Academy-Award Winner, Juicy J of Three 6 Mafia, anticipates the November 10th release of the group's new album Laws Of Power. In this interview, Juicy J discusses how life has been different since he won an Oscar, how he came up with the name for his new album, and some of the advice his father gave him when he was growing up. Juicy J also opens up about what most attracts him to a woman and his favorite night spot in Los Angeles. He talks about law enforcement and racial profiling, and how if you take risks in life - you're bound to get into some trouble. Since winning an Oscar for the song he made in the movie Hustle & Flow, It's Hard Out Here For A Pimp, Three 6 Mafia has taken tons of risks! They started a popular reality TV show, a cooking show, and they have been working on three different movie projects. Most importantly, Three 6 Mafia has continued to make the gangsta rap music that we all know and love.  

Hey! I'm gonna make this quick and fun because I heard you've been in a lot of interviews today.

Ok, that sounds good.

First off, I wanted to say that Chaka Zulu told me to say hi for him...

Yeah cool. Tell him I say "What's up!"

I will. First and most importantly, what's your favorite food? I heard you guys take food pretty seriously and are doing this new cooking show.

I like Memphis BBQ.

What is that?

Memphis.

Oh!

It's my hometown Barbeque.

I thought you just said Minted Barbeque.

[Laughs] Nah, I said Memphis.

Oh ok, now I got you. I know you guys had your own reality TV show Adventures In Hollyhood. How'd you like filming that? What was the process like?

It was great! It was a party every day, ya know. That's all we did was pretty much party. We were just being ourselves - we hung out and kicked it - ya know.

How did it feel to have the cameras looking at you all the time?

Well, I'm so used to the cameras looking at me all the time anyway. In these days, you can go to a club and you can be dancing with a female at a bar and somebody's got some kind of iPhone or something pointing in your face. There are so many cameras anyway that it really didn't bug us, it was cool.

And who creatively decided to put the 'Hood' into Hollywood?

We did.

You guys did that. [Laughs]

Yup.

And going around LA during filming, what would you say you're favorite part of LA is?

I like Sunset. They got this bar on Sunset called "Saddle Ranch."

Oh my goodness! [Laughs]

And it reminds me of a bar I used to go to in Memphis - and that I still like to go to in Memphis called TJ Mulligans. It's kinda like this rock and roll music playing and girls. And it reminds me of that. When I first came to LA and went to that place, I was like - wow!

When I went to "Saddle Ranch," I remember a girl falling off the Bull - she was like three hundred pounds and she flipped over the Bull when she fell off. Everyone was laughing and cheering and I felt so bad - I never went back again.

The bull huh...

Yeah it was crazy!

That's funny. Yeah, it reminds me of the South so much, I swear. It just gives you that cowboy feel so I love that place.

And I'm sure you've heard this a lot today, but can you please tell me how you came up with the name for your new album Laws Of Power?

We just sat down. Our album titles always have a meaning to them - it's just the laws of power. All the songs on the album are the laws. And we got a song called Shots After Shots. It's like the laws of drinking and taking shots. We've got a song that's called Let's Get High, and it's the laws of getting high. We also got a song called Go To Work, which is the laws of a person going to work. You gotta get up, you gotta feed your family - you know, that's a law. And that's the substance of it.

So your album is not so much dealing with the legal system - instead, it's more like a guide to life?

Yeah, yeah - that's what I would say - a guide to life. It's how to guide your days through life. It can be so short these days man, so you gotta set yourself some goals, look up the laws, and just go with it.

And what would you say is the number one thing that sets this album apart from your other albums?

The number one thing that sets it apart. I would say that this album sounds more like - as far as the album cuts on the song - the gangster stuff sounds more like the older, older Three 6 Mafia stuff, like the early nineties.

Oh ok.  And in another interview you referred to women as "Queens." Can you please explain?

Did you say clean or queen?

[Laughs] I said queen, as in "King and Queen."

Yeah, you know what, I think every woman is a queen - you know what I'm saying. If they know how to represent themselves and treat themselves right. If they know how to keep themselves up - ya know, then I think that every woman is a queen.

And have you met your queen yet?

Have I met me a queen yet...

Yeah, your personal queen - like a longterm queen? [Laughs]

I'm single and ready to mingle!

And what would you say most attracts you to a woman? Is it her eyes, her hair, her brains, or her butt or something completely different?

I think all of those things. I would mainly say brains. If you meet somebody - I'm really picky - I'd rather meet someone where I can talk to them and hold a conversation. Instead of meet somebody where I'm just thinking, "Oh my God, I just wish she'd hurry up and finish her drink so I can leave"...you know what I mean?

Yeah! And have you noticed that people have treated you differently after you won an Oscar? And if so, what sort of differences have you noticed?

I mean it's been great. It's been a blessing. I mean, a lot of people come up to us and they're like, "Wow man, you guys have been out there for so long, and you're still doing it." It's just such a huge accomplishment in life - it's a blessing, it's great. Everyone has been treating us with respect and love, it's been cool.

Juicy J, I heard that your father was a preacher.

Yup.

So growing up, did you get a religious upbringing? Or did you get into trouble a lot of trouble as a kid?

I mean, as a kid we all got into trouble. I mean, my dad is a great dad. He stuck by me, you know what I mean. He's still with the family. A lot of people's dads, they come in and then they leave. I think growing up as a kid these days, you need that extra parent. I see so many people that have a mom, but no dad and the balance is kind of different, ya know. So I was blessed to have a dad that stuck around, was down for the family, and hustled. He sort of guided me in the right direction. Honestly, if he wasn't around, I wouldn't be around today. I wouldn't be doing this today. My dad gave me some motivation and told me, "Hey man, you don't have to work for nobody, you can own your own business." He said, "If I was you, I wouldn't even be trying to look for a job and I would start my own thing." He said, "You're doing your music thing - just try to stick with that."

Wow.

He really tried to push me forward...and it was a blessing to have a dad who would be in my corner like that.

And what's the nicest thing you've ever done for your parents since you became who you are in the business?

I bought them a house. My mom drives around in a Benz.

Nice! So she's happy.

It's great, ya know - it's great.

It's ironic that your dad is a preacher and that there were rumors flying around that your group's lyrics and the name of your group alluded to satanic worship. Did your dad ever talk to you about these rumors, or did you guys just kind of laugh off these rumors?

Yeah, we laughed it off because it was funny...because it's just not true. I mean people say anything they wanna say to just get a little buzz on the Internet. But hey, you can Twitter me, the real Juicy J, and you can ask me any question. If it's a positive, direct question and I feel like I wanna answer it - then I will answer it. Nine times out of ten, I will answer it, even if it is kinda stupid. Sometimes you gotta answer a stupid question with a stupid answer.

...and speaking of people trying to censor what you say - I remember when I was a freshman in college reading about someone filing a First Amendment lawsuit against your group for what lyrics you rapped during a concert after someone got beat up - you rapped, "Let's start a riot." Did this whole thing stress you out, or do you often have people trying to cut off what you're saying?

I can't remember man. If it was something back in the day, I can't remember. But I'm not really worried about that, ya know. I'm just really happy to be here. I mean, people can say what they wanna say and do what they wanna do - you really can't stop that. You can't please everybody.

That's definitely true.

So let the games begin.

And this is another song lyrics question. In a lot of your songs, you say, "F*ck the police" and "F*ck the Feds." Have you every personally had any negative encounters with the law? Or are you just talking about broader society in general?

I think everybody's had some problems with the law, here and there - everybody. I mean, you probably got pulled over for a speeding ticket - and you're like, "Hey man, I didn't speed!" and they were like, "Yes you did!" You know, we've had problems. But hey, it's life. It is gonna happen. If you are the type of person that likes to party, likes to go out, and likes to take a couple of risks - then you're gonna get into some trouble.

...and that's all a part of growing up.

If you're not the type of person who goes out, then you can just stay in your house. But a lot of times, you can't escape that. Even if you're in your house all day, minding your own business, something can happen or something can occur. Somebody can drive up and racial profile you, or somebody could...you never know.

That's right.

But it's all good though.

Juicy J, I heard that you guys have three movies coming up. Can you tell me about the one that's been most interesting to work on? I know you have The Return Of Big Pat coming up, Hollyhood The Movie, and Streets Of Memphis.

I think Streets Of Memphis is the main movie that we are really interested in trying to finish. A lot of big directors in California read the script, and they were like, "Wow, this is actually pretty good - you guys could maybe do something with this." So I thought that was very inspirational! I heard that from John Singleton. And some other big directors in California, they was like, "Man, this script is nice...this could really be something." And I was shocked. We do independent movies, so when you do independent movies, you're just thinking - it's gonna be another independent movie. But for somebody who is a big director or a big producer to tell you that.

Can you tell us a little bit about the role you play in that movie?

You know with Streets Of Memphis, I haven't really picked a role I wanna play yet. I don't know yet. I'm still trying to decide. I don't really wanna be the main character because I don't think I'm an actor like that. I just do these movies for my fans, and I do what I can do. We just want this movie to be good. You put yourself out there, so we are gonna try to get some big name actors, ya know. Somebody that can act - that can really act. We gonna be in it as well, but I don't know yet what role I'll play.

Would you say the script is really a reflection of how Memphis is? Or is it different?

Yeah, yeah - it's just like how Memphis is. Man, it goes down just like that.

This is the final question, and then you'll go get something to eat. So if you could start over and do one thing differently in your life or in your career, what would it be?

[Pause] That's a good question. That is a good question. I probably wouldn't have drank so much. [Laughs] Ya know what I'm saying - I probably woulda done less drinking. I think that's probably one of the reasons why I can't move around like I used to on stage.

That's funny. Well you did have fun.

Yeah.

Well it was great meeting you.

Same to you and you can go on Twitter and find me or DJ Paul, and our website is triplesix.com.

Ok.

And it's going down!

- By Jackie Shaprow