MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Two members of Three 6 Mafia are being sued by nine Memphis-based rappers who claim the group has been stealing their music for years.
An attorney for the rappers said they’ve identified 150 instances of copyright infringement in more than 100 songs dating back to 1993.
“Stick ‘em up, murderer, robber. All of that. You know what I’m saying? said DJ Zirk, who is one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit. “He took a lot of stuff from me.”
The rappers claim the copyright infringement began sometime after they befriended and started working with Three 6’s DJ Paul and Juicy J in the 1990s.
They said their music would go on to help fuel Three 6 Mafia’s rise to international success.
“I never knew that I was on certain songs,” rapper Kingpin Skinny Pimp said.
The rappers said Three 6 Mafia never got permission to use their work and never gave them a share of the royalties.
“People would come to me all the time, ‘Man, you need to sue Three 6 Mafia. Man, don’t you know that song they sampled it off Koopsta Knicca, or they sampled it on his new album. You got your voice on his greatest hits.’ I’m like, ‘For real?’” rapper Lil Ced said.
That’s why they finally filed suit Monday. They want the money they feel they’re owed.
“I want my due royalties, back-pay for anything that was used that was created that I can get paid on in the past,” rapper MC Mack said.
WREG was unable to reach Three 6 Mafia for comment on the lawsuit.
