hey it's prodigy hey what's up it's yours truly princeton yo what's up it's your boy ray ray
yo what's up guys it's roc royal we are mindless v8
in the tradition of the jackson 5 new edition and b2k this group quickly became a modern
musical phenomenon with an army of screaming fans following them everywhere the boys won them over
with their futuristic fashion style epic dance moves and global ready pop songs
then their lead singer left and naturally things were never the same let's find out what happened
to r b hip-hop group mindless behavior smileless is like our movement that we came up with
like yeah like you have confidence like you're mindless and if you like being yourself and
you're not afraid to stand out yes you just want to show the world your talent then you're mindless
part of like you see a pretty girl she's mindless and just like being yourself and being confident
and if you get your grades in school you're definitely months
mindless behavior was put together in 2008 by interscope records manager keisha gamble
conjunction entertainment ceo walter millsap and streamline records head vincent herbert
when the members were just pre-teens walter approached vincent with the idea of forming
a kid's singing group keisha and walter then embarked on an extensive auditioning process
seeing hundreds of children los angeles-born singer jacob princeton perez and rapper chrysanto
rock royal august met at an audition and both were chosen a few months later the
group's choreographer found lead singer philadelphia born craig prodigy crippen jr
on youtube another la resident and rapper rayon ray-ray lopez was the last to join the group
they were then signed to streamline records operating under interscope
the boys trained and honed their skills during eight hour rehearsal days for three years they
did it all vocal lessons media training and choreography all while being homeschooled
they even got the opportunity to tour with the likes of backstreet boys
justin bieber and jason derulo pop icon janet jackson even hand picked them to join her on
her number one's up close and personal tour in august 2010 their debut single called my girl
it didn't touch the billboard hot 100 but it did make it into the top 40 on the r
b hip hop songs chart their second single called mrs wright was released in june 2011
and did far better than their debut getting on the hot 100 and rising all the way to number eight
on the r b chart it also landed at the number one position on bet's 106 in park three weeks in a row
their popularity was growing so fast that even their meet and greets were getting out of hand
thousands of girls were lining up for hours in advance one in-store appearance even had to be
shut down because thousands of fans swarmed them all it seemed now was the perfect time
to drop the album so they did their debut album titled number one girl was released two months
later it debuted on the billboard 200 album chart at the number seven position the following year
they embarked on a tour to promote the album with fellow teen rising stars jacob lattimore
lil twist and kayla brianna they kept the momentum going big time in 2013 with a triple release first
their follow up album titled all around the world in march then a feature film documentary called
mindless behavior all around the world released in the same week as the album this is something
that we love and something that we live for fans definitely keep me motivated i feel that
god put me in the right place to be inspiring other people is a great feeling the movie gives
viewers an inside look at how the group got started and it leads up to the bet awards
the final release was the announcement of the all around the world tour starting in july then
things quickly fell apart just eight months later it was announced that lead singer prodigy had left
the group to pursue a solo career this was not true he did leave however many years would pass
before he would finally tell the story about what really happened we'll get into that a little later
by the spring of 2014 detroit native elijah johnson going by the stage name ej would replace
prodigy as the group's new lead singer however more changes would come before the year's end
rock royal was fired from mindless behavior due to his ill-mannered behavior
his many transgressions included beating up a drug addict who owed him money
and accusations of him stealing a producer's bmw he also became a father at the age of 16.
he would end up getting slapped with a two-year prison sentence for battery and robbery two years
later just prior to that though he was able to make his solo debut with the song amazing that
was released in june 2015 at this time prodigy was asked to return to the group to replace him six
months later he was gone again when rock royal's real replacement atlanta based singer-songwriter
mike river joined the group three months after that yep it happened again another member decided
to leave this time it was ray-ray the decision was precipitated by a horrible car accident
where the vehicle he was driving flipped over he was extremely lucky to escape with his life
prior to the accident he already wasn't feeling the group dynamic for some time
and he felt that now was the perfect opportunity to separate himself so he left forcing ej
mike and last original member princeton to carry on as a trio in the summer of 2016 their third
album titled official mb music dropped snippets from their original third album titled recharge
were shown on the group's facebook and instagram but the decision was made not to release it and go
back to the drawing board even with a drastically different lineup fans responded positively
and helped the new album capture the number 4 spot on the r b albums chart
it was a small consolation since at the beginning of the next year mindless behavior
officially disbanded mike dropped his first solo single and accompanying music video for the song
take me back in march 2018. princeton followed with his solo debut called perfect world
in the summer of 2019. one month later his debut ep titled papi chulo prelude would be released
after about a four-year hiatus from the public and social media ray-ray now going by rayon
kicked off the start of the new decade with a bang his solo debut single called
right now dropped in january followed by a couple more singles within the first quarter
in an interview with allhiphop.com in february 2020 he revealed that he left the group due to
bad management he also revealed what he likes the most about being a solo artist
which is not having to worry about three other individuals possibly ruining his career
he's also flexed his acting skills in the urban flix tv miniseries howard high fans must surely
be happy to see him busy at work instead of using his time to take more eggplant pics like the ones
leaked back in 2017 now let's get back to prodigy and the real reason why he left mindless behavior
he laid it all out in a 2019 instagram live video i didn't leave the group to pursue a solo career
what happened was i was it i was getting treated bad in the in the camp you know i was being called
names i was being called social path and at once you know at one point they tried to turn the guys
against me and um you know i just couldn't take it no more i started getting depressed
and then y'all wonder why i never really talked in interviews i was i wasn't enjoying my career he's
also mentioned in interviews that he felt that he was used when asked to come back after rock royal
left just to make the group of force him again so the show could go on and continue making money
in march 2020 he released his latest work a single called like i always do
after the breakup ej announced that he was working on his own solo projects and talked
about dropping some music in the spring of 2018 so far it looks like that hasn't happened yet
he's somewhat active on social media now after taking a long break and says he's been in therapy
trying to find peace within himself and trying to stop the need to be perfect all the time rock
royal who now goes by santo august is currently incarcerated again he was actually released early
for good behavior from his previous two-year stint in 2017 just long enough to make another baby with
his longtime girlfriend and apparently get into more trouble that landed him back behind bars
as far as the possibility of a reunion is concerned it's highly unlikely that will
ever happen it's unclear when santo will be released from prison but according to rayon
he still has some years to go also in an august 2020 interview with podcast get straight to it
rayon was happy to talk about the respect and ongoing friendship he has with prodigy
but boldly proclaimed his dislike for princeton things on his end that was being said about me
that were getting back to me from like secure people that like if they said it okay i'll get it
you know what i mean i just run into people they're like oh he did this he's done that he
said this he said that i don't do that he said she said you know me but also y'all have to understand
that i've been in a group with this kid for five years yeah i know how you maneuver i know how he
works sentences yeah i've seen the text i've seen everything he also felt some type of work when
i just left he kind of felt abandoned but it's just like you understand my well-being is more
important than anybody else you know i'm not going to keep being someone's puppet and being robbed
for fun no no it's not happening don't understand when someone's a glitch yes
in your life you eliminate them the best thing you can do is declutter somebody
yeah just eliminate take them away you know what i'm saying and that's one that's what i had to do
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