Str8HipHip

SHH: So how have you guys been doing?

MJG: It’s been good…  

8Ball: Real good man…  Just out on the road promoting the album right now man.  

SHH: So it’s been about three year since your highly successful Bad Boy debut “Living Legends.” Why such a longtime between records?

8Ball: Aaawww man… That’s a major label thing. That’s a Bad Boy thing... Like we was really kind of ready to go a year after “Living Legends,” but the label didn’t see it the same way.

SHH: Speaking of label issues. Moving from Suave House (Records) to Bad Boy (Records) how was that type of switch for the group, going from that “independent” open atmosphere to basically “Diddy’s House?”

MJG:  Basically it wasn’t’ that hard or nothin’, it was just a path our career took us.

8Ball: You know we wasn’t plannin’ on going to Bad Boy or nothin’, but everything kind of put us in that direction.

SHH: Word… So how is your relationship nowadays with Tony Draper (President of the original Suave House)?

MJG:  Well there’s no beef or nothin’ like that, but there’s definitely no relationship. Like we don’t see him or talk to him on a day to day, but there’s no… You know….

SHH: Bad blood?

MJG: Yeah nothing like that.

SHH: As far as the new album. How long was the recording process start to finish? Because I know you two pretty much had three years to marinate and build on this project. So how long did it take you guys to do this one?

8Ball: We really used the bulk of that time to build. We always recording, so I mean some of the stuff was at the beginning of the recording process and some of the stuff was at the tail end of it. You know what I mean?

MJG: Cause we always have material, you know what I’m sayin’? So it really was a collection of the material over the three years since “Living Legends.”

SHH: As far as your consistency. Ya’ll have been some of the most consistent producing artists I’ve seen coming from the South. How do you stay fresh? Your music has always been great. Your sound has always been genuine. How do you keep the old and the new fans happy all the time? Every time I hear a new record it’s a just a banger.

MJG: After all this time and these albums we just try to stick to doing us and basically we got some of the best fans in the world. They’ve been supporting us for all these year and through all these albums. We really just do us and we let all the new fans just catch up with us.

8Ball: Basically they got to catch up (with us) and figure it out because we’ve been stickin’ to the same format. So if it’s like you missed it five or ten years ago; it’s really something you need to catch up to.

SHH: As far as the Memphis/Tennessee scene you got Young Buck, Three 6 Mafia and Project Pat. All of ya’ll seem to be a pretty tight knit bunch of emcees even though all of you are on different labels. What do you feel separates that “Memphis/ Tennessee” sound from everybody else that’s doing music in the South now?

8Ball: Aaaawww man it’s that straight to your gut man… That crunk…. That get buck… It’s Southern. It’s Blues. It’s Hip Hop. It’s Rock & Roll. It’s all of that man…. You got your “Southern” artists; you got your “Memphis” artist and then you got “8Ball & MJG.” We kind of stand out amongst all of that... It’s like… 

MJG: The sound of Memphis was… You know? We called it “Get Buck,” but the world adopted it as “Crunk.” You know what I’m saying?  And that was like the sound of Memphis, the generation and our time. So if anyone is familiar with any of the past Memphis music before the “Lil Jon Era…” You know a lot of our beats and subjects was on that level.

SHH: So how would you compare this new record with to your past projects?

MJG: Well there’s really no comparison except in greatness and that it is 8Ball & MJG material, but it’s just fresh 8Ball & MJG material. You know each of those last projects are individual. We have gotten a bit grittier though…

SHH: Oh I can tell by the lead single (“Relax & Take Notes”). Let’s talk about that single. It has a Biggie (Notorious B.I.G.) sample in it.  Tell me how much influence (if any at all) Diddy had on this album because I can definitely hear an East Coast influence on some of the harder tracks. Was Diddy a little more hands-on on this project than he was on your last Bad Boy album?

8Ball: Nah… Actually he was more hands-on with “Living Legends” then he was with this album. He actually wasn’t that hands-on with this album like people think. The “30 Rock” song was like his favorite song of ours and he wanted to be a part of that and that was really the only one where he just really kind of put a big influence on. The rest of it we chose the music and went in the studio and did our thing. He really didn’t have a bearing on none of that. You know what I’m sayin’?

SHH:  As far as producers on the album. Who did you guys work with this time around?

MJG:  Big D from Miami did the title track “Ridin’ High.” DJ Nasty did that first single with Project Pat “Relax & Take Notes.” The Drum Majors did a song we got with Killer Mike…. Jazze Pha produced the song that we got with Juvi (Juvenile) on there.  We got a cat from Atlanta named Midnight Black. He actually produced the Three 6 Mafia and Slim from 112 track “Cruzin’.” He also produced the grown man song (“Watchu Gonna Do”) with Pimp C and He also produced a song called “Take It Off.”  D Rock produced a song called “Memphis” with Al Capone and SKP did “Stand Up.”

SHH:  As far as the next single. People are telling me that “Cruzin’” with Three 6 Mafia & Slim from 112 may be the next single. Is that true?

MJG: Right now it’s between the “Cruzin’ “and the “Clap On” with Yung Joc.

SHH: Cool… And as far as touring goes what are your plans?

MJG: It’s in the making and planning right now. We’re on the road doing promo right now so when that’s done we may be ready to tour.

SHH: As far as national love. People seem to be responding well to the new material. How do you feel about the public’s response to this new album after a three year break?

MJG: Oh man… They love it! It’s that 2007 and we comin’ out hard…

SHH: Do have anything you’d like to tell the people and your fans in closing?

8Ball: The album in stores now… “Light Up The Bomb” in stores now… 

SHH: Well thanks for the time and interview fellas. I hope everything goes well with the new album.

8Ball & MJG: Thank you.