8Ball & MJG
{{Short description|American hip hop duo}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2018}}
{{Infobox musical artist
| name = 8Ball & MJG
| background = group_or_band
| origin = Orange Mound, Memphis, Tennessee, U.S.
| genre = {{hlist |Hip hop |Memphis hip hop}}
| years_active = 1991–present
| label = {{hlist
| OTS
| E1
| Atlantic
| JCOR
}}
| current_members = Premro "8Ball" Smith
Marlon Jermaine "MJG" Goodwin
| website = {{Official URL}}
}}
8Ball & MJG is an American hip hop duo from Orange Mound, Memphis, Tennessee. They met at Ridgeway Middle School 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).
Career
8Ball & MJG first appeared on the rap scene with their underground 1991 album Listen to the Lyrics.{{cite web|url=http://www.discogs.com/Eightball-And-MJG-Listen-To-The-Lyrics/release/322679 |title=Eight Ball And MJG* - Listen To The Lyrics (Cassette) at Discogs |publisher=Discogs.com |access-date=2013-06-05}} In 1993, they released the more commercially-successful album Comin' Out Hard.{{cite web|url=https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000001ZDK |title=Comin' Out Hard: 8ball & Mjg: Music |website=Amazon |access-date=2013-06-05}} Their subsequent albums in the 1990s, including 1994's On the Outside Looking In, and 1995's On Top of the World helped cement their status as undisputed icons of the South's budding mainstream rap scene.{{cite web |date=October 31, 1995 |title=Music - On Top Of The World by 8Ball & MJG |url=https://music.apple.com/us/album/on-top-of-the-world/333891795 |access-date=2013-06-05 |publisher=iTunes}} On Top of the World was particularly successful, peaking at #8 on the Billboard 200 and being certified gold. It 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 & Tracks chart and #22 on the Hot Rap Singles chart.{{cite web|url=https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00198J8QE |title=Space Age Pimpin' [Explicit]: 8 Ball & Mjg: MP3 Downloads |website=Amazon |access-date=2013-06-05}} After those albums, both 8Ball & MJG each released solo attempts, the first of which was MJG's No More Glory in 1997, followed by 8Ball's Lost in 1998.{{cite web |date=November 18, 1997 |title=Music - No More Glory by MJG |url=https://music.apple.com/us/album/no-more-glory/333991132 |access-date=2013-06-05 |publisher=iTunes}}{{cite web |date=May 19, 1998 |title=Music - Lost by Eightball |url=https://music.apple.com/us/album/lost/333893357 |access-date=2013-06-05 |publisher=iTunes}} They reunited in 1999 to release their fourth album as a group, titled In Our Lifetime.{{cite web |date=May 18, 1999 |title=Music - In Our Lifetime by 8Ball & MJG |url=https://music.apple.com/us/album/in-our-lifetime/333988630 |access-date=2013-06-05 |publisher=iTunes}} One year later in 2000, they released their fifth group album entitled Space Age 4 Eva.{{cite web |last=Birchmeier |first=Jason |date=November 21, 2000 |title=Space Age 4 Eva - Eightball & MJG : Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards |url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/space-age-4-eva-mw0000106779 |access-date=2013-06-05 |publisher=AllMusic}}
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.{{cite web |date=January 1996 |title=Music - America Is Dying Slowly by Various Artists |url=https://music.apple.com/us/album/america-is-dying-slowly/321978086 |access-date=2013-06-05 |publisher=iTunes}} The CD, meant to raise awareness of the AIDS epidemic among African American men, was heralded as "a masterpiece" by the magazine The Source. In the early 2000s, they would sign with Sean Combs' Bad Boy Records.{{cite web |last=Langhorne |first=Cyrus |date=June 8, 2009 |title=8Ball Explains Bad Boy Break, Rewards Eminem W/ Rap Legend Status |url=http://www.sohh.com/2009/06/8ball_speaks_life_after_d.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131219013530/http://www.sohh.com/2009/06/8ball_speaks_life_after_d.html |archive-date=December 19, 2013 |access-date=2013-06-05 |publisher=SOHH.COM |df=mdy-all}} 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.{{cite web |last=Stanley |first=Leo |date=October 28, 1997 |title=Harlem World - Mase : Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards |url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/harlem-world-mw0000596053 |access-date=2013-06-05 |publisher=AllMusic}} Their first album for Bad Boy Records, Living Legends, came out in 2004 and was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America.{{cite web |last=Jeffries |first=David |date=May 11, 2004 |title=Living Legends - Eightball & MJG : Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards |url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/living-legends-mw0000473986 |access-date=2013-06-05 |publisher=AllMusic}} Their second album on Bad Boy Records was titled Ridin High and was released in March 2007.
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.{{cite web |date=July 5, 2005 |title=Music - Stay Fly (feat. Young Buck & 8Ball & MJG) - EP by Three 6 Mafia |url=https://music.apple.com/us/album/stay-fly-feat-young-buck-8ball-mjg-ep/159353156 |access-date=2013-06-05 |publisher=iTunes}} 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. The song was a collaboration between two of the most successful rap groups from the state of Tennessee, whence Three 6 Mafia also hail. Today, 8Ball and MJG also head their own record labels. 8Ball heads 8 Ways Entertainment (distributed by Koch Entertainment), while MJG heads MJG Muzik.{{cite web |last=Tomer |first=Matt |date=November 21, 2006 |title=8 Ball & 8 Ways Entertainment :: Light Up the Bomb :: 8 Ways Entertainment |url=http://www.rapreviews.com/archive/2006_11_lightup.html |access-date=2013-06-05 |publisher=RapReviews.com}} 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.
In September 2007, 8Ball and MJG signed deals in Sacramento, California with Real Talk Entertainment. 8Ball released a group album with E.D.I. Mean of the Outlawz entitled Doin' It Big on April 1, 2008, and MJG released a solo album entitled Pimp Tight on April 29, 2008.{{cite web |last=Rinaldi |first=Matt |date=April 29, 2008 |title=MJG: Pimp Tight - 8Ball : Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards |url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/mjg-pimp-tight-mw0000783597 |access-date=2013-06-05 |publisher=AllMusic}} In June 2008 the group announced that they officially signed onto T.I.'s record label Grand Hustle.{{cite web |last=Burgess |first=Omar |date=June 16, 2008 |title=T.I. Signs 8Ball & MJG While Beef Continues |url=http://www.hiphopdx.com/index/news/id.7128/title.t-i-signs-8ball-mjg-while-beef-continues |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080619215253/http://www.hiphopdx.com/index/news/id.7128/title.t-i-signs-8ball-mjg-while-beef-continues |archive-date=June 19, 2008 |access-date=2013-06-05 |publisher=HipHop DX}} Their eighth album as a group and their first on Grand Hustle, titled Ten Toes Down, was released in May 2010.{{cite web |last=Jeffries |first=David |date=May 4, 2010 |title=Ten Toes Down - Eightball & MJG : Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards |url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/ten-toes-down-mw0001968250 |access-date=2013-06-05 |publisher=AllMusic}} It reached #36 on the Billboard 200 in its first week.
Discography
{{Main|8Ball & MJG discography}}
=Studio albums=
- Comin' Out Hard (1993)
- On the Outside Looking In (1994)
- On Top of the World (1995)
- Lyrics of a Pimp (1997)
- In Our Lifetime (1999)
- Space Age 4 Eva (2000)
- Living Legends (2004)
- Ridin High (2007)
- Ten Toes Down (2010)
=8Ball albums=
- Lost (1998)
- Almost Famous (2001)
- Lay It Down (2002)
- Light Up the Bomb (2006)
- The Vet & The Rookie with Devius (2007)
- Doin' It Big with E.D.I. (2008)
- 8Ball & Memphis All-Stars: Cars, Clubs & Strip Clubs (2009)
- Life's Quest (2012)
=MJG albums=
- No More Glory (1997)
- Pimp Tight (2008)
- This Might Be the Day (2008)
- Too Pimpin' (2013)
- Too Pimpin' 2.0 (2014)
References
{{Reflist|2}}
External links
- {{Official website}}
- {{Facebook}}
- [http://www.badboyonline.com Bad Boy Online] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080602233946/http://www.badboyonline.com/ |date=June 2, 2008 }}
- {{Allmusic|class=artist|id=p44746|label=Eightball & MJG}}
{{8Ball & MJG}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:8Ball and MJG}}
Category:1991 establishments in Tennessee
Category:American hip-hop duos
Category:Musical duos from Tennessee
Category:Bad Boy Records artists
Category:Musical groups established in 1991
Category:Musical groups from Memphis, Tennessee
Category:Rappers from Memphis, Tennessee
Category:Southern hip-hop groups