Crunchy Black

Crunchy Black (b. Darnell Carlton in Indianapolis, 1974 - ) – Rapper and dancer. Born in a state correctional facility, Crunchy Black was the son of an Indiana adult inmate. He then grew up in Memphis and got involved in street crime. While performing with a local rap group called Project Posse, he and other bandmates joined the Memphis rap group the Three 6 Mafia, which started out as the Triple Six Mafia in 1991 with DJ Paul, Lord Infamous, and Juicy J. From 1995 to 2005, Crunchy Black recorded eight albums with Three 6 Mafia, and four them cracked the top twenty on the R & B charts. In fact, Most Known Unknown (2005) and Da Unbreakables (2003) made it to #1 and #2, respectively. The group’s best known single is probably “It’s Hard out Here for a Pimp” (2005), which was part of the soundtrack of Hustle and Flow (2005) and won the group an Academy Award in 2006 for Best Original Song. In the same year, Crunchy Black left Three 6 Mafia. Also in 2006, Crunchy Black’s On My Own (his first solo album) was released by other members of Three 6 Mafia without Black’s permission. His From Me to You came out the following year. Although currently boosting his solo career, Black’s professional work so far has been best defined by his work in Three 6 Mafia and for developing a dance style called “G-Walking” – a Memphis-flavored form of Gangsta Walking. In 2013, he joined a spin-off of Three 6 Mafia called Da Mafia 6ix.