"It's Hard out Here for a Pimp" is a song written by American hip hop group

Three 6 Mafia Three 6 Mafia is an American Hip hop music, hip hop group from Memphis, Tennessee, formed in 1991. Emerging as a horror-themed underground hip hop group, they would eventually go on to enjoy mainstream success. The group's 1995 debut album ''Mys ...

, alongside Cedric Coleman, as the

theme song Theme music is a musical composition that is often written specifically for radio programming, television shows, video games, or films and is usually played during the title sequence, opening credits, closing credits, and in some instances at ...

to the American drama film ''

Hustle & Flow ''Hustle & Flow'' is a 2005 American drama film written and directed by Craig Brewer and produced by John Singleton and Stephanie Allain. It stars Terrence Howard as a Memphis hustler and pimp who faces his aspiration to become a rapper. It ...

'' (2005). It won the

Academy Award for Best Original Song The Academy Award for Best Original Song is one of the awards given annually to people working in the motion picture industry by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is presented to the ''songwriters'' who have composed ...

and in 2006 was ranked number 80 on VH1's "100 Greatest Songs of Hip Hop".

Background

The song was performed in ''

'' by

Terrence Howard Terrence Dashon Howard (born March 11, 1969) is an American actor. Having his first major roles in the 1995 films ''Dead Presidents'' and '' Mr. Holland's Opus'', Howard broke into the mainstream with a succession of television and cinema roles ...

and

Taraji P. Henson Taraji Penda Henson ( ; born September 11, 1970) is an American actress. She studied acting at Howard University and began her Hollywood career in guest roles on several television shows before making her breakthrough in '' Baby Boy'' (2001). Sh ...

as their respective characters DJay and Shug.

included their own version of the song with vocalist

Paula Campbell Paula Campbell is an American R&B singer from Baltimore, Maryland who first gained prominence as a contestant on ''Baltimore Idol.'' Biography Campbell was raised on the west side of Baltimore, and attended Frederick Douglass High School. Ar ...

on a 2006 special edition reissue of their

platinum Platinum is a chemical element with the symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a dense, malleable, ductile, highly unreactive, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name originates from Spanish , a diminutive of "silver". Pla ...

album ''

Most Known Unknown ''Most Known Unknown'' is the eighth studio album by American hip hop group Three 6 Mafia. It was released on September 27, 2005, by Hypnotize Minds, Sony Urban Music, and Columbia Records and is the follow-up to the 2003 album '' Da Unbreaka ...

''. In 2015, Howard and Henson compete against each other in the Season 1 finale of the Spike series ''

Lip Sync Battle ''Lip Sync Battle'' is an American musical reality competition television series that premiered on April 2, 2015, on the American cable network Spike, later known as Paramount Network. The show is based on an idea by Stephen Merchant and Joh ...

'' and, by popular demand, performed the song as the first duet by competitors in the show's history.

78th Academy Awards

At the

78th Academy Awards The 78th Academy Awards presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), took place on March 5, 2006, at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles, Hollywood, Los Angeles beginning at 5:00 p.m. Pacific Time Zone, PST ...

in 2006, Three 6 Mafia and Henson performed the song shortly before it won the

. Howard did not wish to perform at the ceremony, and since two of the song's writers are themselves artists in the form of the trio Three 6 Mafia, they were given the opportunity to perform it. Three 6 Mafia became the first hip hop group to win an Academy Award for Best Original Song, and the first hip hop artists to perform at the ceremony. It was the second hip hop song to win an Oscar, after

Eminem Marshall Bruce Mathers III (born October 17, 1972), known professionally as Eminem (; often stylized as EMINƎM), is an American rapper and record producer. He is credited with popularizing Hip hop music, hip hop in Middle America (United Sta ...

's "

Lose Yourself "Lose Yourself" is a song by American rapper Eminem from the soundtrack to the 2002 motion picture '' 8 Mile''. The song was composed and produced by Eminem, longtime collaborator Jeff Bass, one half of the production duo Bass Brothers and Lui ...

" from the film '' 8 Mile'' (2002). This song became the third in five years to win the Oscar without a

Golden Globe Award The Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association beginning in January 1944, recognizing excellence in both American and international film and television. Beginning in 2022, there are 105 members of ...

nomination. The others were " If I Didn't Have You" from '' Monsters, Inc.'' (2001) and "

Al Otro Lado del Río "Al otro lado del río" () is a song, written and performed by Uruguayan singer Jorge Drexler for the film '' The Motorcycle Diaries'' (2004).

" from '' The Motorcycle Diaries'' (2004).

References

{{authority control Songs about procurers 2005 songs Three 6 Mafia songs Best Original Song Academy Award-winning songs Songs written by Juicy J Gangsta rap songs Songs written by DJ Paul