Emerging amid Memphis’s mid-1990s rap scene alongside Eightball & MJG, Three 6 Mafia, and Tela, Kingpin Skinny Pimp never reached the commercial heights attained by those peers yet sustained a durable and influential catalog well into the following decade. Born Derrick Dewayne Hill and raised by his grandfather in the tough Dixie Homes section of North Memphis, he first picked up the mic in 1985 while enrolled at Herman Junior High School. Local recognition soon followed, initially through work with DJ Squeeky’s circle and later through an alliance with the rival Three 6 Mafia camp after he switched sides.
During the early ’90s the city’s underground moved primarily on mixtapes until Three 6 Mafia launched Prophet Entertainment in 1995 and released Mystic Stylez, an album that included Skinny Pimp’s contributions. The next year he issued his own debut, King of da Playaz Ball, produced by DJ Paul and Juicy J and issued on Prophet; Basix Records simultaneously put out Skinny But Dangerous, a set of earlier underground recordings likewise helmed by the same producers. The association with Three 6 Mafia proved short-lived, after which he operated independently while his former colleagues built substantial underground traction. Nevertheless he maintained a steady output, issuing one album after another through the close of the decade and beyond.
