EIGHTBALL & MJG WORDS: MAURICE G. GARLAND
PHOTO: TARRICE LOVE
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remro “Eightball” Smith and Marlon “MJG” Goodwin have earned every title that people throw at them: legends, originators, kings, poets, etc. But after you get labeled such things, what else is there to work towards? You bust your ass to get your respect and just due. But when you get the acceptance, what’s next? Once people applaud you for something, you’re really no longer at liberty to do the same thing. Why? Because you’ve mastered it, you’ve done everything that there is to do with it. You have to move on to the next challenge.
Ball & G are well aware of that. Since their debut Comin’ Out Hard (named one of OZONE’s 20 Essential Southern Albums) they’ve managed to take on a new challenge or territory with every album that followed, making classic records along the way. The biggest test of their career however may have come in 2004 with their Livin’ Legends album. They were on a new label, Bad Boy, in a new time where the T.I.’s and Ludacris’ of the world were carrying the banner for a new wave of Southern artists who had inherited the spoils of a phenomenon they helped build. Now that they are officially settled at their new recording home, they plan to release their second Bad Boy album, Ridin’ High. Once again, Ball & G are presented with more challenges. But this time, they are ones they’ve put themselves up to. Whether it’s the experimental sound of their lead single “Ridin’ High,” placing their own artists Devious and Mack-E on the album or finally being able to work with a gang of Memphis artists including Three 6 Mafia, Project Pat and Al Kapone, this will not sound like what you are used to from the Fat Mack and Pimp Tight. The album was originally titled Pure American Pimpin’. Why did you change the name? Eightball: They was scared of Pure American Pimpin’. The label was thinking from a record sales aspect. To them, the name would have hindered the sales. Me personally, I don’t think it would have, but that was just one of the battles we had to fight. What is a pimp to you? Eightball: You got a bunch of different definitions, but I think that a pimp is an entrepreneur. Anyone getting money the best way they can. They’re a pimp. Do you think people misunderstand that word when artists use it? MJG: Basically, its a lot of definitions of the word. Folks would say the word isn’t politically correct. You can define different meanings of the word, but the question is, can you use the word anytime around anybody? In our last issue Too $hort said he felt like rappers just throw the word around like it’s a sport, not knowing what that whole lifestyle really entails. How do you feel? Eightball: “Pimp” ain’t nothing but another word like bitch or nigga. When you say bitch you don’t mean a female dog, but you use it to describe a certain person. Same thing with “nigga,” it can be defined a bunch of ways, but the real meaning, the text book meaning, niggas who say it don’t mean it like that. So to the youngsters saying “pimp,” it’s just a word. You guys were instrumental in introducing that pimp/player aesthetic to Hip Hop. Other than that, what kind of impact do you think you’ve had on music? MJG: We figure we’ve made a lasting impact. I think we let our fans and listeners know that we have knowledge and staying power. Eightball: I think we’ve showed our fans loyalty and longevity. If you ain’t learn nothing from watching us, you’ve learned how to be loyal
to your brother. Have people told you that? MJG: Over the years we’ve gotten plenty of stories from the fans telling us that our music got them through hard times, or even happy times. So many years, that’s been one of the effects of us being around for a long time. The music has not only been a part of our lives, but a lot of other people’s lives. Eightball: The shit that we talk about, we see and live it. We been here for a long time. Our music is a reflection of what we’re doing at that time. The people that get Ridin’ High on July 18th are getting a book of our life since Livin’ Legends. The most interesting thing about books isn’t the information inside of them. It’s the fact that the author, or good ones rather, for a brief moment in time, have the reader’s brain at its mercy. They can switch it up without having to give a reason. Hell, they can end the book whenever they want and however they want and never have to explain themselves. The author’s risk, however, is that the can easily sway their readers to another direction and never retrieve them, because a bond has been broken. That’s why the best authors stick around for years. They can do whatever they want with their books, but they make sure that their fan base is always satisfied to some degree. Some of them even go as far to prep their followers so that they won’t be too surprised by their new works. How has that chapter been? Eightball: This album is a feel good album. We tried to not get too personal on this album. Its just 14 songs a muthafucker gonna want a pop in and listen to. Something to pop in to get away from your problems. We didn’t want to get too deep on this album. We just want to let people get away from the world for 55 minutes. Why do that now? Eightball: That’s how we was feeling. It’s already enough people making statements. We got a few niggas calling themselves King of the South, Kanye out there preaching, Ma$e is a gangsta again. We just trying to be Eightball & MJG. We ain’t trying to be none of that shit. We ain’t trying to sell you no clothes, we ain’t preaching to you. I just want you to listen to my music and feel good while you’re doing it. Depending on who you ask “feel good” music means something with no content. That it’s killing Hip Hop, per se. MJG: It’s all about how you feel. I try not to judge. The best thing overall is seeing someone being successful and doing good at what they do. All of us can’t be the best or the most lyrical. If it works for you, and its working and somebody likes it, that’s the best thing about it. You can’t rob nobody of their shine. It’s a time for everybody to shine. It don’t matter if I like it, or if I’m the best or if I’m the coldest. If people buying it that’s beautiful. That’s the first and foremost part. If everybody can look at it like that it wouldn’t be none of that hate shit. It wouldn’t be cool to say its killing Hip Hop. The only thing that can kill Hip Hop is ourselves if we don’t do the right things. The first thing we gotta do is get along with each other regardless. What do you think it is that causes people to not get along? You guys have been around for years, and we haven’t seen any publicized beefs with you and another artist. MJG: What I see is that it ain’t nothing different. It’s the same shit just a different time. The music industry, problems, fame, critics; it’s always been the same. It’s just been different music and different time. It’s just that Hip Hop music is at the forefront. Eightball: It’s a combination of all kinds of shit. The attitudes, niggas getting bread that never had it gonna cut up, niggas going places they’ve never been gonna cut up. Everybody ain’t gonna get along. But at the same time you never hear a president of a record label tell OZONE
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