8Ball and MJG Drop ‘Lyrics of a Pimp’ Album – Today in Hip-Hop

On this day, Dec. 23, in hip-hop history...

1997: Four years after the release of their major label debut, Memphis hip-hop duo 8Ball & MJG dropped an independent album, Lyrics of a Pimp: Strictly For Da Undaground, on Dec. 23, 1997.

With production that was handled by the rap duo themselves, the project was released under TAM Records, OTS Records and Omni Entertainment, and Lyrics of a Pimp housed all of 8Ball and MJG's earliest lo-fi bangers. Since most of the material on the project was recorded years prior in 1992, much of the album had already been heard by fans of the underground duo prior to its release via their many independent mixtapes.

Despite that fact, however, fans loved hearing the early versions of 8Ball and MJG staples like "Armed Robbery" and "Its a Pimp Thang," because it marked their maturation as artists.

Although 8Ball and MJG have dropped eight albums as a pair and more than five projects each as solo artists, Lyrics of a Pimp remains one of their most beloved LPs among fans, just for the raw lyricism and the fact that it was released independently.

In 2004, 8Ball and MJG re-released the album with two new songs, "Real in the Feel" and "Oh Nah-Nah-Nah."

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