Debut album for the Memphis duo composed of Premro Vonzellaire "Eightball" Smith and Marlon Jermaine "MJG" Goodwin, who met at school about ten years earlier.
Their album is produced by the independent Houston label Suave Records, founded by Tony Draper, who's in charge of mixing with the two rappers and is sometimes credited with the production of the cassette. The production is instead made by Eightball & MJG: the two guys are less amateurs than their names and experience can prove, they choose hard and minimal funky rhythms, with a slow and tight drum and well-made samples. Overall, their musical choice is closer to the Houston scene and partly to that of Oakland than that of Memphis. Lyrically, the group gets even closer to the Coast, dropping typical and generic gangsta themes such as murder, guns and lots of pimping: none of these topics are unknown to fans of the underground circuit, but, so far, few have provided it from Tennessee. On cheap sounding beats, the duo delivers with tight, slow and flowing style: Eightball has a more aggressive and enthralling flow, while MJG boasts a calm, fluid, less energetic delivery, but not necessarily worse.
The intro is a tribute to Memphis, with a slow and very heavy drum, then the record moves to Houston and starts looking towards the Bay: sample by Isaac Hayes, funky boom bap, slow and tight drum, good delivery of the duo, who are preparing to carve the second high point of the project, "The First Episode". Great light jazzy sample from Booker T & the M.G.'s "I Want You", then sample from the movie "Goodfellas" (they're among the first hip-hop acts to sample it), slow boom bap, vibrant drum, slow smooth delivery, very good cut. The fourth track is even better: sample from Lalo Schifrin's "Mission: Impossible Theme", splendid and classic choice, with g-funk synthesized piano, frenzied tight vibrating drum machine, but somehow light, on which the duo delivers one of their best narratives with a smooth and rapid style. There follows a cut that seems stolen from Too Short, over six minutes, slow light drum, slow boom bap with good samples and relaxing vibes. The title track is another highlight in these 42 minutes: extraordinary sample, from a classic, Simply Red's "Holding Back the Years", light minimal slow drum, wonderful piano, keep Memphis drum, New York soulful sample and Houston lyricism, masterpiece cut delivers with a dope flow. Three solid tracks follow, "Nigga's Like Us" features the little bells you might find on any DITC record, here looped tightly but slowly in the background, in a vicious cut.
Composed of nine very long songs, almost all over four and five minutes, rather than being musically and lyrically good, the album assumes a significant historical importance, for having helped put Memphis on the rap map in the early nineties: is among the first Memphis records, perhaps the first one, to reach the Billboard hip-hop record chart, peaking #40.
Highlights: "9 Millimeta Boys", "The First Episode", "Armed Robbery", "Comin' Out Hard".
Rating: 8/10.
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