8Ball & MJG is an American hip hop duo from Memphis, Tennessee. The two rappers met at Ridgeway Middle School (Memphis, Tennessee) in 1984. In 1993, the duo released their debut album Comin' Out Hard. They went on to release On the Outside Looking In (1994), On Top of the World (1995), In Our Lifetime (1999), Space Age 4 Eva (2000), Living Legends (2004), Ridin' High (2007) and Ten Toes Down (2010).

Listen to music from 8Ball & MJG like Pimp In My Own Rhyme, Top Of The World & more. Find the latest. Highcharts 5.0.6. We Are The South (Greatest Hits).

• 2Discography

Career[edit]

8Ball & MJG first appeared on the rap scene with their underground 1991 album Listen to the Lyrics.^[1] In 1993, they released the successful album Comin' Out Hard.^[2] Their subsequent albums in the 1990s, including 1994's On the Outside Looking In, and 1995's On Top of the World cemented their status as some of the South's best rappers.^[3]On Top of the World was particularly successful, peaking at #8 on the Billboard Hot 200 and being certified Gold.^[3] It also contained the song 'Space Age Pimpin', which was 8Ball & MJG's first single to chart, reaching #58 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles and Tracks chart and #22 on the Hot Rap Singles chart.^[4] After those albums both 8Ball & MJG released solo albums, first MJG's No More Glory in 1997 and then 8Ball's Lost in 1998.^[5][6] They reunited in 1999 to release their fourth album as a group, titled In Our Lifetime.^[7] One year later in 2000, they released their fifth group album entitled Space Age 4 Eva.^[8]

In 1996, they appeared on the Red Hot Organization's compilation CD, America is Dying Slowly, alongside Biz Markie, Wu-Tang Clan, and Fat Joe, among many other prominent hip hop artists.^[9] The CD, meant to raise awareness of the AIDS epidemic among African American men, was heralded as 'a masterpiece' by The Source magazine.^[9] In the early 2000s they would sign with Sean Combs' Bad Boy Records.^[10] They already had some experience with the label, being featured on the song 'The Player Way' from Bad Boy rapper Mase's 1997 album Harlem World.^[11] Their first album for Bad Boy Records, Living Legends, came out in 2004 and was certified Gold by the RIAA.^[12] Their second album on Bad Boy Records was titled Ridin' High and was released in March 2007.^[12]

Commercially one of the high points of 8Ball & MJG's career was their being featured on Three 6 Mafia's hit song 'Stay Fly' in 2005.^[13] That song peaked at #13 on the Billboard Hot 100, which is the biggest hit of Three 6 Mafia's career and the biggest hit for 8Ball & MJG.^[13] The song was a collaboration between two of the most successful rap groups from the state of Tennessee, whence Three 6 Mafia also hail.^[13] Today 8Ball and MJG also head their own record labels. 8Ball heads 8 Ways Entertainment (distributed by Koch Entertainment), while MJG heads MJG Muzik.^[14] On their label are the young, up and coming Memphis duo, Da Volunteers, who are widely known throughout the Southern United States for their 2006 single, 'What's Yo Favorite Color?', which glorifies their neighborhood of Orange Mound.^[14]

In September 2007, 8Ball and MJG signed deals in Sacramento, CA with Real Talk Entertainment 8Ball released a group album with E.D.I of the Outlawz entitled Doin' It Big on April 1, 2008 and MJG released a solo album entitled Pimp Tight on April 29, 2008.^[14][15] In June 2008 the group announced that they officially signed onto T.I.'s record label Grand Hustle.^[16] Their eighth album as a group and their first on Grand Hustle, titled Ten Toes Down, was released in May 2010.^[17] It reached #36 on the Billboard 200 in its first week.^[17]

Discography[edit]

Studio albums[edit]

• Comin' Out Hard (1993)
• On the Outside Looking In (1994)
• On Top of the World (1995)
• In Our Lifetime (1999)
• Space Age 4 Eva (2000)
• Living Legends (2004)
• Ridin' High (2007)
• Ten Toes Down (2010)

8Ball albums[edit]

• Lost (1998)
• Almost Famous (2001)
• Lay It Down (2002)
• Light Up the Bomb (2006)
• The Vet & The Rookiewith Devius (2007)
• Doin' It Bigwith E.D.I. (2008)
• 8Ball & Memphis All-Stars: Cars, Clubs & Strip Clubs (2009)
• Life's Quest (2012)

MJG albums[edit]

• No More Glory (1997)
• Pimp Tight (2008)
• This Might Be the Day (2008)
• Too Pimpin' (2013)
• Too Pimpin' 2.0 (2014)

References[edit]

1. ^'Eight Ball And MJG* - Listen To The Lyrics (Cassette) at Discogs'. Discogs.com. Retrieved June 5, 2013.
2. ^'Comin' Out Hard: 8ball & Mjg: Music'. Amazon.com. Retrieved June 5, 2013.
3. ^ ^ab'iTunes - Music - On Top Of The World by 8Ball & MJG'. Itunes.apple.com. October 31, 1995. Retrieved June 5, 2013.
4. ^'Space Age Pimpin' [Explicit]: 8 Ball & Mjg: MP3 Downloads'. Amazon.com. Retrieved June 5, 2013.
5. ^'iTunes - Music - No More Glory by MJG'. Itunes.apple.com. November 18, 1997. Retrieved June 5, 2013.
6. ^'iTunes - Music - Lost by Eightball'. Itunes.apple.com. May 19, 1998. Retrieved June 5, 2013.
7. ^'iTunes - Music - In Our Lifetime by 8Ball & MJG'. Itunes.apple.com. May 18, 1999. Retrieved June 5, 2013.
8. ^Birchmeier, Jason (November 21, 2000). 'Space Age 4 Eva - Eightball & MJG : Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards'. AllMusic. Retrieved June 5, 2013.
9. ^ ^ab'iTunes - Music - America Is Dying Slowly by Various Artists'. Itunes.apple.com. Retrieved June 5, 2013.
10. ^Langhorne, Cyrus (June 8, 2009). '8Ball Explains Bad Boy Break, Rewards Eminem W/ Rap Legend Status'. Sohh.Com. Archived from the original on December 19, 2013. Retrieved June 5, 2013.
11. ^Stanley, Leo (October 28, 1997). 'Harlem World - Mase : Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards'. AllMusic. Retrieved June 5, 2013.
12. ^ ^abJeffries, David (May 11, 2004). 'Living Legends - Eightball & MJG : Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards'. AllMusic. Retrieved June 5, 2013.
13. ^ ^abc'iTunes - Music - Stay Fly (feat. Young Buck & 8Ball & MJG) - EP by Three 6 Mafia'. Itunes.apple.com. July 5, 2005. Retrieved June 5, 2013.
14. ^ ^abc'8 Ball & 8 Ways Entertainment :: Light Up the Bomb :: 8 Ways Entertainment'. Rapreviews.com. November 21, 2006. Retrieved June 5, 2013.
15. ^Rinaldi, Matt (April 29, 2008). 'MJG: Pimp Tight - 8Ball : Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards'. AllMusic. Retrieved June 5, 2013.
16. ^Burgess, Omar (June 16, 2008). 'T.I. Signs 8Ball & MJG While Beef Continues | Get The Latest Hip Hop News, Rap News & Hip Hop Album Sales'. HipHop DX. Retrieved June 5, 2013.
17. ^ ^abJeffries, David (May 4, 2010). 'Ten Toes Down - Eightball & MJG : Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards'. AllMusic. Retrieved June 5, 2013.

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About 8Ball & MJG

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One of the pioneers of Southern rap, 8Ball and MJG, emerged from Memphis, Tennessee in the early '90s and, aligned with the Houston, Texas-based independent label Suave Records, quickly garnering 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 (1994) and In Our Lifetime, Vol. 1 (1999), which would become Southern rap milestones, along with classic singles like 'Space Age Pimpin'.' 8Ball and 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 and 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 and MJG persevered over the decades. There were no acrimonious incidents, no run-ins with the law, no 'retirements,' no hangups whatsoever -- if anything, 8Ball and MJG were respectably reliable over the course of their career, always comin' out hard and always representing the South.
Eightball (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 and 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 and MJG subsequently signed a deal with Suave Records (aka Suave House), a Houston, Texas-based label run by Tony Draper. The duo'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.
The pair 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 and 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 the duo, 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 Eightball & MJG without a recording contract. Meanwhile, Tony Draper released Lay It Down (2001), a compilation of Suave-era leftovers featuring Eightball.
After a couple years in limbo, Bad Boy Records, helmed by Diddy, picked up 8Ball and 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 and 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 album, debuting at number three on the Top 200 album chart and topping 500,000 in sales. The duo'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. In 2010 they left Diddy's label for T.I.'s imprint Grand Hustle and released the album Ten Toes Down. ~ Jason Birchmeier

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