Where are you right now? Are you on the road working? I’m in Memphis. I’ve been back and forth between here and Atlanta. I’m working a lot in the studio; working on future up-and-coming projects and stuff like that. Go ahead and tell us a little about this new solo project that you’re about to come out with. It’s called This Might Be The Day. I’m really saying that this might be the day I’m about to drop something fresh, new and hot in Hip Hop. I’ve always been known from 8Ball & MJG. It’s not nothing brand new in that sense but it’s just something new from MJG. I’ve been doing a lot features with 8Ball & MJG stuff, so, this might be the day right here. That’s how the title came. It’s a joint venture with MJG Music, Grown Folk Music and 404 Music. I like the direction Hip Hop is going in right now and everybody’s expressing themselves in a whole bunch of different ways. I feel like this is a good time for me to give them a little more MJG. What do you like about the direction that Hip Hop is going right now? It’s rare to hear an OG in the game say that because a lot of cats are always complaining about how young cats are messing it up. I like that it is open now for different types of styles and how people can express themselves. I can’t expect for a young man now to do the same thing that I did when I was his age. I had to do what made sense to me. It would be real biased of me to say that I don’t like [some of the new kids]. My game plan might not necessarily work for the next man and vice versa. How can you knock success? I can’t knock success. I can’t be mad at this man if he’s feeding his family, if he’s eating, if he’s doing things that he can make an investment with, doing things and go places that he’s never been before, you know? That’s real life. How can you stop that? How can you knock the hustle? You’ve been able to see rappers go from just having record deals to now making millions and touring the world and doing movies and all that stuff. How much of a role do you think you played in opening up those doors for people? I’ve played a hell of a role. I believe in this Hip Hop engine, I’m like the battery. I’m like the motor; you can’t run without it. I think I play a big role because at the time [8Ball & MJG] came along the South wasn’t hot like it is now. The spotlight wasn’t on the South like it is now. Everybody was talking about the South but wasn’t nobody talking about Memphis as far as rap. We just kept grinding and doing our thing. It wasn’t no hatred on another coast or another area or nothing like that, we just did us. That’s why if the sound was on the East coast or West coast, it didn’t matter. It’s a genuine love for what you do. You shouldn’t let none of that cloud it because we came into the game when eyes weren’t on the South like that. We definitely played a major part in making Hip Hop and rap music more appealing to the masses. It’s ironic that you said “the masses” because a lot of your fans have been down since day one when like you said, no one was really checking for the South. As both a rapper and a fan, did you enjoy being a part of this Southern movement more before it became a phenomenon, or have you enjoyed it more since it became the popular thing? I guess you’ve got to have a little bit of both to make it all work. I like it both ways. I liked when
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it was a secret because I knew we had heat here all the time, so of course I’m going to feel that way because I was born and raised in the South. Nowadays the spotlight is on the South, which is cool too. But at the same time, now all eyes are on you and you’ve got to outdo what you thought you could do. Everybody’s watching now. When it was a secret you could maybe get away with a stumble or a trip, but now you know that with all eyes on you, you’ve got to almost be perfect. How have you welcomed that challenge? We just kept doing us. We just felt like if you can appeal to a certain fan base then you should be able to work pretty much anywhere. We just did it, man. I know it sounds kind of simple, but it really was just hard work, man. It was just how it was and when it got rough, instead of backing out and running away from the challenge, we just dug in deeper. That’s how we faced the challenge. We were just worried about doing us. We weren’t getting off into the negative stuff. No name-calling and talking shit. For the longest, and even now, we hear backhanded complements saying that “MJG is the dopest…in the South.” Or “MJG is dope…for a Southern rapper.” How do you feel when you hear that? Do you take it as a compliment? A lot of it is egos. The compliments are true but the intentions are for another reason. A lot of times people give you compliments to make themselves look good or to be political Sometimes they feel it’s the right time or the right place to give you a compliment. One of the main reasons I’m doing this album now is because I feel like I’m pretty much the coldest in the game right now. No disrespect to anybody but I don’t think no one can hold me right now, young or old. I don’t think their creativity level is there. It’s good but I think mine is better. How do you feel about the current creativity level in Hip Hop right now? As a fan, it just seems that everybody is caught up in who puts out the most instead of the best. I like the boy T-Pain, it’s like everything he touches turns gold. You’ve got to remember at the same time, while they’re using the man like that, it’s not them who making those hits. You’ve got to respect T-Pain because that man is making those hits and without him on a lot of these songs those songs wouldn’t have been hits. Boys don’t like to give credit like that where credit is due. I know if T-Pain got on one of my songs it’s gonna make it 400% more than what it could’ve been without him. He’s hot right now. He’s always been hot like that but folks just figured it out. You have to give credit where credit is due. This game is really just like the NBA or baseball or anything. You’ve got a whole bunch of players, and everybody’s good, but there’s only a few that play and I’m one of those. It’s only a few who can sell a million records. You can come out with all the all the bling and have a hit for a summer or two but that does not make you one of the greatest. I’m not trying to be cocky or arrogant, but that’s true, it’s only a few greats. When Michael Jordan was playing it wasn’t ten Michael Jordan’s in the league at the same time and a lot of these cats, you know they come out, they sell a lot of records, they make a lot of quick money and that don’t make you the greatest though.
What does it take to be considered the greatest? Is it coming out with seven group albums in a career that spans over 15 years? Is it having an entire generation of people able to recite more than 10 of your rhymes on the spot when asked? Is it having random people come up to you in the club saying your music defined a part of their life? Or is it being able to capture a point in time with every word you jot down, or every thought you express? Back in 1993 I went nationwide, I’m gettin’ tired // of playing the underdog while most of the other artists ride for freeeee // stuff I have seen in a industry that finish other people but it ain’t gone finish me // you got them one hitter quitters, flowin’ with the main strain // your next hitter quitter, sounding like the same thang // a plain shame, I be dropping them hits when you least expect it // and all the group stuck in the trends they get ejected // with the quickness, this has happened to many I’ve been a witness // at one time it bumped, but now you wonder what is it? // it’s that breakbeat, the one that he use the one that they use // the one that she use, one of them things that’s been abused // by a few mo’ you feel me, you know? // or else you toO slow, up here like you all that or somethin’ // like maaan forget a new flow, now you know // I’m MJG I tell the other side of the story // for those who don’t hear me No More Glory -MJG, “No More Glory,” from 1997’s No More Glory How has it been working solo again? And if you can compare to how it was when you were working on No More Glory, please do. Working solo to me is like, really fun. I’m always doing stuff, I’m always in the studio. You know I produce and write, so I stay in the studio a lot. So me working solo is kind of like a normal thing to me and its really the same process I use when I’m doing the 8ball & MJG stuff. But as far as comparing it to No More Glory I would say it’s really no comparison because they’re really both on their own, but I still try to make sure that the content is something you can understand. I’m just trying to stick to what makes sense and shit like that. I guess in that sense they would be the same but they’re really two totally different projects. How did the decisions come about to do solo albums? We were just trying to stay fresh. We already had done a few group albums so we were just trying to break off and do a little solo thing, a album and make a little extra change. It really wasn’t a long drawn out plan. We just came to a point where we decided to do solo projects. What was your mindstate when you made the album