8Ball & MJG crept in the underground for a long time, but their impact spread throughout the South. After their influential Suave House days, the duo moved on up to the major mainstream world, by signing with Bad Boy in ‘02. Now christened “Living Legends,” they have a lot to prove on Ridin’ High.

The album kicks off with the ferocious “Relax and Take Notes,” which features The Notorious B.I.G.’s classic lines chopped throughout the chorus. With the beat banging’ in the background, the duo take time to speak on their love for dough: “Spend [money] like I never saw a day of pain and sufferin’/Look at my face. You can tell I seen both of them.”

The album boasts no shortage of bangin’ beats. “Ridin’ High” and “Turn Up the Bump” all showcase the pulsating rhythms that play throughout the album. Unfortunately, there is a serious redundancy of beats as there is little versatility in mood over the album’s 19 tracks. One track just begins to bleed into the next, and not in a good cohesive way. Interludes have rarely been useful. Here, 8ball & MJG are interrupted twice. Worse yet, they are interrupted by boring, useless interludes with little humor to offer.

8Ball & MJG also add a bit of redundancy in their topic choice. Pimpin’ has always been their forte, and this album is no exception. While that offers little growth on the artistic side, it does offer more of what fans are used to so I don’t fault them for it much. Still, the pimp talk can be overdone and it is. Sadly, it’s not even well done here. It gets downright embarrassing to hear “Hickory Dickory Dock” this time around: “Here a girl, there a girl/Everywhere I go, a girl”

One can’t truly get more elementary than “Old McDonald’s Farm.” Songs like “Alcohol,” “Pussy and Weed,” “Running out of Bud” are more examples of this monotony. Still, they do manage to flip the script with “Stand Up,” which is a great way to end the album.

No, they won’t wow you with rhymes. They won’t give you much in terms of lyrics, actually. But if you simply want to enjoy some good old 8Ball & MJG, some bangin’ beats and some pimp game, go ahead and ride high with the Memphis duo.