Three 6 Mafia - Da End (CD)

All Music Guide

Da End furthers the horrorcore style that Three 6 Mafia had unveiled on their cult-favorite Mystic Stylez debut, except here the overall tone is one of outright violence rather than eerie ominousness. Moreover, the sound quality here is much improved, as producers Juicy J and DJ Paul lay down the sort of hard-hitting, bottom-heavy beats that would define not only the remainder of their career but that of the entire Dirty South movement that was soon to blossom. Much like the very similar Chapter 2 album that would follow within a year's time, the balance here between the underground essence of Mystic Stylez, typified by the horrorcore lyrics and haunting ambience, and the accessibility of latter-day Three 6 Mafia, typified by the markedly improved sound quality and more developed song structures, makes Da End an excellent starting point for the uninitiated. In fact, it's a bit of a toss-up as to which is the better starting point: Da End or Chapter 2. Most fans will point toward this o...ne, mainly because it's so uncompromising, whereas its successor is somewhat of a rushed consolidation effort, culling some of its key inclusions from past releases (including a few tracks from here, namely "Late Night Tip" and "In-2-Deep"). Regardless, there's no use splitting hairs: like Chapter 2, Da End is perhaps Three 6 Mafia's defining moment -- a noncommercial slab of remarkably novel hardcore rap unlike anything else on the market, then or now. The Mafia would release a lot of great singles like "Sippin' on Some Syrup" in later years, and they'd sell a lot more albums, but they'd also abandon much of what made them so beloved in the first place, their blatant noncommerciality. - Jason Birchmeier, All Music Guide Read more Less