Southern Classic Review: Three 6 Mafia - Choices II (2005)

The late 90s was a time when the South was putting out classic hip-hop albums on a regular basis in all scenes. NOLA, Houston, Atlanta, and my favorite Memphis.

Oh yes, Memphis-10, a scene known for gritty storytelling, horror-inspired beats, and more talented groups and artists than you shake a stick at. The birthplace of hip-hop of the crunk persuasion.

When the 2000s finally hit, the South was already running shit as a scene. You had artists from other places at the top like Jay-Z and Eminem but New York and Detroit as scenes were dominating the charts or awards by this time--their aces were.

That brings us to Three 6 Mafia. Hypnotize Minds had a reputation of collecting top local talent in Memphis and building them around Three 6 Mafia, the label's ace. Sure there were some missed opportunities--mainly a solo Lord Infamous album and more Come With Me 2 Hell--but the albums released were all killer no filler.

The albums progressed through tracks until you finally got to the Posse song featuring everyone. It was a formula that worked each time without fail. That's why Choices II: The Setup worked excellently. It was an album filled with Posse songs.

Sure, it was the soundtrack to a film the label released but this album could've easily been released with another title and became a top three best Three 6 Mafia album. Every track outside of “Squeeze It” is a wreck shit song, something Triple 6 excels at.

Other crunk albums at the time had tracks that slowed things down a bit but even “Squeeze It” keeps the energy high. I would say that's a hard feat to achieve but nah.

Its a shame this is one the albums skipped over in their discography but not surprising. Especially when you get towards the end of the group's run once the quartet dwindled to a trio and then to a duo--which is amazing because it started off deep.

That aside, Choices II deserves its own display in the Library of Crunk. Hands down.

Big 3 Tracks: One Hitta Quitta, Official Crunk Junt, Posse Song

RATING: 10/10