Event Review: Mystikal 'Welcome Home' Show with Eightball & MJG, Free Sol and others at Minglewood Hall in Memphis, TN

2003 was not a good year for New Orleans rappers. In June of 2003 Mystikal pleaded guilty to sexual battery and extortion. In September of 2003, No Limit capo and TRU co-founder C Murder was sentenced to life in prison for the murder of sixteen year old Steve Thomas at a Harvey, LA nightclub following a freestyle battle between the two. Soulja Slim was shot to death in the front yard of his mother's home in November of 2003 and in December of that year No Limit Records filed for bankruptcy. The first month of 2004 wouldn't fare any better as Turk, one fourth of the then-recently-disbanded Hot Boys, was arrested in Memphis after shooting a police officer during an alleged drug raid. Indeed 2003 was not a good year for New Orleans rappers.

Of all the rappers from the N.O., Mystikal has always been my hands-down favorite. The Mind of Mystikal album dropped during my sophomore year of college. That album, along with Goodie Mob's Soul Food and the S & S mix tapes that featured Pastor Troy were all that my roommates and I bumped during the forty-five minute drives from Little Rock to the Kappa parties at the Conway Skating Rink or the Que parties at Ground Zero in Conway, AR. I was attending college in Little Rock in 1997 when Master P and No Limit Records blew up nationwide. I was one of a handful of people on the yard who was critical of No Limit. Being from the California Bay Area, I took issue with P and his artists tendencies to bite 2Pac and the blatant rip-off of "The Ice Cream Man" from Oakland rapper Dru Down which started a one-sided beef between Master P and Yukmouth from the Luniz (I refer to the beef as one-sided because Master P never responded on wax, except for referring to Yukmouth as a "hater" in a forgettable interview). Before Mystikal joined The Tank, the only rapper I dug from No Limit was Mia X who, to this day, I feel didn't get the shine that she truly deserved. When Mystikal signed to No Limit Records, I felt that he was doing Master P a favor.

Fast forward from No Limit's late 1990's heyday and Mystikal's six year incarceration to 2010 and my boy has been released from prison... and he's hungry as hell!! After seeing his "Welcome Home" performance that Friday night at Minglewood Hall don't mistake it; Mystikal is not ready to be categorized as an old-school rapper anytime soon. If seeing Mystikal perform after being out of pocket for six years wasn't enough to get me down to Minglewood Hall, there were two other cats that I had to see live... Eightball & MJG!! Earlier I mentioned the frat parties I attended while going to college in Arkansas. It would be a whole other review if I begin to reminisce about the parties at the Conway Skating Rink in Conway or the parties at the Big Apple and Club Cameo in Little Rock but I'll sum it up with three words: Lay It Down. If those three words don't ring a bell (they better if you're from the M-Town), then these two definitely will: Mr. Big. I remember being at parties in Arkansas and as soon as the five-key riff from Mr. Big played you heard a chorus "Oh!! Hell yeah!!" That joint shut the party down. Everyone from the Greeks to the gangbangers to the g.d.i.'s (g*ddamn individuals-i.e. non Greeks) as well as the out-of-towners like myself and my roommates hit the floor to gangsta-walk. It was funny to see the cats from the Jonesboro-West Memphis-Memphis area put their little flavor to it and try to upstage everybody else. I remember going home to California in 1996 and bumpin' "Sitting On Top Of The World" while riding in this female's car in Oakland and some cat approached me, asking "Aw, blood, you from Memphis? What you know about that Eightball and MJG? That's my shit!"

First off let me say that the organizers of the show coordinated it very well. Unlike some of the other events that I've attended in the last couple of weeks it didn't take several hours before the show started. The other thing that I really dug about Friday night's show was the opening lineup. The lineup consisted primarily of Memphis talent. I give props to the first act, a young woman named IFI (if I spelled her name correctly). It's always difficult to be the first act; when people are still filing into the venue and settling down. It's almost as if the performer is being ignored. IFI, however, put on a solid performance and I'm sure that she performed through a lot of anxiety. Her style of music puts you in the frame of mind of Kelis or Missy Elliot: very stylish and pop-friendly. While her performance was sexy it wasn't raunchy, which a player like myself always appreciates.

The next act was Hard Hustle Entertainment. Again, like IFI, they put on a solid performance and I applaud the fact that they gave a solid performance despite the audience still settling in. The next act, Pat 24/7, set the tone for the remainder of the night. My first impression of Pat 24/7 was that of a young cat who's been watching too many Young Money videos and I expected his performance and material to mimic Lil Wayne and his crew and I'm glad that he proved me wrong. Pat 24/7 gave a very high-energy performance with original material and he definitely established a fan base Friday night. Pat 24/7 was followed by London Fog who also gave a crunk performance in spite of technical difficulties seemingly on the part of the d.j.. Fog's distinctive voice and flow are definitely going to be the things that set him apart from this generation of Memphis rappers coming into the game.

After a fifteen minute intermission, Free Sol was set to perform. I'd been hearing about this group for years. When I moved to Memphis seven years ago they had a show at the Hard Rock Café on Beale St. I missed their performance and I've been trying to catch one of their shows ever since. Since then, they've signed to Justin Timberlake's label Tennman Records and have gained national attention. Their performance Friday night didn't disappoint. The groups' rap-rock fusion style is bananas and I think that they've successfully set themselves apart from similar acts like Linkin Park and Gym Class Heroes. The song that stood out to me was their joint "RockNRolla" which samples "1979" by Smashing Pumpkins. Where Pumpkin's "1979" was a melancholy track, Free Sol flipped "RockNRolla" into a more upbeat track that should've hit the radio a minute ago. Free Sol is definitely a group to watch out for.

When Mystikal finally hit the stage, take that back, before he even stepped on stage he had the whole venue crunk with his trademark "HERE I GO!!" After several seconds of suspense, Mystikal took to the stage with a fury that only a cat who's been 'on lockdown' and ready to hit the streets again would. After starting off with one of his new joints he went into his classics: "Danger (Been So Long)," "The Man Right Chea," "Here I Go," "Ya'll Ain't Ready" and "Shake Ya Ass." For "Ya'll Ain't Ready," Mystikal paused after spitting his "Bad like Michael..." line to do a tribute of sorts to Michael Jackson with his rendition of the "Thriller" dance routine. For "Shake Ya Ass," he grabbed three sexies from the audience to 'twerk something' on stage. Mystikal finished his set with a cut from his new record giving props to No Limit's legendary beat maker KLC, who was on stage during his performance.

The evening was capped off with the Space Age Pimps themselves. I expected to get several clear shots of Eightball but for a big cat this dude couldn't keep still. Ball and MJG ripped through their classics "Space Age Pimpin" and "You Don't Want No Drama." Ball spit the first verse of "Lay It Down" acapella. The audience was a little disappointed that they didn't perform "Mr Big." I don't know if the management at Minglewood Hall were concerned about excessive rowdiness or what but I was ready to get my gangsta walk on. The duo finished off their set with their current joint "Bring It Back" and the title track to their new album Ten Toes Down. Bottom line, if you missed this concert, you need to slap yourself. A message to the recent wave of new artists coming up with their one hit wonders, gimmicks and swag movements: the o.g.'s from the South haven't gone anywhere so step your game up.