After three years of preparation in the studio and on the road (with the likes of Justin Bieber and Janet Jackson), the young men of Mindless Behavior are finally able to share the result of their efforts: their debut album, #1 Girl. Taking a quick break from an album signing session at Basement Mix Records in Brooklyn, teens Prodigy, Princeton, Ray Ray and Roc Royal talked to MTV News about everything that's led up to this moment.
"It's all come down to this day," Princeton said of their Tuesday release-day. "Last night we stayed up until 12 o'clock. And we were in our hotel room all together, and we got back at like 11:40 so we had 20 minutes, and we just waited. And we didn't say one word until it turned 12 o'clock."
Once it was officially September 20, the celebration began. "We just started to scream and jump up and down," Princeton recalled. It was a crazy night, added Roc Royal — "the most exciting night of our lives."
To put together #1 Girl the R&B/pop group enlisted the talents of several top producers, including Polow Da Don, Boi-1da and JukeBox. And if the members of Mindless Behavior are excited about it, their fans are positively giddy.
"We'll never get used to it," Ray Ray said about the throngs of teen and pre-teen girls that greet MB at every appearance. "It's always different. First time they're just screaming. Next time they're biting Princeton, third time they're pulling my hair."
Some of those fans can be seen as extras in Mindless Behavior's latest music video, "Mrs. Right" — directed by "Tower Heist" helmer Brett Ratner. Princeton explained how their partnership with the Hollywood heavyweight came to be. "After the Kids' Choice Awards, we went to his house. We ate dinner and hung out with him, and within the next month he was like, 'I want to direct your next video.' "
The boys predict more big things in their future. After they return from the Scream Tour (with Diggy Simmons, the New Boyz and others) this fall, there's going to be "more albums, more fans and more shows," Princeton said. Their list of dream collaborators includes Drake, Kanye West, Nikki Minaj, Rihanna and Jay-Z. And then, according to Prodigy, the Grammys will come ... as well as "every award you can think of."