Flex & Hated is an American pop music production team consisting of members Flex and Hated, both born in Wilmington, Delaware. The duo, who are also brothers, started as a rap group known as Cipha in the mid-90s; they released several local records, which caught the attention of Vibe magazine, "40 Acres and Mule" Records, Def Jam, and Violator management. When a chance meeting with a member of the group Prophet Jones led to Flex&Hated's first placement (referred to as 456 Music at the time) on the 2001 Motown-released album Prophet Jones, the duo's focus changed from rapping–writing to music production.