8Ball & MJG's 'Ridin High' Makes An Impressive No 8 Debut On The Billboard Top 200 & Enters At No 4 On The R&B/Hip-Hop Chart

NEW YORK, NY. (Top40 Charts/ Bad Boy Records) - Legendary Southern rap duo, 8Ball & MJG entered the Billboard Top 200 Albums Chart at No 8 and the Top R&B/Hip Hop Albums Chart at No 4 this week with their 12th studio album Ridin High (Bad Boy South). Reviews for Ridin High are equally impressive with 3 Stars out of 4 from USA Today, a B- grade from Entertainment Weekly magazine and a "Critics Choice" pick from the New York Times. Online reviews cite the disc as " ... an instant classic ... ," "...a must own" (down-south.com), "a trip worth taking" (allhiphop.com) and "a dope down south album" (artistdirect.com).

Some of their strongest work to date, Ridin High features The Notorious B.I.G. as well as collaborations with Diddy, Oscar and Grammy winners Three 6 Mafia, Bad Boy hit maker Yung Joc, producer Jazze Pha, fellow Memphis native Project Pat and former Bad Boys 112. 8Ball & MJG showcase their talents on Ridin High with hard-hitting hip-hop and a respectful nod to R&B and the blues on tracks like "Runnin' Out of Bud" with Killer Mike, the steamy "Take It Off" featuring Poo Bear and the addition of Jazze Pha's smooth R&B flavor on "Pimpin' Don't Fail Me Now," featuring Juvenile. 8Ball & MJG also work with label mate Yung Joc to heat up the party with the new single "Clap On."

Released on March 13, the album is 8Ball & MJG's second release on Bad Boy South. Their first was the notable 2004 gold-certified Living Legends, which enjoyed mainstream exposure with a No 1 Billboard R&B Albums Chart debut. The album also spawned the hits "You Don't Want Drama," "Don't Make," and "Straight Cadillac Pimpin'" as well as the major club hits, "Buck Bounce" with DJ Quick and "Stay Fly" with Three 6 Mafia (2005).

Now 15 years after their first release, the Indy label debut "Comin' Out Hard," Memphis, Tennessee natives, 8Ball (Premro Smith) and MJG (Marlon Jermaine Goodwin), are still making their innovative brand of soul music, purveying a sound that has been emulated and appreciated more than a decade later. "It's just always been about the music with us," says MJG. "We've seen a lot of people come and go and I don't think any of the ones that stayed around sat down and mapped out a game plan to be around that long. It's just living and learning and sticking to the format. We always just do us and you call it what you want."