8Ball

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Genre	Hip-Hop, rap, Dirty South, Gangsta Rap, memphis

Hailing from the historical Orange Mound neighborhood of Memphis, 8Ball and MJG first joined forces as young teens in the 1980s. “It was seventh grade at Ridgeway High,” MJG recalled in 2010. “We took classes together, and we were two of the same. Every high school has cliques, and we ran with the weed-smoking, class-cutting damn near misfits.” Despite their instantaneous bond, the duo was (and remains) a study in contrasts. While the heavier 8Ball specialized in a smooth and laid-back style of rapping, his lanky counterpart perfected a much more aggressive, staccato flow. “Like we say all the time, we like the Studney Twins,” MJG once said, referencing the starkly different “twins” from a famous Godfathers Pizza ad. “It’s the Studney of it that makes it special. It’s the unalikeness that makes us so alike.”

Like many artists before them, 8Ball and MJG began their careers in the small clubs and talent shows around Memphis, taking gigs wherever they could find them. “We started hanging out at this little spot shooting pool, at this hole-in-the-wall club near MJG’s house that did blues, like live blues shows and made blues records,” said 8Ball. “We hung out there so much, when they’d walk away, they’d let us get on the mic and start beat-boxing, rapping and stuff… so that’s how we started doing talent shows.”