8Ball & MJG

In the 14 years since the release of their first major album, 8ball & 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. Being a Bad Boy South release, there's the obligatory Biggie hook (on the lead single "Relax and Take Notes") and a few guest appearances by labelhead Diddy, who sticks out amid a solid group of cameos by some of the Dirty's best.

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…"), the uptempo 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"). Yet, despite hitting the whole range of popular forms, the album doesn't come off as formulaic—8ball & MJG's strong, smoothed-out storytelling spanned the first era of the South's emergence, and it's hardy enough for the next.

- Nick Parish
03.13.07

8ball & MJG (or Eightball & MJG, as they used to call themselves) have been the kings of Memphis rap for quite some time now, even going so far as to refer to themselves as "living legends." That's not exactly an overstatement. They've inspired countless Southern rappers and helped to foster a strong hip-hop community in their home city, and now, signed to Bad Boy Records, they're able to reach an even wider audience. Their second album on Diddy's label, Ridin High, is a super-produced tribute to the things the duo love best: drugs, money, and women (there's even a song titled "Alcohol Pussy Weed"). From the first single, "Relax and Take Notes" (featuring a Biggie line from "Dead Wrong," not any new material from the deceased rapper), to "Worldwide" to "30 Rock" (the only track to have a non-Southerner guest, this one being Mr. Combs himself), 8 and MJ rhyme their way through heavy synth crunk beats and smooth slow jams. Their lines aren't revolutionary -- the kind of typical braggadocio so much associated with hip-hop at this point -- but their delivery is fluid and well practiced, their cadences moving from singsongy triplets to rough and fast eighth notes easily, and only occasionally do their rhymes really fall short (the best example being, from the Jazze Pha-produced "Pimpin' Don't Fail Me Now," "I'm about to turn you inside out/I'm about to look into your heart though your mouth/With my dickoscope"). Listeners familiar with 8ball & MJG will probably be a little disappointed with Ridin High: it's more focused on club anthems than the group has been before, but it's this same thing that should make the album appeal to those looking for good, commercial Southern rap. The duo is aware of this transition, and the ever-growing popularity of their music and their audience, but they want to make sure everyone knows that that hasn't changed their lives or what they believe in. "I could give a muthaf*ck about a flow and hustle," 8 spits on "Memphis," which samples a short line from the Marc Cohn adult contemporary classic "Walking in Memphis." Maybe that's true, but mainstream success of a certain film, and a certain style, definitely won't hurt their album sales. ~ Marisa Brown, All Music Guide