Eightball & MJG

One 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 (1994) 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...