In an interview on the Dumb Blonde Podcast, DJ Paul reiterated that he and his fellow Three 6 Mafia members weren't satanic and that the allusions to Satanism were just for show.
Paul was asked about the speculation that he and his fellow group members were Satanists because of their name. He admitted that their name was inspired by devil worship—but that it was just an aesthetic.
"Basically Lord Infamous said 'Triple 6 Mafia' in a song, that wasn't even our group name," he shared, as seen in the clip below. "I liked that and I was like, ‘Whoa, that’s dope.' And I started sampling 'Triple 6 Mafia, Mafia,' and that became really popular with us, but that still wasn’t our name. I was just sampling that, 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 [snaps fingers]. They flocked to us.”
Paul was asked about Lord Infamous suggesting that he had "dabbled" in satanism, but he laughed at the question.
"He didn't do that for real," he said with a smile. "He was just high. That n***a grew up singing 'Amazing Grace' in a church, and I was playing the organ. ... 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."
Three 6 Mafia were known for their outrageous lyrics in a lot of their '90s output, specifically their influential debut album Mystic Stylez. While it's clear the group's horrorcore lyrics are fiction, the possibility of the group's affiliation with Satanism has long gestated.
In an interview with Vice in 2012, DJ Paul said that people have asked whether he or his bandmates are into Satanism.
"When people ask me if I’m into Satan, I usually hold them down and carve an upside-down five-point star into their chest," he joked. "Nah, I usually just laugh it off because we’re far from that. I mean, Juicy’s daddy is a preacher for crying out loud. We grew up in the church. But don’t most Satanists grow up in the church? Nah, I’m not into Satan."
Of course, a lot of Americans are hypersensitive to anything that could be considered "Satanic."
Just last year, Snoop Dogg was accused of promoting Satan when he wore a "GOAT" chain at the Olympics. DJ Paul came to Snoop's defense at the time and said people assume he's Satanic because of his goat horns tattoo.