Eightball

Eightball (Born Premro Smith in Memphis, Tennesse. Also known as 8Ball, is half of a rap duo 8Ball & MJG or Eightball & MJG consisting of him and fellow Memphis rapper MJG.The two rappers met at Ridgeway Middle School in 1984. They first appeared on the rap scene with their 1993 album Comin' Out Hard. The album was successful commercially as well as critically and established the group as a prominent act in the then emerging Southern Rap scene. Their subsequent albums in the 1990s including 1994's On the Outside Looking In, and 1995's On Top of the World cemented their status as some of the South's best rappers. On Top of the World was particularly succeessful, peaking at #8 on the Billboard Hot 200 and being certified Gold. After those albums both 8Ball & MJG released solo albums, first MJG's No More Glory in 1997 and then 8Ball's Lost in 1998. They reunited in 1999 to release their fourth album as a group, titled In Our Lifetime, Vol. 1. One year later in 2000 they released their fifth group album, entitled Space Age 4 Eva. For their later releases they signed with Diddy Bad Boy Records. Their first album for Bad Boy Records, Living Legends, was certified Gold by the RIAA. Their second album on Bad Boy Records was titled Ridin High and was released in March 2007. Commercially one of the high points of 8Ball & MJG's career was being featured on Three 6 Mafia's hit song "Stay Fly" in 2005. That song peaked at #13 on the Billboard Hot 100, which is the biggest hit of Three 6 Mafia's career and the biggest hit for 8Ball & MJG. The song was a collaboration between two of the most successful rap groups from the state of Tennessee, from where Three 6 Mafia also hail. Today 8Ball and MJG also head their own record labels. 8Ball heads 8 Ways Entertainment (distributed by Koch Entertainment), while MJG heads MJG Muzik. On their label are the young, up and coming Memphis duo, Da Volunteers, who are widely known throughout the Southern United States for their 2006 single, "What's Yo Favorite Color?", which glorifies their neighborhood of Orange Mound. In September 2007, 8Ball and MJG signed deals in Sacramento, CA with Real Talk Entertainment 8Ball released a group album with E.D.I of the Outlawz entitled Doin' It Big on April 1, 2008 and MJG released a solo album entitled Pimp Tight on April 29, 2008. In June 2008 the group announced that they have officially signed onto T.I.'s record label Grand Hustle. Their eighth album as a group and their first on Grand Hustle, titled Ten Toes Down, The album was released on May 4, 2010. The album has sold 16,000 copies in its first week and debuted on #36 on the Billboard 200