8ball & Mjg

8Ball & MJG came out of Memphis in the early 1990s, two childhood friends named Anthony Fletcher and Marlon Goodwin. They first got noticed by appearing on Three 6 Mafia's 1995 album "Mystic Stylez." Their own debut, "Comin' Out Hard," arrived in 1993, followed by "On the Outside Looking In" and "Supa Dupa Fly."

Their 1998 album "Relax & Take Notes" is often considered a Southern rap classic. The title track, along with songs like "Stand Up" and "Pimps," showed their style, hard-hitting lyrics about street life paired with soulful, memorable hooks. They kept making albums into the 2000s, including "Space Age Pimpin'" and "Ten Toes Down."

While they faced some legal issues in the late '90s, they kept working. Their music stayed grounded in the sounds and stories of Memphis, without chasing trends. You can hear that steady, unvarnished approach on tracks like "Anotha Day in Tha Hood" and "Cruzin'."