Mike REAL and FLAME are both from St. Louis, Missouri, and have known each other for over ten years. Mike said that one time
“A friend of mine from high school was the little brother of his [FLAME’s] producer at the time, and he was like ‘My brother is producing for this dude, he’s dope. You should come to my church and check him out,’ so I did.”
When Mike REAL went to see Flame for the first time, he liked his music and bought FLAME’s four song EP, which is not anywhere on the Internet if you didn’t know FLAME had an extra project. “I just followed him from that point. My friend told me that he had gotten signed to Cross Movement [Records], had a record coming…”
Way back then, FLAME was a regular customer at Mike REAL’s first job, a Taco Bell. When FLAME came through the drive through, Mike would sometimes tell him about how his music is encouraging him. When Mike Real released his first project, FLAME, Json, and Courtney Orlando, fka J.R., came to his release party and gave him support and feedback.
In Spring 2014, Mike became an artist on FLAME’s record label, Clear Sight Music, where he released an album, Mind Of Hollis, in March 2015. FLAME and Mike REAL have made music together many times, and recently released a collaborative EP titled Revival, their first project as a duo (they are not a rap group).
