“It was fifteen years ago, and I still don’t believe it,” says DJ Paul of Three 6 Mafia, possibly the most shocking Oscar winners in history. The Memphis-spawned hip-hop group won Best Original Song in 2006 for the theme track from the Terence Howard-starring film “Hustle & Flow,” which bears the spectacularly unsubtle title of “It’s Hard Out Here for a Pimp.”

It’s safe to say the Academy Awards had never seen anything like the group’s performance on the show, either. There was an elaborate, Oscar-level set themed around the film with dancers and dazzling lights, but there was also Three 6 Mafia swaggering across the stage in street wear while the film’s co-star Taraji P. Henson belted the song’s chorus, resplendent in a glamorous white dress and heels.

After the win was announced (with unadulterated delight) by Queen Latifah, the group — Juicy J, DJ Paul and Frayser Boy,...