Three 6 Mafia’s DJ Paul Prepping To Countersue, Has Rights To Trippie Redd “Death” Collab

Three 6 Mafia’s and Trippie Red, are caught up in a lawsuit over their 2019 collaboration “Death” over an allegedly uncleared sample. However, the Three 6 Mafia founder plans to countersue, claiming he cleared the sample back way in 1997.

As previously reported by TMZ, On The Strength Records’ Reginald Boyland is suing Paul and Trippie because “Death” samples the Three 6 song titled “Hit a Muthafucka” from their 1997 album Chapter 2: World Domination. According to Boyland, Paul no longer owns the rights to the song, citing a 2015 settlement where he allegedly gave up said control. The Three 6 track samples Boyland’s “Pimps In The House,” which he at the time claimed was used without permission.

However, DJ Paul tells Hip-Hop Wired exclusively that he still has the rights to the song and has the contract to prove it.

“With the Reginald Boyland situation, we cleared this song with him in 1997,” said Paul, adding that Juicy J recently dug up the original contract and shared a screenshot of the evidence. “I’ma read the exact contract here—he don’t know that I have this contract, he thinks that I don’t have a copy, but I just found it about a month ago. I told my lawyer to file a countersuit against him then. But, Sony been dragging their ass to give up permission to file this counter lawsuit but you can believe it’s going to come now.”

Back in ’97, Three 6 Mafia was signed to Relativity Records, which Sony had a stake in (and would fully acquire its catalog in 2007).

Paul added, “The contract says, This agreement entered the 22^nd day of September 1997 between Reginald Boyland (herein called Publisher) and Hypnotized Minds Productions, LLC (herein called Producer)…whereas Publisher owns the copyright or controls the rights to reproduce a copyrighted work known as “Pimps In The House”; and whereas Hypnotized Minds Productions, Inc. is a record producer which desires to use “Pimps In The House” as a sample in a song to be known as “Hit a Muthafucka” herein called New Song to be made part of an album for the recording group Three-6 Mafia under contract with Relativity Records, a division of Relativity Entertainment, Inc. (herein called Record Company..).”

Basically, Three 6 control the rights to the new song (“Hit a Muthafucka”) however they choose. The contract is signed by Boyland.

In Boyland’s latest suit, he claims Paul and Trippie owed him money for profits from the DJ Paul and TWhy Xclusive-produced “Death,” which appears on Trippie’s 2019 album A Love Letter To You 4. However, Boyland said after getting no response to his request he filed court docs for his cut.

The Academy Award winner also has a theory on why Boyland is suing him, despite knowing each other since childhood. “His exact words, and I got this on videotape, ‘I was like Reggie why did you sue us when you know we already cleared it?’ He said, ‘Man my momma had just died so I was like f*ck everybody, I had to do what I had to do.’ Those were his exact words.”

As for the 2015 lawsuit, Paul said he was in a dark place, thus the settlement. But now the Memphis rap legend is sober, and all his paperwork is in order.

“Reggie’s name is in there, he gets paid off the song,” says Paul. “But Sony didn’t have our back and they let us take the fall on that lawsuit that he pulled. He gonna try to say that Trippie Redd was supposed to hit him. No Trippie Red wasn’t supposed to hit him. I control who samples that song, and who don’t—me and Juicy do. I gave him some rights to the song, but I didn’t give him that control. That song came out in ’97, he been getting paid off that.”

Recently, Three 6 Mafia announced reunion shows, which Paul also thinks inspired Boyland’s lawsuit. He says in closing, “Desperate times call for desperate measures. Stop it, buddy.”