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(2001) Unquestionably
Eightball & MJG are in a class by themselves when it comes to this space age pimp game
we call rap. With more than twelve years and six albums as a duo and a pair of critically
acclaimed solo efforts between them, the Memphis natives have blazed a successful musical
trail for the like of Tela, 3-6 Mafia, and Skaface Al Kapone to follow into hip hop’s
mainstream. Unfortunately the duo has yet to see the kind of commercial success that they
deserve, despite the fact the albums like “Coming Out Hard,” “On The Inside
Looking In,” and “On Top Of The World” are considered nothing short of
classics in Southern hip hop. Frustrated that their work was being promoted the way they
deserved the two broke ties with the former label Suave House and joined forces with
upstart label JCOR Entertainment for their latest effort entitled “Space Age 4
Eva.” Shortly after that Ball got together with some of his homies and dropped the 8
Ways Compilation. This interview took place just before Big Ball as I like to call him
started recording his current solo effort entitled Almost Famous.
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 What was it like growing up Memphis?
You know, Memphis is got a style that is still our own, man. I was the same just like
other places. I realize that now that I’ve been to other places. It was like growing
up anywhere else it was just in Memphis, we did different things. I was always into
rapping and breakdancing and all that shit when I was younger. It was just another little
city where everybody knows everybody. At least all the important people knew everybody.
Whoa, you use to breakdance, Ball?
Ah…yeah.
Man that’s something that most people don’t know about you….
Shit, back during that time I didn’t know nobody who wasn’t into breakdancing. I
mean if you like hip hop and hip hop music, hell everybody was trying to do a back-spin,
wear Adidas with no shoe strings in ‘em and that shit.
Can you give us a back spin now?
Hell naw! My backspinning days are over with.
Did you start out breaking or did you start out rapping?
Ah, I don’t know. I really wasn’t a hellava breakdancer. I was really more of a
rapper. I mean like breakdancing wasn’t really my thing. All my partners did that
better than me. But I could rap better than them.
I know that you and MJG have been rapping together since your days in junior high
school. I recall you guys talking to me about doing gigs in Blues clubs. Could you tell us
a little bit about those days?
Yeah, that was like way back in the days before hip hop really had a presence in Memphis.
The only cats that had studios back then was cats that did blues and R&B music. That
was like the only outlet that we had to perform live was in a blues club and throwing
parties ourselves.
Being in front of a blues audience that had to be tough….
Yeah, most of the time we didn’t get no type of love or nothing. We were just doing
it, man. The crowd wasn’t too accepting, you know what I’m saying. They’d
let us get up there and do our thang, we didn't get booed or nothing but they was really
there to hear Screaming Johnny or some other muthafucka, you know what I’m saying.
Well now you have grandmothers who are fans. What do you attribute your
cross-generational appeal to?
We just got that older spirit about us from being around older people.
So you grew up around older people?
 I
wouldn’t say older people but they were older than me, you know what I’m saying.
At the time everybody that we hung around, most of our partners and shit….we wanted
to hang with their older brothers and sisters. Like me I was from a single parent
background so I didn’t have any brothers and sisters on my mama side so I hung with
my partners’ older brothers and sisters. I guess that where everybody gets their game
from.
Speaking of game I notice that a lot of your music is deeply rooted in the old
blues and soul of Memphis is that conscious effort on your part?
I don’t know. I guess everything in my life shapes my life and my music, from shit I
did when I was a child to shit I did when I was a teenager to shit that I did yesterday.
So your music is very much autobiographical?
Yeah, always.
Okay I know that you’ve been on the road quite a bit.
Yeah.
And a lot of things happen while you’re on the road.
Yeah.
What the wildest thing that ever happened to
you while on the road?
Ah man. (Laughs)
It’s been that many?
You gotta understand man, shit, the kinda shit we talk about…. our subject matter
attracts all crowds, but then again we also attracts the greedy to. So outta all them thug
niggas and niggas that think they pimps that come to our concerts it be that many females
who be straight whores or so much of a fan that they’re willing to do anything.
(pauses) I’m trying to think of one that’s tight. You know, nowadays boys with a
little money on the street are doing some of the same shit we’re doing, probably
more.
We done had episodes that went from the bus to the club VIP back to club back to the bus
and hotel all night long.
You guys made the phrase space age pimpin’ popular. I know that Memphis has
an underground tradition of pimping, did that shape the way you approached the rap game?
I mean it was just one of the things in my life man. It was always there.
Did you ever pimp?
(long pause) uh, uh.
You paused a little long with that answer. Ball…
(Laughs) I’m just an MC….I’m really more of a gangsta than I am a pimp.
 So
what’s up with the space age pimping term? What does it mean?
It ain’t really no definition. When we was coming up, I guess we was about 18 or 19,
it was this cat…actually it was couple cats that used to have big money. I mean like
garbage bags full of money.
That was a lot to see when a nigga was young and these boys had cars and cribs and all the
things that went with that. And that was their phrase…..y’all muthafuckas
don’t know nothing about this space age pimping. We just picked it up and ran with
it. It came from them older cats, but MJG and me made it famous because it really
describes us. our style in this game, our music, our lyrics and shit like that.
How did you guys hook up with your former label, Suave House?
Tony Draper and us knew mutual people. He saw us at a talent show or what ever and the
relationship started out then.
Now you all are with JCOR.
Yeah. We were unhappy with our careers at Suave. I mean we grew to be unhappy over time.
Things didn’t go like they should’ve went for us to be 8ball and MJG and for
Suave to have pioneered a lot of shit that is the norm now, like the whole family label
thing. That was Suave House ‘s thing.
You guys also brought the whole pimp/playa aspect to Southern hip hop.
We definitely brought the pimping to the South. Well we brought the pimping out the
South.
But getting back to Suave there was a lotta stuff that we had no control over that caused
us to leave. And as far as us being with JCOR didn’t nobody want to offer us the kind
of freedom and the kinda chance to do what we want to do. People in the industry got to
understand that we might not be the biggest rap groups ever, even though our name is held
up high with the greatest down South. In other places we might not be held up that high.
Other labels wanted to bring us in and make us what they wanted us to be. We didn’t
want that. We’d rather less record sells and do what the fuck we wanted to do.
It’s good to hear you talk about artistic integrity because that’s rare
nowadays when rappers tend to follow trends rather than try and set them. In fact there
are a lot of groups out there biting you all style.
How do you feel about that?
Man I don’t know. I feel like if they genuine and they’re trying to pay homage
then that’s cool, but if they stealing it then that ain’t cool. Like it’s a
couple of groups out there using our style that I don’t approve of, but I ain’t
tripping on that. In way it’s keeping us alive so I ain’t really tripping.
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