8Ball & MJG

8 Ball and MJG are a U.S. Southern Hip-hop duo from Memphis, Tennessee.

8 Ball & MJG may have never made a significant impact nationally during their rise to fame in the 1990s, yet they indeed made an incredible impact throughout the South. The two began on the Southern underground circuit, where they peddled their tapes in such major markets as Memphis, Houston, and Atlanta. After a few years of this, 8 Ball & MJG helped launch Suave House Records in 1993 and attract a pair of national distribution deals soon afterward. By the end of the '90s, just as the Dirty South movement broke nationally, the duo issued their final Suave House album, In Our Lifetime, Vol. 1 (1999), and declared themselves Southern rap pioneers.

8 Ball (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 soon formed a partnership. After years of mixtape work, later re-released on the Lyrics of a Pimp (1991) and Memphis Under World (2000) compilations, the two started Suave House Records with CEO Tony Draper. The label released Eightball MJG's debut full-length, Comin' Out Hard (1993), was produced entirely by the duo and popularized by the song "Armed Robbery," and which gained them a cult following.

Each successive year brought with it a new album: On the Outside Looking In (1994) and On Top of the World (1995), the latter distributed nationally by Relativity. These releases continued to expand the duo's reach throughout the South, so much so that Universal Records offered Draper a lucrative distribution deal in 1997 for Suave House. Eightball & MJG afterward released a pair of solo albums--Lost (1997) and No More Glory (1998), respectively--and went on to record In Our Lifetime, Vol. 1 (1999). The album brought a degree of national success and recognition.

Eightball & MJG parted ways with Suave House in 1999 and maintained a relatively low profile for a few years until they signed with P Diddy's Bad Boy label in 2002, recording an album for Jcor (Space Age 4 Eva [2000]) and scoring a widespread club hit ("Buck Bounce") in the meantime. Their first album for Bad Boy Living Legends went Gold on the back of the single "You Don't Want Drama".

They recently collaborated with Three 6 Mafia on the 2005 hit "Stay Fly."

Discography

Albums

Album cover	Album information
Datei:Comin Out Hard.jpg	Comin' Out Hard Released: July 6, 1993 Chart positions: N/A U.S. Sales: N/A Last RIAA certification: N/A Singles: N/A
Datei:On the Outside Looking In.jpg	On the Outside Looking In Released: May 24, 1994 Chart positions: N/A U.S. Sales: N/A Last RIAA certification: N/A Singles: "Player Nightout"
	On Top of the World Released: February 11, 1995 Chart positions: N/A U.S. Sales: N/A Last RIAA certification: N/A Singles: "Break'em Off" "Space Age Pimpin'"
Datei:Eightball and MJG Living Legends.jpg	Living Legends Released: May 11, 2004 Chart positions: #3 US Billboard 200, #1 US R&B U.S. Sales: N/A Last RIAA certification: Platinum Singles: "You Don't Want Drama", "Straght Cadillac Pimpin'"
	Ridin' High Released: February 6, 2007 Chart positions: N/A U.S. Sales: N/A Last RIAA certification: N/A Singles: "F*** That", "Ridin' High", "Relax & Take Notes"

EightBall Albums

Album cover	Album information
Datei:Eightball - Lost.jpg	Lost Released: February 11, 2003 Chart positions: N/A U.S. Sales: N/A Last RIAA certification: Gold Singles: N/A

MJG Albums

Album cover	Album information
Datei:No More Glory.jpg	No More Glory Released: November 18, 1997 Chart positions: N/A U.S. Sales: N/A Last RIAA certification: Gold Singles: "Break'em Off"

Singles

2006 Relax & Take Notes featuring Project Pat & Notorious B.I.G.
2006 Ridin High
2006 Spit Your Game Remix (Notorious B.I.G. featuring Twista, Krayzie Bone, & 8Ball & MJG)
2006 Fit For An Outfit
2006 F***That
2005 Stay Fly (Three 6 Mafia featuring Young Buck and Eightball & MJG) US #22
2004 You Don't Want Drama
2004 Straight Cadillac Pimpin'
2004 Look At The Grillz (featuring T.I. & Twista)
2004 Confessions

Guest Appearences

Young Buck - "Dope Deals (Robbery)"
Three 6 Mafia - "Stay Fly"
Lil Jon - "White Meat"
Lil Jon - "Diamonds"
Lil Jon - "Rep Yo City"
112 - "Watcha Gonna Do"
Mase - "The Player Way"
T.I. - "Bezzle"
Too Short - "Don't Stop Rappin"
Foxy Brown - "Ride (Down South)"
Tela - "Sho Nuff"
Jayo Felony - "How Angry"
Luniz - "In My Nature"
Spice 1 - "Chocolate Philly"
3-2 - "Hit The Highway"
5th Ward Boyz - "F**K Strugglin"
MC Ren - "Who In The F**k"
Devin The Dude - "Tha Funk"
David Banner - "Air Force Ones" (Remix)
Big Gipp - "All Over Your Body"
UGK - "Gold Grill"
Jadakiss - "What You Ride For?"
Mr. Mike - "Stop Lying"
Mobb Deep - "Where Ya From"
Kingpin Skinny Pimp - "TV's (24's & Wang)"
Jermaine Dupri - "Jazzy H***"
Heavy D - "On Point"
Project Playaz - "Dirty Down South"
Rappin-4-Tay - "360 Degrees"
Lil Keke - "Bottom 2 Da Top"

References

Bad Boy Records signs Eightball & MJG to major record deal article on official Memphis rap website more news