Ridin' High

Eightball & MJG don't let their fans down

Eightball (Premro Smith) and MJG (Marlon Jermaine Goodwin) grew up in the rough Orange Mound area of Memphis and met at Ridgeway Junior High in 1984. They shared a passion for hip-hop, which hadn't yet made a strong impact in the South, and soon formed a partnership. Ridin’ High is the seventh album from them. In the 14 years since the release of their first major album, Eightball & MJG have been barometers of the state of southern rap, remaining a steady presence in the genre while their colleagues often drifted. Ridin’ High is no exception. The album features some guests, the department of which is pretty heavy, and almost all are southern artists, such as Midnite Black, Jazze Pha, Puff Daddy, DJ Toomp, DJ Nasty, Gorilla Tek, Bigg D, Danja, Soul Diggaz, Shawty Redd, Gorilla Zoe, B Rock, CKP, and Bangladesh. Production is nice as well and definitely has a southern feel to it. A nice album for their fans to have, and once again they don't let you down.

Ridin' High touches on many sounds coming from the South

Eightball & MJG are legends. They are the same people that brought you Coming Out Hard. However, some legends tend to fade away into obscurity once they’re deemed past their prime. Could these Southern Pioneers survive in this new era, and bring a good album? The answer is yes. With so many sounds coming from the South right now, it's fitting that Ridin’ High touches on most all of them - there's the gangsta track Relax and Take Notes, the up-tempo club electro joint Ridin’ High, the strip club slow jam Take It Off, the screw track 30 Rocks, and the soul-style paean to the group's hometown Memphis. Lyrically, Eightball & MJG won’t astound you or go over your head with complex similes and metaphors but provide simple straight forward texts but not so simple a 3-year-old could spit them. Turn up the Bump is easily one of the best songs on the album due to the rinding synth, and equally impressive verses from Eightball & MJG. Cruizin’ featuring Three 6 Mafia and Slim of 112, gives them a nice song that will appeal to the radio. The weed anthem Runnin’ Out Of Bud featuring Killer Mike, is definitely a highlight, with a truly mellow, guitar-stringed beat, and decent lyrics all around.

Eightball & MJG know the secret of scoring a success

With Ridin’ High, Eightball & MJG showed that even though they’ve been here since the beginning, they can still make good music in today’s hip-hop. During the years of their career Eightball & MJG gained a stunning firm sound. They don’t want to become the latest thing in fashion, but at the same time each of their albums can be considered as a break through. Eightball & MJG certainly know the secret of scoring a success. Maybe the subject matter of their albums is just straight gutter, maybe they sound too impertinent, but still people like what they do. In his interview Goodwin says that first of all they should thank God for their longevity and then genuine hard work. Of course it sounds simple, but in reality it's not. Eightball & MJG don't try to act like anybody else or rap like anybody else or sound like anybody else. They always remain themselves. Today it looks like the living legends have found a cozy home with Bad Boy and have managed to put together a magnificent south album on which there’s enough heat to ride to through the summer.