Prolific Live From the O

The story of Prolific begins with the closing of the Golden Era of Hip-Hop in 1997. The Notorious B.I.G. had just passed and 2 Pac as well the year prior. Four friends happened to meet by chance and happened to share the same love for hip-hop and lyricism. New Jersey native Kid Twist (Albert Saint Jean) met Flamez (James Collier) who had just moved to Orlando from the Bronx, N.Y. Twist introduced Flamez to Exile (Bryant Johnson), who was just honing his skills at the time. Twist’s longtime friend Neme (Howard Saddler), joined the group which was then called Innovators. All four went to Lake Brantley High School, whose hallways were basically a gladiator school for aspiring emcees. Exile served in the military then relocated back to his hometown of Atlanta. In the spring of 2003, the original four members; Twist, Flamez, Exile and Neme formed Prolific. From that point on the group did numerous performances and had many recordings. Neme; which had been doing most of the original production since 1998; stepped up both as a lyricist and a producer during this time. In the winter of 2004 the group recorded and shot a video for their street single “Pump Ya Fist” on location in Downtown Orlando. Most of the video was shot in and around the Aka Lounge, a popular venue for local artists. In 2005 Prolific released their first mixtape “Live From the O Pt. 1”, which was hosted by longtime friend Hindsite and for $5 a piece sold 100 copies hand to hand the first week.The standout track on this project was “Ride with Me” which featured longtime friends of Prolific, Ghetto Gentlemen. It was praised on the streets but the group grew even more sharper lyrically and production wise in the following years to come. In late 2007 Prolific released the second installment of their “Live From the O” series (again hosted by Hindsite) and has received around 1,000 downloads since then. Though it was a mixtape “Live From the O pt. 2” was considered almost as a street album as it was laced with conceptual songs and story telling. After this mixtape the group added the fifth and youngest member Zin O.D. who happened to be the younger brother of the duo Ghetto Gentlemen. Not only had Zin collaborated with Prolific on almost every project, but he also had been a longtime friend of the group since High School and it was members of Prolific who encouraged him to let his talents shine. After years of troubles with the law Zin left the street life to focus on his music and raising his daughter. In early 2008 the group released the third installment, “Live From the O pt. 3” which featured Zin on the cover. This project was heavy with lyricism, punchlines and hardcore beats. Described to be darker than the previous installment it showed the groups progression in a matter of months. Now in 2009 the group has teamed up with Hindsite’s brother; San Calo; and is releasing two singles “ Get ya Hustle Up” and “Talk About It” with “Situations” as the B-side.