Released: 2005
“Stay Fly” by Three 6 Mafia, featuring 8Ball & MJG, and Young Buck, is a celebratory anthem that embodies the Southern hip-hop lifestyle with a strong emphasis on the pursuit of luxury, success, and the necessity of staying ‘fly’ until death.
The hook – “I gotta stay fly-y-y-y, y-y, y-y, y ‘Til I die-ie-ie-ie, ie-ie, ie-ie, ie” – is a declaration of the artists’ commitment to maintaining their high status, symbolized by the term ‘fly’. This term in hip-hop culture often refers to looking good and living large. Evidently, it’s centered around material wealth and status.
Juicy J’s verse is a play-by-play of a day in his life, from riding around with a ‘pump’ (aka a shotgun), boasting about his ice (jewelry), gripping the grain (driving a car with a wood grain steering wheel), to smoking green (marijuana) and sipping lean (a mix of prescription-strength cough syrup, soda, and sometimes hard candies).
DJ Paul raps next with caution, warning against leaving valuables (especially ‘your girl’) around him, as he’ll take full advantage. He paints an image of a lavish and decadent lifestyle, filled with fast cars, expensive drinks, and attractive women. His closing line, “So purple, purple, purple, and swallow it down with the yurple, yurple, yurple, it’s going down” is referring to consuming Purple Haze marijuana and Purple Drank (also known as ‘lean’ or ‘yurple’).
The third verse, shared by Young Buck and Crunchy Black, shifts between weed-smoking references and flaunting their wealth, with iconic expressions like “Paul pulled out the Phantom, niggas can’t stand it” and “Hit the mall and it be all on me”. The meaning is clear: Their success provokes envy, and their purchasing power is immense.
8 Ball’s verse introduces the persona of ‘Mary Jane’ as a metaphor for marijuana. It plays into the trope of rappers romanticizing their relationship with cannabis. He narrates a humorous conversation between him and ‘Mary Jane’, showing his reliance and affection towards it.
MJG wraps up the verses with eloquent descriptions of his high-society lifestyle, with phrases like “Premro full of that dro” (dro is short for ‘hydroponically grown’, referring to high-quality weed), “Leave the club full of Rose’ Mo” (Rose refers to rosé champagne, and Mo is short for Moët). His verse sums up the essence of the song – an unapologetic, lavish lifestyle centered on luxury, decadence, and weed.
The track is quintessential Three 6 Mafia, blending grimy Southern hip-hop with the extravagant lifestyle associated with modern-day rappers. It’s a testament to their status in the game – they’ve made it, they’re here to stay, and they refuse to come down from their high life, either figuratively or literally.
