8 Ball

Location:
Tennessee, US
Type:
Artist / Band / Musician
Genre:
Rap
Site(s):
Label:
Real Talk Ent/Koch Records/8 Ways Ent
Type:
Indie
Two of the pioneers of Southern rap, 8Ball & MJG emerged from Memphis, TN, in the early '90s and, aligned with the Houston, TX-based independent label Suave Records, quickly garnered a tremendous regional following while proving highly influential to a generation of aspiring, independent-minded rap artists and entrepreneurs. The pioneering duo enjoyed increasing recognition as the years passed, releasing a couple albums, namely Comin' Out Hard (1993) and In Our Lifetime, Vol. 1 (1999), that would become Southern rap milestones, along with classic singles like "Space Age Pimpin'." 8Ball & MJG eventually left Suave for a major label, JCOR/Interscope, in 2000, and then were signed by Diddy to Bad Boy Records, resulting in their most commercially successful album to date, Living Legends (2004). In addition, 8Ball & MJG recorded individually, the former by far the more prolific of the two. Despite never crossing over into the mainstream -- none of their singles ever broke into the Billboard Hot 100, for example, not even once they signed to Bad Boy -- and despite occasionally infrequent output, 8Ball & MJG persevered over the decades. There were no acrimonious incidents, no run-ins with the law, no "retirements," no hangups whatsoever -- if anything, 8Ball & MJG were respectably reliable over the course of their career, always comin' out hard and always representing the South.



8Ball (born Premro Smith) and MJG (Marlon Jermaine Goodwin) grew up in the rough Orange Mound area of Memphis and met at Ridgeway Junior High in 1984. They shared a passion for hip-hop, which hadn't yet made a strong impact in the South, and formed their own rap duo, 8Ball & MJG. They made their recording debut in 1991 with a three-track single, Listen to the Lyrics, released on cassette and 12" vinyl by On the Strength Records, an independent label. (These early recordings for On the Strength would later be reissued in 1997 as Lyrics of a Pimp and also in 2000 as Memphis Under World.) 8Ball & MJG subsequently signed a deal with Suave Records (aka Suave House), a Houston, TX-based label run by Tony Draper. 8Ball & MJG's debut full-length, Comin' Out Hard (1993), produced partly by MJG, was the inaugural release by Suave, which would grow to become one of the premier Southern rap labels of the decade. Now considered a milestone, Comin' Out Hard was among the first Southern rap albums to get widespread recognition, opening the door for other pioneers such as Three 6 Mafia, Master P, and Cash Money Records.



8Ball & MJG recorded a few additional albums for Tony Draper throughout the remainder of the decade -- On the Outside Looking In (1994), On Top of the World (1995), In Our Lifetime, Vol. 1 (1999) -- and did much to foster the growth of Suave, regularly being featured as guests on the label's other releases. Plus, 8Ball and MJG each branched out for solo projects, Lost (1998) and No More Glory (1997), respectively, both released by Suave. In 2000, 8Ball & MJG left Suave and switched to JCOR Entertainment, a short-lived rap label founded by Jay Faires, for the release of Space Age 4 Eva. The album, which notably featured production by Swizz Beatz and DJ Quik, was a departure for 8Ball & MJG, who heretofore had worked more or less exclusively with regional producers. The album spawned a pair of minor hits, "Pimp Hard" and "Buck Bounce," the duo's first to get national, opposed to regional, airplay. In 2001, JCOR released a pair of 8Ball albums -- The Slab, a various-artists compilation, and Almost Famous, a proper solo album -- but the label then ran into trouble and went out of business, leaving 8Ball & MJG without a recording contract. Meanwhile, Tony Draper released Lay It Down (2001), a compilation of Suave-era leftovers featuring 8Ball.



After a couple years in limbo, Bad Boy Records, helmed by Diddy, picked up 8Ball & MJG and released Living Legends (2004), the duo's most star-studded album to date. "You Don't Want Drama," the lead single, became 8Ball & MJG's biggest hit ever, reaching number 30 on Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles chart, while Living Legends itself likewise became the duo's best-selling, debuting at number three on the Top 200 album chart and topping 500,000 in sales. 8Ball & MJG's second Bad Boy album, Ridin High (2007), was less successful, though, despite debuting well at number eight and spawning a strong lead single, "Relax and Take Notes." In addition to these Bad Boy albums, 8Ball revived 8 Ways Entertainment -- a vanity label of his which had lain dormant since its 2001 debut on The Slab, an aforementioned various-artists compilation showcasing the talent assembled around the label -- and secured a distribution deal with Navarre. A series of 8Ball-associated releases resulted, beginning with a 2006 re-release of The Slab, and subsequently including Montana Trax: The Boy Somethin' Great (2006), Light Up the Bomb (2006), and The Vet & the Rookie(2007).



8Ball and MJG currently ride off the success of their platinum selling Bad Boy Records release, “Living Legends”, and their most recent Gold selling release, “Ridin’ High”.



Now the pair has been set to release solo projects, first being 8Ball droppin' his album titled “Doin’ It Big” in April 2008. "Doin’ It Big" was recorded with EDI of the Outlawz. This new material will surely satisfy 8Ball & EDI fans and any fan of rap from the dirty south. The new record features the single “Puttin' In Work” featuring MJG.



Since his acclaimed and highly-successful Lost in 1998, one of the best secrets of the south is the kind of quality 8Ball brings to his solo work. Although Memphis All-Stars: Cars, Clubs & Strip Clubs is more of a compilation than a solo, the same attention to detail stands strong. With Tela, Yo Gotti, Project Pat and Gangsta Boo all involved, 8Ball manages to celebrate the torch-carriers of the River City, as well as introductions to a new class of respectable talents.



The space-age, pimp-type songs have always been 'Ball's trademark. "So Thick" borrows a popular Bootsy Collins sample and sprinkles the kind of flow and lyrical delivery that gave Memphis a Rap identity. With assistance from Kinfolk Thugs, 8Ball makes another anthem for Cadillacs cutting corners. "100%," with Yung Key, is a more contemporary look at Memphis music. Key's delivery is more influenced by east coast freestyle rhythms, while 'Ball's chorus and track shows the hometown connection. Amidst the pimping and street bravado, Memphis All-Stars carries a great deal of Soul. "Love Spoken," the album's official closer, is a nine-minute ballad that begins as a charged, evocative spoken word piece from El-Hakim The Poet, as 8Ball enters and builds upon the effort with cresecendo production. This work is fore more artistic than most veteran artists put towards their independent projects. From its commentary on Memphis to its commentary on music, the song deserves to be up there with Blackalicious' "Release" and Common's "My City" for its brilliant collaboration between poetry and Hip Hop.



Speaking of artful production and concept, hitmaking hometown hero Drumma Boy checks back in with one of his first artist placements, Tela, for "Gangsta Luv." MJG [click to read] also jumps on the track (as he does four altogether), as the song may lack theme, but it demonstrates Drumma's ability to produced polished hits. Drumma's pupil, Ensayne, provides "Smoke Somethin'." The song that shares it's name with Pimp C's famed ad-lib, has some of the best keyboard programming heard this year, but like "Gangsta Luv," is one of the lesser lyrical offerings on the compilation. This album boasts both Memphis' pioneering production trends, as well as its longstanding pimp-meets-prophet emceeing. Unfortunately, rarely are these moments simultaneous. The best beats and the most meanigful tracks on All-Stars are not overlapping.



This album's liner notes claim it is dedicated to the late Isaac Hayes. Like Ike, 8Ball has put on for his city by being both political and pimpin', soulful and street. Although works like Lost or On Top Of The World releases may have had greater mass appeal, 8Ball's attention to detail and musical range has not changed. Like Nas' QB's Finest with Queens or T.W.D.Y. with The Bay, the city Memphis has is represented nicely in past, present and future.
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