There is a genre popularized by Three Six Mafia (some may not notice this mean 666 Mafia) that came out of Memphis Tennessee in the early to mid 1990's. There are dozens of artists who emulated their sound (let's not argue about where it originated, I would actually say it was DJ Zirk and DJ Spanish Fly) and in doing so emulated their satanic / demonic imagery and lyrics.
The genre is even at times called Devil Shyt instead of "memphis rap".
I'm curious if there are any documented historical reasons for this trend or if it was actually just that many artists jumped on something that made one group of artists (666 mafia in particular) successful in their art.
Select examples:
Nigga Creep - Demons Taking Over Me
Lord Infamous of Three Six Mafia
Children of the Cord - Devil Shyt
Subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/memphisrap/
Three Six Mafia is a double entendre, also references the fact that there are 36 ounces in a kilogram.
The 3-6 label was about the only one. Skinny pimp, gangsta black, and playa fly didn't really have demonic undertones. It was just 3-6 mafias thing, and the others who eventually signed onto their label kind of coat tailed off of it. I'm not a music expert but I did grow up during that time in Memphis.
Follow-up question:
Can someone explain why this meets the "material culture" tag?