In the dawn of the 21st century everything was changing. The internet brought rise to a new way of connecting. Many of us would communicate through chirp on the move, others at the crib with AIM. Technology changed the scope of how we receive information and content, and in many ways it made us numb over the years. This is possibly the reason why many things have seemed to lose an authenticity. Over the years a collective of artists came together all uniquely self-taught and skilled in rapping/singing, production, engineering, and more. As one they became known as Prosaic Minds Collective: originally Dr.L BeaTs, Donte West, Max Fisher (RIP), Iceman904, Cueue Ayun, Darrius Beverly, Nitro, Tony Tones (RIP), and founder Morrison Machiavelli.
Conception and Recognition
Officially recognized as a company as of December 21, 2019, Prosaic Minds, LLC, formed representing Dr.L BeaTs, Max Fisher, Iceman904, Cueue Ayun, Morrison Machiavelli (formerly Excel). Serving functionally as a label and management consultation for the collective each artist chose to claim their own indemnity and agency with their creative catalogs in belief that much more could be accomplished creatively of the artists in this earliest stage by maintaining independence. Although conceptually the voice and spirit of their collective came much earlier.
In 2007 Morrison Machiavelli, then assuming the pen-name AWOL, wrote about an experience that forever changed his perception. During a pivotal time in the 16 year old artists life he was confronted with his then-girlfriend's pregnancy. Although it is still a mystery as to if her pregnancy was legitimate or not- having said she had an abortion- a song came to follow titled Prosaic. Since the song has been lost to the depths of time during Myspace pages and songs produced and recorded in Windows Movie Maker. Thumbing through a dictionary Morrison kept inside his golden Krew backpack the word ironically stuck out. Years later it became an identity he adopted for what he set-fourth to establish as a record label.
Okinawa, Japan and Beyond
Having very little knowledge of the music industry Morrison set out to meet other creatives during his time in the United States Marine Corps. He came across Darrius Beverly and Donte west in North Carolina, as well as other's who contribute to the early projects Argumentative Instinct (since lost) and another that came to be known as "Excel," an album titled after the artist, produced, recorded, and (admittedly poorly) mixed by Morrison Machiavelli. Later departing from the United States Morrison set out to Okinawa, Japan where a new chapter began with his journey. One of the first artists who Morrison had the opportunity to work with who had a skill level far-advanced to his own was Dr.L, then known as G Baby, pushing the BlaHaitian Movement. The two linked in the barracks military housing shortly after Dr.L returned from his deployment to Afghanistan. They worked together collaborating with artists like JB and his cousin Nergy creating songs like Touch, Watch My Feet, U Don't Know Me, The Lights, and more. Dr.L and Morrison began to shape their legacy early by performing at small clubs like the notoriously known Shangs in Kin Town, Okinawa, Japan. As they grew musically so did their support within their unit and on-base. After was depart from the Marine Corps Dr.L, and in turn Japan, Morrison set out to locate more artists, creatives and musically inclined service members. During this time he caught wind of the up-and-coming presence of a North Carolina rapper known as Cueue Ayun. Knowing him only via Donte West, who suggest Morrison lend an ear to hear his talents, Morrison recalls that he felt Cueue was out of his reach for collaboration. However, he chose to attempt to reach out to him and ask him to help co-found the collective. After one week Cueue hit Morrison back and agreed, he was in, and now it was time to hit the ground.
Cueue had already released his debut project The Boy Who Cried Rebel featuring WanJu and Dat Assasin, and continued to crank out solid hit after hit including his early collaboration with Talk- Sik, and his covers over classic Hip Hop beats. The two worked side by side independently representing Prosaic and building their own presence. In February 2012 he released R.O.O.M. an almost entirely self-produced project featuring additional production by Rock L Spivey, Phil Holley and Volume, with features by TiMe Moves, Bri and Don Te Antonio, and S.T.R.E.E.T. His lyrical complexities brought a new edge to the roster and also an international stretch, as Morrison continued to grow musically far-east in Okinawa. During this same time Morrison got connected with fellow rapper Max Fisher, whom apologetically brought a new in-your-face flavor with his deep punchy bravado and vulgar lyrics. The two traded verses like a sea-saw ripping through the old school decks on a project that came to be later known as "The Message," released by DJ Skeezy. As a duo Max and Morrison toured Okinawa with the album playing everywhere from opening and closing for Pop groups in Mihama (American Village) where they played their whole catalog, as well as underground Japanese establishments where very few could even understand the lyrics, which were of course in English. Having broken barriers with their energy, the duo set out to make a name on the island until the day Max left departing from the Marine Corps.
During their final time in Okinawa working together Max and Morrison took on new collaborations with artists such as GeeMaj, which introduced a new circle of artists to Morrison to pick up with leaving off. New networks of artists became available to Morrison working with Nitro on songs like Warrior (featuring Tony Tones and Combs) and My Days (featuring Iceman904, then J-Ice). During this time Morrison was being kicked out of the Marine Corps for disobeying orders, spawning what came to be known as the Quarter Short Trilogy, and Iceman904 was making waves with his group on the island, Jedi Music with co-founding member M.R.Jay. Iceman904 and Morrison crewed up on their first collaboration: Higher, featuring MikeyB. Nitro, MikeyB, Iceman904 and Morrison Machiavelli became closely affiliated dropping a wide collection of songs together, many unreleased and even more lost. The chemistry of the newly formed posse reach beyond recordings, as many of the most valuable moments were never captured within freestyle sessions playing 'word games' where MCs would challenge each other from a dictionary.
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