Interview with Eightball & MJG

Everybody knows Eightball & MJG as part of Suave. We stopped hearing about Suave for a while. What was going on on?

MJG: We were doin our thing makin records. Eightball & MJG brought you records and we brought you new songs and videos. Regardless of what you heard about Suave, what you have to focus on still is we, Eightball & MJG, as the artists. When you go out and buy a tape, you're not buyin it just because Suave put it out. Can't no record label do a tape without the artist. I don't know if people know this, but we were just artists on Suave, we were not the label. Any major moves or business decisions, we didn't have nothing to do with that. All we did was continue to bring our music. And that's what we still intend to keep doin. Regardless of what, the artists need to keep doin their thing.

When Suave came with Eightball & MJG it seemed more like a team. It's hard to imagine one without the other. Maybe you don't even really know what happened..

MJG: Nothing happened. With me and Eightball nothing happened. We was makin records before we came to Suave, we made records while we were there, and we're still gonna continue to make records now.Even though you came from Memphis, you had a different sound. Suave had a certain sound.

MJG: When we moved to Houston we brought our own sound there. You have to realize that Suave was an independent local label. You wouldn'ta known about Suave if it wasn't for Eightball & MJG. You wouldn't be thinkin about Suave if Suave hadn't had their stamp on our tape. We were Suave's first nationwide project and that's how Suave was born.

You're saying that Suave's sound was the Eightball & MJG sound?

MJG: Yeah. I produced 80% of the first album and 60% of the second album. We got our own sound and we produce and write ourselves. That's what we brought to the table when we came to Suave. We weren't depending on anyone as far as music.

Where did you record this album?

MJG: We did half of it in Houston at Eightball's studio. We did like three tracks in Atlanta, the ones that Jazze Pha done. And DJ Quik done a couple, Swizz Beats done a couple. I done four. Then we got this other cat named Black. That's the one who done "We Started This Shit."

You did start this shit in the South. The sad thing is that when the South really came to the forefront, you weren't in the picture benefiting like you should have.

MJG: We were in a position that we couldn't do nothing about at the time. When you are signed to a label as an artist, and that label is signed to a major. When they have a conflict with the major if they don't handle it in a certain way or resolve it, in the end who does it effect? It effects the artists. I'm glad our last album done good, but we coulda done much better. We done like 500,000 plus with nothing. Because we was signed to an independent that was goin through a conflict with the majors. It effected us. And it wasn't our fault. All we did was make another Eightball & MJG project.

I just hope you get your due. When you came out with Comin Out Hard it inspired the whole South. Eightball & MJG are the ones who really opened it up for the deep South. This new album is like a new beginning for you.

MJG: Really it's back to the roots again. This is for all our true, diehard, hardcore fans. And it's for the new ones too. We givin you a dose of Eightball & MJG at its finest once again. Space Age 4 Eva.

Is it different from your other albums?

MJG: It's gonna be some fresh material, but it's still gonna remind you of earlier Eightball & MJG. We been spittin that space age for a long time, comin with our own sound. That's what we're bringin, hittin 'em with them hard beats and very musical with it.

Before you started making this album did you think about coming with a different sound?

MJG: No, we just went natural with it. We just let the juices flow. It was all born around the same time and born for this album. It's all fresh material. The sale date is fresh on our product.

I know you always had a lot to do with the sound you got, but now you're getting more involved in the production.

I've always played a big role in the production. I got my own production company, Plannin' To Act Bad Productions. My solo album's comin up next. I'm gonna be doin a lotta production on there. I'm gonna be doin production on Eightball's solo album comin out after that. I'm gonna be doin production on a lotta his groups comin out on Eightball's label, Eight Ways Entertainment. So it'll be a whole lot more comin up. People know us from flowin and droppin tapes. I think a lotta people don't understand that we're not robots, we're not puppets, and we don't depend on a certain team to make our album. We can do it ourselves. I'm hands on on production and we be comin with all the ideas ourselves. What Eightball & MJG do, we could do this anywhere.

What kind of rights do you have to your old albums?

MJG: Right now that's kinda tied up. I couldn't even say. You have to stay serious and focused on what you're doin now. All those albums, that bridge is already crossed. You can't backtrack. That's not how you progressed.

Through all this did you and Eightball ever think about splitting up?

MJG: Oh no. Nothing like that. We're gonna keep the team strong. Nothing changes that. We been involved in the records in many different ways--writin, producin, rappin--we always sprinkle the game.

How did you connect with Ascent/JCOR Records?

Eightball: I got an album comin out February 6 on my label. It's called Eightball Presents Slab, The Album. Southwest Wholesale is distributing it. The owner of Southwest, Robert Gillerman, and the owner of JCOR knew each other. That's how we made the initial contact.

The label is based in LA?

They have an office in New York and one in LA. They work everywhere. They used to be all Rock, but now they're opening up to Rap acts.

What type of deal do you have with them?

Eightball: I wouldn't know what to call it. It's a Ball & G deal. We got a lotta shit here with JCOR that we woudn'ta got nowhere else. Right now they got Masta Fool from the Lyricist Lounge. They just signed him.

When you put out that album Lost, I sensed that you had some conflicts in your life. Where there problems with Suave at that time?

Eightball: Yeah. At that time it was a lotta shit goin on that I didn't agree with. Even though it was lookin all gravy a lotta shit wasn't right. And bein from Memphis and Memphis havin that Blues background. And Blues and Rap music bein so closely connected. All of my music got a real Blues feel. Everybody talkin about the hard times in their life with Blues. Right now Rap just got on another page with the jewelry and the Krystal and shit. But really with Rap you're talkin about what's goin on around you.

A lotta times in Rap artists want to put up a hard front like they're in control of everything. With the Blues it was different.

Eightball: That's the image of the rapper that sells the most. So everybody wanna be like that. But all the time it ain't all about that. It's gonna be other feelings you gonna feel, and if you're a real artist you're gonna express that through your music.

You aren't working with T-Mix on this album. Do you think because of that it's going to be a different sound?

Eightball: A little. I think DJ Quik and Swizz brought out the most different shit on our album. But the rest of the shit is really characteristic of Eightball & MJG--the shit that Jazze Pha did and MJG did. Black, all his shit is kinda over the edge, so it's gonna be something different. It's still us. When Cube left NWA and did that whole album with the Shockley cats, that was some of the dopest shit Cube ever done in his life.

You probably feel better to have moved away from a bad situation and startin new.

Eightball: Definitely. And it shows in the music. When we made that last album there was a lot of tension, and it showed in the album.

What do you think was the main problem at Suave?

Eightball: We cherished and embraced our music, but to Suave it was just another lick. That caused problems for the whole boat.

In the end the music is what pays the bill.

Eightball: Believe that. If the music is havin problems the whole label is havin problems. One brother wasn't payin attention. You got artists on the label and you ain't supposed to leave that shit in nobody else's hands. Muthafuckas was just neglectin the music and neglectin other shit that needed to be done.

But you're still cool with Tony Draper and everybody?

Eightball: We ain't mad at nobody. We understand that any problems and anything that occurred was partly our fault too. We wasn't payin attention to what was goin on at the same time.

Let's hear about the label you started.

Eightball: My label is Eight Ways Entertainment. My first album is Eightball Presents The Slab. My first single is called "Put That Thang Down." You'll be getting a dose in December.

Is it a solo album?

Eightball: Not really. That's the only solo song I got on there. I did a song with me and MJ and Lil' Keke, me and the Rally Boys. Got one with me and MJ and Psyde from Psycho Drama. It's kinda like a compilation.

Do you have other artists on the label?

Eightball: Yeah. I got these four young cats from Alabama. The name of the group was The Young Gunz, but there's a lotta cats with that name, so we're in transition with the name. It's Deon DaVinci, Tony Dimples, Mint Green, and Nick. They're bringin something different. I wish I could let you listen to them.

How did you find them?

Eightball: We did a show in Albany, Georgia and they got back stage and just started rappin for me right in my face. It was something, they wasn't rappin about the same shit, I heard other shit in them. They got a coupla songs on Slab. I also got Cliché from Houston, she was on Lil' Keke's album. She's on my label.

What have you been doing since your last album?

Eightball: We been in the studio. We're workin on music, workin on other projects. We ain't never just stopped rappin. I got my own studio called The Ballroom. We been straight in the studio, doin what we do. Did a lotta guest appearances.

When you first started there wasn't much going on in the South. You didn't think it would turn out like this?

Eightball: Never. I never thought the emphasis was gonna be on the South. I just thought there'd be music comin out. I never thought muthafuckas was gonna be braiding their hair and wearin gold teeth and tryin to talk like us. Bouncin and shit.

I hope you sell a lotta albums.

Eightball: Our last album, In Our Lifetime, went gold. That's muthafuckas who really feel love. Those the muthafuckas who really support us and don't give a fuck if we got a video out or what label we on, they still fuckin with us. This next Eightball & MJG album, Space Age 4 Eva, we made that album for them. We want them to be proud to be representin us. Every time muthafuckas buy your CD or plays your shit in their car, they're representin you. This Space Age 4 Eva be for them. And this Eightball album be for them. Who's to say what'll happen after that. Everything we do from now on will be for us. If the record sells that's love, if it don't sell that's love too. We're still alive, we're still breathin and we still got chances to do other things. We feel blessed to be still here and still able to work within this industry. JCOR's gonna take us through some avenues that we ain't never had before. We're gonna take advantage of this.

BG
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