They was there during the marches and things like that so we grow up - typical you grow up at your grandmama's house so you hear about it, you see the pictures and you be very familiar with their whole struggle. But I most definitely think that the Civil Rights Movement have a lot to do with the pain down there because a lot of our grandparents - things like that is very familiar. I actually shot part of my album cover at that hotel for this album, it was part of the whole theme of the I Am album. They got the hotel down there that a lot of people come visit. It's part of the struggle, knowing that those types of civil rights things took place down there. Yo Gotti On The Civil Rights Movement In Memphis Music Because we was the music that they parents was cleaning up the house to. The Snoops and stuff like that, that the kids of now that's doing music, they parents came up on. Not just me and MJG, but the early Master Ps and Cash Moneys. And when I say "we," I mean that time in hip-hop. Kids now, what you hear from them is a blend of - to me - you hear a lot of soul but you hear more of what we done. We come from a different era where we had a different blend of music that, that I guess was the seed of our music. We'd go coast to coast like that, getting speeding tickets and hiding the weed. Draper be driving, we be on the highway, he doing 100, me and MJ rolling up, smoking, you know what I'm saying.
#COMIN OUT HARD ALBUM COVER IMAGE FULL#
In a rental car with me, MJG and Draper and a trunk full of product. He played us on the radio a whole lot down there, the singles from Comin' Out Hard. But other places like Houston and - I want to say Dallas was one of those places where it instantly was good due to a lot from Greg Street. Draper being who he was, and people, the word of mouth, you know what I mean, that street buzz. You need to keep him."Įightball On The Reaction To Comin' Out Hard It's been a few artists that have used that line for a hook, and back in the day before Eazy-E passed away he told Tony Draper on the phone when he heard that line - because of that he said, "That cat dere cold." He said, "He good right there. go off." It rings in my head for a couple of different reasons. That's the one where I say "1, 2, 3 points I gotta get across / 1. I can sit here all day long and name you 30 favorites but there's one that sticks in my head. Related Story: Eightball, MJG And Rap From Memphis 20 Years On So here's the best of what was left on the cutting room floor. And we couldn't fit everything the folks we did speak to had to say in the 7-minute radio piece, or the longer web version.
We didn't have enough time to talk to everybody who's made Memphis rap what it is, like Gangsta Boo, or DJ Paul, Juicy J, Project Pat, or even Gangsta Pat. We met Yo Gotti in New York and got Eightball in a studio in Atlanta.
During the reporting of our story about the legacy of Comin' Out Hard in Memphis rap, we spent time in the city with MJG, Young Dolph and Drumma Boy.