If you want to talk about the exact moment the South truly seized the mic, you have to talk about 1993. Before the world was looking at Atlanta or Houston with the intensity they do now, Memphis had something to say. Specifically, two guys named Premro "Eightball" Smith and Marlon Jermaine Goodwin—better known as Eightball & MJG—dropped an album called Comin Out Hard. It wasn't just a debut. It was a seismic shift. Honestly, if you listen to it today, the grit still feels fresh, which is wild considering how much production tech has changed in thirty years.
The album didn't have a massive major-label machine behind it at first. It came out on Suave House Records, an independent powerhouse run by Tony Draper. Back then, independent meant something different. It meant selling tapes out of trunks and hitting mom-and-pop record stores across the "Chitlin' Circuit."
The Memphis Sound vs. The World
In '93, the rap map was lopsided. New York had the lyricism. LA had the G-Funk. Memphis? Memphis had the darkness. Comin Out Hard introduced a specific kind of "pimp rap" that was philosophical, heavy-bottomed, and deeply rooted in the blues. You can hear it in the title track. The bass isn't just loud; it's suffocating in the best way possible.
The chemistry between Ball and G is the stuff of legend. You’ve got Eightball with that booming, authoritative voice—the kind that sounds like a preacher who took a wrong turn into a smoke-filled lounge. Then you have MJG. His flow is more erratic, high-pitched, and rhythmic. It’s a perfect contrast. They weren't just rapping; they were world-building. They were painting a picture of Orange Mound, Memphis, that felt lived-in and dangerous but somehow soulful.
Why Comin Out Hard Changed the Business
Most people forget that this album was a commercial anomaly for an indie release. It peaked at number 40 on the Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. That might not sound like much in the era of streaming billions, but for an independent Southern act in the early 90s? That was a massive win. It proved that you didn't need a New York zip code to get noticed.
The production on this record is often credited to Eightball, MJG, and Tony Draper himself. It utilized samples in a way that felt "thick." Take a song like "9-Cent Town." It’s slow. It’s methodical. It doesn't rush. This "slow-and-low" approach eventually became a blueprint for what we now recognize as the Southern sound. Without the foundation laid here, you likely don't get the atmospheric trap of the 2010s.
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Breaking Down the Key Tracks
"Mr. Big" is arguably the standout. It’s a character study. It’s about the aspiration and the paranoia of the street life. Eightball’s verse on this track is often cited by purists as one of the best examples of Southern storytelling. He isn't just rhyming words; he’s laying out a narrative arc.
Then there's "Armed Robbery."
It’s cinematic.
It’s grim.
The storytelling is so vivid you can almost smell the gunpowder and the cheap beer. They weren't glorifying the violence as much as they were reporting it from the front lines of their neighborhood.
- Pimpology: This track defined a sub-genre. It wasn't just about the lifestyle; it was about a mindset.
- The Intro: Usually, intros are filler. On this album, the "Coming Out Hard" intro sets a tone of defiance that stays through the final second.
- The Soul: Unlike the harder-edged Three 6 Mafia sound that would later define Memphis, Eightball & MJG leaned heavily into soulful, melodic loops.
The Misconception of "Old School"
A lot of younger listeners write off 1993 as "old school" or "outdated." That’s a mistake. When you revisit Comin Out Hard, you realize that modern "mumble rap" or even the sophisticated lyricism of someone like Big K.R.I.T. owes everything to this record. The cadence MJG uses—that choppy, double-time-adjacent style—is the direct ancestor of the flows used by Migos or 21 Savage.
It’s also important to realize that they were kids. Eightball and MJG were barely in their twenties when they recorded this. The maturity in their voices belies their age. They sounded like men who had seen forty years of life by the time they hit twenty-one. That’s the Memphis effect. The city’s history of civil rights struggles and musical excellence (Stax Records, anyone?) is baked into the DNA of the album.
The Suave House Legacy
You can't talk about the Comin Out Hard album without mentioning Tony Draper. He was the Suave House visionary who saw the potential in Memphis. He moved the operation to Houston later, but the Memphis roots remained the soul of the label. Draper’s insistence on high-quality cover art and a "luxury" aesthetic for his artists changed how Southern rappers presented themselves. They weren't just "street guys"; they were moguls in the making.
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The album eventually went Gold. Think about that. An indie album from Memphis, with almost no radio play in the North, selling over 500,000 copies. It was a grassroots revolution. People were buying the tape because their cousins told them it was fire. It was viral before "viral" was a word we used for anything other than the flu.
The Technical Side of the Sound
While the lyrics get the glory, the engineering on this album deserves a shout-out. It has a specific "tape hiss" warmth. Digital remasters have tried to clean it up, but honestly, the original pressing is the way to go. There’s a certain murkiness that adds to the atmosphere. It feels like a humid Memphis night.
Musically, they were pulling from 70s soul and funk but stripping away the glitter. They kept the groove but replaced the disco strings with heavy, synthesized basslines. This was "Space Age Pimpin" before they even coined the term on their second album. It was experimental.
Influence on Modern Artists
If you ask Drake, Rick Ross, or T.I. who their influences are, Eightball & MJG are always in the top five.
Ross basically built his "Mastermind" persona on the foundation Eightball laid.
The effortless cool.
The obsession with high-end luxury mixed with street grit.
It all starts with those early Suave House releases.
Even the way they structured their hooks—simple, repetitive, and incredibly catchy—became the standard for Southern rap. They understood that the chorus needed to be a mantra. They weren't trying to out-rap the listener; they were trying to get the listener to live in the song.
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What's Next for the Legacy?
If you haven't sat down and listened to Comin Out Hard from start to finish, you're missing a piece of musical history. It’s not just a rap album. It’s a historical document of the South's emergence.
The best way to experience it now is to find a vinyl reissue. There’s something about the physical ritual of putting that record on that fits the music. It’s heavy music for a heavy world.
Next Steps for the Fan or Researcher:
- Listen to the track "Mr. Big" and pay attention to the narrative structure; it's a masterclass in songwriting.
- Compare the production on this album to Three 6 Mafia’s Mystic Stylez (1995) to see the two different paths Memphis rap took.
- Look up the history of Suave House Records to understand the blueprint for independent label success that Cash Money and No Limit later perfected.
- Dig into Eightball’s solo work, specifically Lost, to see how his lyricism evolved from the raw energy of the debut.
The album remains a cornerstone. It’s the sound of two young men proving they belonged on the global stage, and three decades later, nobody can say they didn't earn their spot. Memphis might have been overlooked in the early 90s, but after Eightball & MJG, it was impossible to ignore. They didn't just come out hard; they stayed relevant.