Is is Anna? M-Town Hate or M-Town Love

Just recently at a Three 6 Mafia meet-and-greet at Cat's Music in Memphis, there is video of fellow Memphis rapper Kinfolk Kia Shine being dissed by the local legends this past Sunday.

Now, the first question should be- "Where did this all this 'anna' stem from?

Every since Kinfolk Kia Shine's beginning in the Memphis rap scene, he had a strong disdain towards Three 6 Mafia. From calling DJ Paul & Juicy J "devil-worshippers" to stating that the reason that the Memphis rap music scene is "f-'d up" is because of Three 6's massive control over the city's two major urban outlet's: K-97 & Hot 107.1, Shine made his point clear. He was anti-Three 6 and he would be the first CEO/artist to make it out of the city without coming through the Three 6 collective or using their radio influence. He actually did some of what he set out to do.

Now, a lot of what Shine states is rooted in perception. For example, when Three 6 Mafia had the song "Gangsta Walk" with David Banner in rotation at Hot 107.1, they also had Ludacris' "I Wanna", Lil' Wyte's newest single at the time "I Sho Will", Lil' Flip's "Represent" feat. Three 6 Mafia all within the same hour rotation. That could be seen as suspicious seeing that all of those songs may not have been officially "Three 6 Mafia" songs, they all were DJ Paul & Juicy J Productions. But that's neither here nor there.

What is interesting is throughout all of this, Kia Shine decided that by going to that by going to that Three 6 Mafia meet-and-greet, that everything would be cool. Yes, Kia Shine within the last 3 years has went from have a 10 million dollar distribution deal with TVT Records to losing that deal, becoming homeless only to built a solid buzz as a solo artist signed to now Universal/Motown.

In a funny sort of way, Shine has won and brought back a light to Memphis in the last year that was refreshing due to his latest release "Due Season" with the hit singles "Krispy" and the T-Mix assisted "WOW". But, it's funny how certain successes get eclipsed by others.

Three 6 along with their monster singles "Stay Fly" feat. Eightball & MJG & Young Buck and "Poppin' My Collar" collected a platinium plaque for their last release "Most Known Unknowns" and it was that history-making Oscar win that soldified their status in Memphis music history and music history, period.

Shine's purpose in going to meet with Three 6 was to extend an olive branch that has been sadly lacking in the local Memphis scene. But Three 6 Mafia response was anything other than that. Shine said as he walked on stage with Paul & Juicy "I'm supporting the city". DJ Paul stated as Shine was escorted away,"You not the M-Town because you just started doing M-Town music when your other stuff didn't sell."

Kia Shine & Memphis needs to understand that it takes time to heal the wounds of the past. Three 6 Mafia has made their own name and there is no excuse that anyone can say why they are not winning. People should respect what Three 6 has brought to the city and aspire to get on the level that they are on. No, Paul & Juicy are NOT the end all, be all. But, they are a very good example along with Eightball & MJG and others how to make the city shine along with the rest of the South.

Memphis needs to be seen on a major scale in regards to rap music and maybe the ultimate healing process will come from our individual progress versus face-to-face talks. It's coming back around and with that being known, hopefully that is enough to instill that Memphis "musical grind" that the city is so known for.