Memphis. Three 6 Mafia founding member Ricky “Lord Infamous” Dunigan died on Friday night at the age of 40.

Three 6 mafia members