Credit: DJ Paul

DJ Paul has claimed that Three 6 Mafia’s stage name has nothing to do with Satanism. The Memphis rapper/producer recently explained the meaning behind the group’s name after it was pointed out that it references the Biblical number of the beast.

Appearing on the latest episode of the Dumb Blonde Podcast, Paul denied any association with Satanist beliefs. In doing so, he brought up the late Three 6 Mafia member, Lord Infamous, who died in 2013 of a drug-induced heart attack.

“Basically, Lord Infamous said [‘Three 6 Mafia’] in a song and I liked that and I was like, ‘Whoa, that’s dope,’” Paul began. “And I started sampling it and that became really popular with us, but that still wasn’t our name.

“I was just sampling and then it was time to form a group, I was like, ‘We should call ourselves Triple 6 Mafia,’ and everybody liked it. And then next thing I know, white fans came like that. They flocked to us.”

Paul was then asked if Infamous, known for his disturbing lyrics, was Satanic. “No. He was just high,” he replied. “That n*gga grew up singing ‘Amazing Grace’ in church and I was playing the organ. We was in the church every Sunday in Mississippi.”

He continued, “It was just an image. It was just something that was cool. We never studied Satan or nothing like that. I don’t know nothing about all that. Juicy J once said in an interview that Three 6 Mafia got their name after it “started with three people in the group [and] ended up with six.”

Three 6 Mafia released their last album, Last 2 Walk, in 2008, which debuted at number five on the Billboard 200. The project got its title because Paul and Juicy were the final members of the group after Crunchy Black left in 2006.

Juicy previously addressed the Satanism accusations in 2008. “There’s nothing Satanic on there,” he told The Chicago Maroon in 2008. “I mean I’m a Christian, not a devil worshipper. We can mop that up right now. If you don’t want to listen to it, then don’t buy it, and if you do want to listen to it, buy it.”