In an upset, Three 6 Mafia took home the best original song Academy Award tonight (March 5) at the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles. Drawn from the film “Hustle & Flow,” the group’s “It’s Hard Out Here for a Pimp” also made history as the first rap song ever performed at the event.
Eminem’s “Lose Yourself,” from the 2002 movie “8 Mile,” won the best song statuette the following year, but the rapper declined to perform at the ceremony.
“This is big for hip-hop, but we’re also representing for the black community, letting kids know you can do something positive and make it bigger than life,” Three 6 Mafia’s Jordan “Juicy J” Houston recently told Billboard.
Meanwhile, Gustavo Santaolalla won the best original score Academy Award for his work on “Brokeback Mountain.” His composition “A Love That Will Never Grow Old,” co0penned by Bernie Taupin and performed by Emmylou Harris, previously won the Golden Globe for best original song.
“I truly love interaction with other artists,” he recently told Billboard. “[It] gives me the opportunity to peek into other people’s way of articulating reality. That enriches me.”
