Three 6 Mafia - Chapter 2: World Domination (CD)

All Music Guide

For Chapter 2: World Domination, their first widely distributed album (via Relativity), Three 6 Mafia further refine the hardcore motifs of their underground efforts, toning down the outright horror and playing up their Southern gangsta-isms. Their equation works out to a wonderfully novel album for its time, one that would set the course of their career as well as their dizzying array of solo and spin-off endeavors. In fact, the album's Chapter 2 title is fitting because the group reprises several of its best tracks from the previously released Mystic Stylez and Da End albums, namely "Tear da Club Up," "Late Night Tip," "Body Parts," and "N 2 Deep" (curiously altering the spelling of the titles a bit). The rest of the album very well could have come from the group's back catalog as well, as tracks like "Neighborhood Hoe" and "Weed Is Got Me High" certainly embody the same sort of ideology, attitude, and approach that had gotten Three 6 Mafia to this point in the game. And then there's... "Hit a Muthafucka," which became the group's latest anthem, a rowdy club-banger to say the least. What makes Chapter 2 more than just a reprise of everything wonderful that Three 6 Mafia had done to date, though, is the production and execution. This is no basement-budget underground album; this is a full-fledged bid for a national breakthrough, and it sounds like it. Juicy J and DJ Paul's beats hit harder than ever, and the Mafia's rapping flows similarly. Actually, Chapter 2 is such a consolidation of the Memphis collective's greatest qualities that every successive album would struggle to top it. The only place they could really go from here is the commercial route, which is a fine line to walk for such an emblematically underground group. They would strike gold occasionally with singles such as "Sippin' on Some Syrup," and they'd sell a lot more albums in the process, but never again would Three 6 Mafia deliver such a composite album as Chapter 2: World Domination. - Jason Birchmeier, All Music Guide Read more Less