(Photo: rapradar.com)

Crunchy Black, a former member of the rap trio Three 6 Mafia, was reportedly shot and hospitalized in Las Vegas sometime this past weekend. When news broke of the shooting earlier today [July 3] no details of the gunplay were known, but a photo released by Vlad TV shows the Memphis rapper laid up in a hospital bed.

Crunchy Black, given name Darnell Carlton, left Three 6 Mafia in May 2006 to pursue a solo career. Along with his former group mates, Paul "DJ Paul" Beauregard and Jordan "Juicy J" Houston, Crunchy helped pioneer the brooding, bass-heavy, tear-the-club-up Memphis rap sound that spawned crunk music in the South. In 2006 Three 6 became the first rap group to win an Oscar Award for Best Original Song. They famously performed “It’s Hard Out Here for a Pimp,” at the 78th Academy Awards, which was featured in the film Hustle & Flow.

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