Eightball & MJG - Comin' Out Hard [Smoked and Chopped]

Along with Outkast's Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik (1994) and Goodie Mob's Soul Food (1995), Eightball & Mjg's debut, Comin' Out Hard, is one of the most influential rap albums to come out of the South. It wasn't as widely heard as those others albums, nor was it as professional-sounding; however, its independent release by Suave House, based in Houston, and its basement-level production were influential in their own way. A generation of underground Southern rappers would arise by the end of the '90s, many of them following the template of Comin' Out Hard: underground hardcore rap modeled after West Coast gangsta rap yet delivered in a distinctly Southern manner, released via an indie label with major ambitions. Read More