Today in Hip-Hop: Three 6 Mafia Wins an Oscar
On this day in hip-hop history...
2006: Memphis’ Three 6 Mafia made history twice in one night by becoming the first hip-hop group to win an Academy Award for Best Original Song and the first hip hop artists to perform at the Oscars. The song "It's Hard Out Here For A Pimp" was in the film Hustle & Flow which starred Terrance Howard and Taraji P. Henson. Three 6 performed the record during the live broadcast along with Taraji who sang the hook in the film.
Shortly after performing, the trio surprisingly took home the Best Original Song Oscar for the Juicy J and DJ Paul-penned song beating out fellow contenders from Transamerica and Best Picture winner Crash. At the time, this made them the second hip-hop artists to win the award after Eminem won in 2003 for the 8 Mile hit single “Lose Yourself.” After, the group gave probably the happiest acceptance award speech ever.