Juicy J

Hip hop has its roots in New York, but by the late 1990s, a new wave of rap artists hailing from the American south brought a fresh new take on the sound. Born in Memphis, Juicy J (aka Jordan Houston) first came to prominence as a member of Backyard Posse, which became the hitmaking crew Three 6 Mafia. Their debut album Mystic Stylz (1995) emphasized the then-fashionable horrorcore rap style and was co-produced by Juicy J with DJ Paul. The pair set up their own record label, Hypnotize Minds, for the release of Three 6 Mafia's Chapter 2: World Domination (1997); their first album to be certified gold, it marked a move towards a more commercial sound. Their next album was the soundtrack to a low budget feature-length movie, "Choices" (2001), produced by and starring the band. Juicy J released his first solo album, Chronicles of the Juice Man, in 2002 before returning to the fold for Da Unbreakables (2003) and follow up CD/DVD package "Choices II: The Setup" (2005). The same year, Houston was cast as Tigga in the hip hop drama "Hustle & Flow" (2005); Three 6 Mafia also wrote the film's theme, "It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp," which became the first hip hop track to win an Academy Award. Houston continued to record solo and with Three 6 Mafia and appeared in their reality TV series "Adventures in Hollyhood" (MTV 2007). By 2010, Houston began to focus on his solo career, eventually signing with Wiz Khalifa's Taylor Gang. He made several notable guest appearances on records by Fat Joe, Ke$ha and Sean Paul before topping the charts across the globe with his guest rap on Katy Perry's triple-platinum single "Dark Horse" in 2013.