8Ball & MJG is an American Rap and Crunk duo
from Memphis, Tennessee. The two rappers met at Ridgeway Middle School
in 1980.
They first appeared on the rap scene with their 1992 underground
album Listen To The Lyrics. In 1993, they released Comin' Out Hard,
the album was successful commercially as well as critically and established
the group as a prominent act in the then emerging Southern Rap scene.
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. On Top of the World was particularly
successful, peaking at #8 on the Billboard Hot 200 and being certified
Gold. 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. After those albums both 8Ball & MJG released solo
albums, first MJG's No More Glory in 1997 and then 8Ball's Lost in
1998. They reunited in 1999 to release their fourth album as a group,
titled In Our Lifetime, Vol. 1. One year later in 2000 they released
their fifth group album, entitled Space Age 4 Eva.
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. The CD,
meant to raise awareness of the AIDS epidemic among African American
men, was heralded as "a masterpiece" by The Source magazine.
In the early 2000s they would sign with Sean Combs' Bad Boy Records.
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. Their first album for Bad Boy Records, Living
Legends, came out in 2004 and was certified Gold by the RIAA. 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. 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, from 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. 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, 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.
In June 2008 the group announced that they officially signed onto
T.I.'s record label Grand Hustle. Their eighth album as a group and
their first on Grand Hustle, titled Ten Toes Down, was released in
May 2010. It reached #36 on the Billboard 200 in its first week.
Contents
[show]
[edit] Discography
[edit] Studio albums
Year Album U.S. R&B HS Certification
1992 Listen To The Lyrics – - -
1993 Comin' Out Hard – 40 20
1994 On The Outside Looking In 106 11 –
1995 On Top Of The World 8 2 – Gold [1]
1999 In Our Lifetime, Vol. 1 10 1 – Gold [1]
2000 Space Age 4 Eva 39 9 –
2004 Living Legends 3 1 – Gold
2007 Ridin' High 8 4 – 200,000 copies
2010 Ten Toes Down 36 6 3 70,000
2010 From the Bottom 2 the Top 193 19 12 40,000
[edit] Compilation Albums
Year Album U.S. R&B HS Certification
1997 Lyrics Of A Pimp – – –
2000 Memphis Under World – 46 –
2008 We Are The South: Greatest Hits – 59 –
[edit] Singles
Year Single Chart positions Album
U.S. Hot 100 U.S. R&B U.S. Rap
1994 "Players Night Out" – – – On the
Outside Looking In
1995 "Break'em Off" – – – On Top of the
World
"
Space Age Pimpin'" (featuring Nina Creque) – 58 22
2000 "Pimp Hard" – 76 – Space Age 4 Eva
2004 "You Don't Want Drama" (featuring P. Diddy) – 30
22 Living Legends
"
Forever" (featuring Lloyd) – – –
2006 "Ridin High" (featuring Diddy) – – – Ridin
High
2007 "Clap On" (featuring Yung Joc) – 98 –
2010 "Bring It Back" (featuring Young Dro) – 45 23
Ten Toes Down
"
Blunts & Broads" – – – From the Bottom
2 the Top
[edit] 8Ball albums
Lost
Released: May 19, 1998
Chart positions: 5 U.S.
RIAA Certification: 2x Platinum [2]
Singles: "Pure Uncut"
Almost Famous
Released: November 20, 2001
Chart positions: 47 U.S.
Singles: "Stop Playin' Games"
Lay It Down
Released: August 13, 2002
Singles: –
Light Up The Bomb
Released: October 10, 2006
Chart positions: –
U.S. sales: 164,000[3]
RIAA certification: –
Singles: "Time2hitdaclub"
The Vet & The Rookie (with Devius)
Released: October 9, 2007
Chart positions: –
U.S. sales: 144,200
RIAA certification: –
Singles: "Ery' Body Kno Me"
Doin' It Big (with E.D.I. Of The Outlawz)
Released:April 1, 2008
Chart Position: -
U.S. Sales: 130,700[citation needed]
RIAA certification
8Ball & Memphis All-Stars: Cars, Clubs & Strip Clubs[4]
Release Date: February 24, 2009
Chart positions: N/A
U.S. sales: –
RIAA certification: –
Singles: "Gettin' It In", "Gangsta Luv"
[edit] MJG albums
No More Glory
Released: November 18, 1997
Chart positions: 20 U.S.
U.S. sales: 49,000
RIAA certification: Gold[citation needed]
Singles: "That Girl"
Pimp Tight
Release Date: April 29, 2008
Chart positions: N/A
U.S. sales: 25,000
RIAA certification: –
Singles: "Small Town Girl"
This Might Be The Day
Release Date: July 15, 2008
Chart positions: N/A
U.S. sales: 16,000
RIAA certification: –
Singles: "Shades", "Big Time (feat. Slim)"
[edit] Compilations
Suave House: The Album of the Year
Released: July 29, 1997
Singles: "Just Like Candy"
Off da Chain, Vol. 1
Released: June 20, 2000
Singles: –
[edit] Mixtapes
The Legends Series, Vol. 2 (Hosted By DJ Drama)
Released: 2005
Singles: -
[edit] Guest appearances
Rock Dillon- "V-Squad"
Young Buck - "Dope Deals (Robbery)"
Three 6 Mafia - "Stay Fly"
Three 6 Mafia - "First 48"
Lil Jon - "White Meat"
Lil Jon - "Diamonds"
Lil Jon - "Rep Yo City"
112 - "Watcha Gonna Do"
Mase - "The Player Way"
T.I. - "Bezzle"
Ludacris - "Hard Times"
Foxy Brown - "Ride (Down South)"
Tela - "Sho Nuff"
Jayo Felony - "How Angry"
Luniz - "In My Nature"
Spice 1 - "Chocolate Philly"
5th Ward Boyz - "FUCK Strugglin"
MC Ren - "Who In The Fuck"
Mr. 3-2 - "Hit The Highway"
Devin the Dude - "Tha Funk"
Young Buck - "Say It To My Face
David Banner - "Air Force Ones" (remix)
David Banner - "Gangster Walk"
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 Hoes"
Heavy D - "On Point"
Project Playaz - "Dirty Down South"
Rappin' 4-Tay - "360 Degrees"
Lil' Keke - Southside, Pt. 2
Lil' Keke - "Bottom 2 Da Top"
Lloyd Banks - "Iceman" (*8 Ball Only) (both appear on the remix)
Krayzie Bone - "Pimpz, Thugz, Hustlaz & Gangstaz"
Yo Gotti - "Gangsta Party"
The Notorious B.I.G. - "Spit your Game" (remix)
Killer Mike - "Gorilla Pimpin'"
Kia Shine - "Bluff City Classic"
Lil' Flip - "Cant U Tell" Feat. Sqad Up & MJG
Limp Bizkit - "Take A Look Around" (remix)
Rich Boy - "D-Dude"
Diddy - "Roll With Me"
Master P - "Meal Ticket"
Lil' Keke - "Southside" (remix)
Too Short - "Don't Stop Rappin"
E-40 - "Ya Blind"
Haystak - "Can't Tell Me Nothin"
Heavy D - "On Point"
Spice 1 - "Chocolate Philly"
A+ - "Whatcha Weigh Me
T-Pain - "Im In Love Wit A Stripper" (remix) (MJG only)
J. Holiday - "City Boy"
Bun B - "You're Everything"
Pimp C - "Bobby & Whitney"
Young Buck - "Without Me"
Big Scoob - "Only Know Hard (feat. Krizz Kaliko & 8Ball & MJG)"
Young Buck - "Betta Tell Em"
Rick Ross - "9 Piece" (remix)
Drake - "TBA"
DJ Khaled - "TBA"