1988–1992: Career beginnings In 1988, DJ Paul started his career at age 11 as a DJ in Memphis club "380 Beale". At first he wanted to focus on DJing instead of rapping. In 1989, he formed the duo the Serial Killaz, together with his half-brother
Lord Infamous. Paul served as the producer, making beats, which Infamous would rap over. In the following years, the duo went on to release
The Serial Killaz tape and two parts of
Come with Me 2 Hell. DJ Paul eventually bought studio equipment, consisting of a keyboard, a turntable, and a four-track recorder. He started making mixtapes with popular songs and selling them at his high school. Later he started including songs of his affiliated rappers on the tapes as well, in order to promote them. Eventually, he began making mixtapes consisting only of original songs by himself and local artists. Paul claimed that Memphis DJs, such as himself,
DJ Spanish Fly, DJ Squeeky and Juicy J created the modern format of mixtapes by including their original songs, instead of making compilations of other artists' music. DJ Paul and Juicy J soon began producing tracks, described as "dark, eerie ... driven by bass-heavy beats and haunting sounds."
1993–2005: Three 6 Mafia and debut solo album In 1994, Triple Six Mafia were joined by Koopsta Knicca and released the underground album
Smoked Out Loced Out. Later the group acquired two more members,
Gangsta Boo and
Crunchy Black and changed its name again to
Three 6 Mafia. In 1995, they self-released their debut studio album,
Mystic Stylez. Following the album's success, Three 6 Mafia signed a major label deal with
Relativity Records. They also started their own label
Hypnotize Minds and signed a number of local artists, such as
Project Pat, MC Mack,
La Chat,
Frayser Boy and
Lil Wyte, among others. DJ Paul and Juicy J exclusively produced the whole albums by their artists, as well as Three 6 Mafia's releases. The group achieved commercial success with their 2000 album,
When the Smoke Clears: Sixty 6, Sixty 1, which debuted at number six on the
Billboard 200 chart and was eventually certified platinum by
RIAA. In 2002, DJ Paul released his debut solo studio album
Underground Volume 16: For da Summa. Most of the songs, originally featured on his 1994 mixtape ''Underground Volume 16: 4 Da Summa of '94
, were remastered and some of the old featured artists were replaced with new ones from Hypnotize Minds, such as Frayser Boy and La Chat. The album peaked at number 127 at the Billboard'' 200. Three 6 Mafia released two more commercially successful albums:
Da Unbreakables in 2003 and
Most Known Unknown in 2005, both peaking in top five of
Billboard 200. They also created the soundtracks of the movies
Choices and its sequel
Choices II: The Setup. By 2006, Paul and Juicy were the only members of the group left.
2006–2012: Academy Award win, Scale-A-Ton and A Person of Interest In 2006, DJ Paul, Juicy J, and Crunchy Black won an
Academy Award for Best Original Song for "
It's Hard out Here for a Pimp" from the film
Hustle & Flow. The song, which they co-wrote with
HCP member
Frayser Boy, was also ranked at number 80 on
VH1's "100 Greatest Songs of Hip Hop". After Three 6 Mafia released their 2008 album
Last 2 Walk, the group had conflicts with their label
Sony about their music style, which led DJ Paul and Juicy J to pursue other ventures and their solo careers. In 2009, Paul released
The Weigh In – his first mixtape since the
Volume series in the early 1990s. A few months later he followed up with his second solo album
Scale-A-Ton, released under Paul's newly founded label Scale-A-Ton Entertainment. The album was received well by critics, earning a positive review and an "Album pick" by
AllMusic. In 2010, Paul released his second mixtape
Too Kill Again, hosted by DJ Scream and
DJ Whoo Kid. The mixtape features many upcoming and new Memphis artists such as Lion Heart, Thug Therapy, Partee and Miscellaneous. DJ Paul stated the tape was a preview to his upcoming album, also titled
Too Kill Again, which however was never released. Instead, in 2011, Paul made a new collaboration mixtape with rapper
Ya Boy and producer Lil Lody, called
Pray For Forgiveness. A few months later Paul released a retail No-DJ version with bonus songs to
iTunes. In 2012, Paul announced he was working on an experimental dub-hop EP called
A Person of Interest. Later he changed it into a full featured album, which was released on October 22.
A Person of Interest was packed with a bonus DVD, including a self-titled short movie, music videos and behind the scenes footage. Paul released videos for a number of songs from the album, including "What I Look Like (W.I.L.L.)", "Wit Tha Shit", "Trap Back Jumpin", "E&J" and a remix of "I'm Dat Raw" with
Snow Tha Product. Paul called
A Person of Interest his favorite solo album, stating that he loved the production and the "raw" sound of the album. On November 12, 2013, Da Mafia 6ix released their first mixtape
6ix Commandments. The tape was almost entirely produced by DJ Paul and featured
Yelawolf,
8Ball & MJG,
Krayzie Bone,
Bizzy Bone,
SpaceGhostPurrp and
HCP affiliates
Lil Wyte, Skinny Pimp and
La Chat, among others.
Juicy J and
Project Pat also appeared as surprise guests on the posse song "Body Parts", being credited just as "& more" in the track listing. DJ Paul collaborated on a mixtape titled
Clash of da Titans with fellow Memphis producer
Drumma Boy that was released on October 23, 2013, and on a free EP, called
Black Fall, with rapper Yellawolf, which they put out for Halloween on October 31, 2013. On November 26, 2013, DJ Paul released
Volume 16: The Original Masters, a remaster of his 1994 mixtape ''4 da Summer of '94
. It was revealed on the PSYR17 EP given away at the 2014 Gathering of the Juggalos that DJ Paul plans to release his next solo album, Master of Evil'', on Psychopathic Records in 2015. He later confirmed it himself on August 28 on The Australia underground hip hop podcast "The Underground Podcast", as well as on the outro song to The Killjoy Club's debut album
Reindeer Games. DJ Paul has been announced to play
South by Southwest showcase in
Austin, Texas on March 21, 2015. On August 19, 2016, DJ Paul announced that he has signed to Yelawolf's Slumerican Records. Upon signing with Slumerican, Paul released a two-album series titled
YOTS: Year of the Six parts 1 & 2. In 2017, he released the follow-up to his album
"Underground, Volume 16: For da Summa" respectfully titled,
"Underground, Volume 17: For da Summa" through his own Scale-A-Ton imprint. On September 2, 2018, Paul announced that he had begun working on the next volume in the "Underground" series titled
"Drackula: Vol. 18", which is said to be recorded in Castle Dracula in Transylvania. The project was originally scheduled to release sometime in 2018, but has since been pushed back to 2019. == Personal life ==