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8BALL & MJG
9 p.m., Revolution. $30 adv., $35 d.o.s.

Speaking of long-tenured genre icons, this year marks the 21st year for 8Ball & MJG, the Memphis rap architects whose loose, swaggering releases in the early ’90s brought some well-deserved, long overdue attention to the mid-South, provided some of the major building blocks of Southern rap and helped open the door for all of the Master Ps, Three 6 Mafias and Outkasts to come. During their last visit to town in October 2009, the duo brought Hill Country Revue, the blues two-piece, to act as a genre-smashing backing band. This time, however, it’s bringing a busload of opening acts from the relatively familiar (Lil Wil from Memphis has made waves on regional radio with his new single “My Dougie”) to the up-and-coming (Mr. Pookie & Mr. Lucci) and a parade of randoms with awesome names (King Kong Cotton, Stubbalean). For guys of a certain age who grew up not too far away from Memphis — this writer definitely included — 8Ball & MJG are nothing short of dirty ridin’, syrup slurpin’ superheroes. And you never get too old for a little “Space Age Pimpin’.”

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The bill is rounded out by Big Doughski G, Stoney Crook Family, Hot Rod D’conte, Adam Bomb, Lilo Eskimo and DJ Mike Blaze. V.I.P. tickets are available for $75.

Check it out: “Relax & Take Notes”

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