Chapter 8 #2
“I can’t help that my fiancée is the shit.
” Onyx playfully pushed Kas, taking a seat at the control table, admiring Troi as she finished her adlibs.
Just as she was finishing and stepping from the booth, Onyx received a text that the new artist had arrived.
“Aye, they just let the artist up, her ass right on time.”
Kas busied himself doing a bit of mixing on the reference track. He didn’t pay much attention when he heard Onyx letting the new singer into the studio suite, or when she was introduced to Troi.
“And this is Kas, WCMG’s producer, who you’ll be working a lot with. Kas, this is Zahra, the singer I was telling you about.”
“Sup,” Kas spoke unenthusiastically, briefly looking up at the girl then having to do a double take.
His eyes took a quick assessment of the beauty before him.
He’d seen a photo of her when Onyx showed her prospective artist sheet, but that photo did her no justice.
Though he didn’t think there was beauty capable of captivating him like Yanna’s, he’d be bogus if he denied how stunning the girl was.
She had a head full of voluminous natural coils and huge brown eyes that were enchanting.
Dangerous was the first word that sprung to mind when he assessed her thick hips and ass, noticeable from the front.
Quickly, he garnered his bearings and ceased his ogling.
“It’s so nice to meet you, Kas. I’m literally like a huge fan already, and I am so excited to be working with you!” Zahra exclaimed, holding out her hand for Kas to shake.
Kas accepted her hand, dimpled smile spreading. “Okay, then. You ready to work?” He mocked her peppy spirit.
“Hell yes. When I reached out to the label, I didn’t expect to be contacted, but when thee Onyx reached out to me himself, I damn near fainted.”
“Adorable.” He chuckled. “Ight, well, I don’t believe in time wasted, so let’s get right to it. We just finished this reference Nyx wants you to record off. I’mma play it for you to make sure it’s within yo wheelhouse as far as tone, range and shit like that. Cool?”
“Cool!”
Kas couldn’t help but chuckle again because he’d never met anyone as bubbly as Zahra.
He directed her to a seat and played the song back for her to gauge.
She seemed to be enjoying it, snapping her fingers and bobbing her head along with the melody.
Once the song was over, she stood and clapped like she was at the symphony.
“Bravo! Wow, was that you singing?”
“It was.” Troi nodded.
“Dang girl, I knew you could rap your ass off, but I didn’t know you had vocals like that.”
“She does, but what about you? You think you can go in the booth and execute the song like Troi did?”
“I know I can. We actually have similar voices, so it’s a perfect fit.”
“Bet. Go ahead and step in the booth. I’ll play the reference through the speakers for you so you can hear the melody again. The lyric sheet is already inside the booth.”
Smiling, Zahra readily headed into the booth.
“Ight, I’m about to go to the other suite and check in on Tiff B’s session,” Onyx spoke of one of his female rappers. “Hopefully, she’ll be just about done recording by the time I get back.”
“Okay,” Troi replied, accepting a kiss from Onyx. “I’m sure she will be. I have a good feeling about her.
2 hours later…
Kas’ eyes widened in horror at the atrocious sound coming from inside the booth.
It was akin to a cat’s screech and someone scratching their nails down a chalkboard, and he wasn’t sure how much more he could take.
What he thought would be a quick recording turned out to be the worst session he’s ever been involved in.
For the past two hours, he and Troi had tried to coach Zahra, but she was proving to be a lost cause.
“Dawg, this bitch sound just like Ice JJ Fish. What the hell is Onyx thinking?” Kas asked, turning to Troi, who was sitting next to him with the same bewildered expression he held.
“He… um, shit, I don’t know. I mean, maybe he thinks he can market her because she’s cute,” Troi replied, taking a look at Zahra, who had a look of concentration on her caramel complected face. “Yea, that has to be it.”
“Ain’t enough cute in the world to make up for the way she sounds.” Kas released a huff before cutting the music. “Ayo, Zaya.”
“It’s Zahra.” She corrected Kas with an overly enthusiastic smile. Her eyes were glued to his, and she batted her lashes at him, causing Kas to shake his head. She was worried about the wrong shit.
“Yea, my bad. Listen, when you come in for the first verse, try to sing in a falsetto like my sister did on the reference.”
Zahra nodded, looking at the lyric sheet. “Like this?” She tried to do as Kas told her, but instead of a falsetto, it sounded more like a wolf howling at the moon.
“Hell nah, not at all. Troi baby, can you demonstrate?”
“I got it. Zahra, it’s really kind of a mix between a falsetto and your normal chest register. So as soon as the beat drops, that very first word should be in falsetto but crescendo down. Try it like this…” Troi flawlessly demonstrated the way the verse needed to be sung.
“That’s what I’m talking about! Zahra, can you sing it like that?”
“Most definitely, restart the track for me and I’ll give it a go.”
Kas nodded and restarted the song before turning to Troi.
“She a muh’fuckin’ lie, watch this shit.
” Troi tried her best to contain her laughter as Zahra attempted and failed to mirror the way she’d sung the song.
“See what I mean? This bitch is horrible, you might as well gone and release it with your vocals.”
“I think the hell not. I’m done with music. The most I’ll be doing is behind the scenes stuff like this.”
“That’s ight, I’ll just get Onyx to convince you like he did the first time.”
Troi was about to respond but was distracted by the sight of Yanna standing outside the studio door. Standing, Troi made her way over to let her in. Just as she was opening the door, Zahra attempted to hit a high note, making Troi’s skin crawl.
“Why is your face all scrunched up like that?” Yanna asked as she entered the room.
“I’m kind of annoyed. Onyx is testing out this singer to see if she’ll be a good fit for WCMG, but for the life of me, I can’t see how he thinks she’s talented.”
Yanna peered through the glass of the booth.
The pretty girl with the brown doe eyes instantly gave her discontent.
Everything from her pert breasts spilling from the low-cut top she wore, to the way her jeans hugged her ass to her complementing pretty face screamed Kas’ type.
Jealousy and worry squeezed her as Kas started the beat, signaling when it was time for her to come in.
Zahra missed the cue to start, then tried to recover, but sounded a complete mess.
Shaking his head, Kas started the beat again and once more gestured for her to start.
“Maybe he thinks he can market her because she’s cute. That has to be it because she sounds terrible. Why is she recording songs already?”
“Same thing I said, but this is just a reference track. Kas did the beat, Onyx wrote the song, and I did the vocals. The foundation was laid out for her perfectly, but she doesn’t have the skill to build on it properly.”
“Who is she?”
“Her name is Zahra. She’s from Stoney Creek, I think. Oh, and she’s been flirting with Kas since he got here.”
“She has, huh? And Kas?”
“Hasn’t been paying her ass a bit of attention. As you can see, he’s about sick of her shit.”
Yanna’s eyes ventured to Kas, removing his own headphones, and pinched the bridge of his nose. Zahra was certainly attractive, but she sounded nowhere near as good as she looked.
“Ight, let’s try to take it from the top again. As soon as the bass line kick in, you start your first verse. Got it?”
“Yes, Kas, I got it,” Zahra responded, smiling at Kas, who didn’t bother to return the gesture.
“This thirsty ass bitch.”
“She is, but you see Kas ain’t stuntin’ her at all.”
“Probably because he knows you in here watching him. I guarantee you he’s been eyeing all that ass and titties.”
“You stay trying to downplay the fact that my bro is growing. He’s not the same young minded Kas he was a year ago.”
“Girl, he was that Kas a week ago,” Yanna replied, tossing her eyes in her head.
She’d told Kas she was willing to give him another chance. Willing to give them another chance, but that didn’t mean she’d completely dropped her defenses. She still didn’t trust Kas as far as she could throw him and was still weary of him when it came to other women.
“Anyway, how was the day party or whatever?”
“Annoying as hell. I get so tired of being flirted with and constantly having to keep niggas from trying to touch me. Not to mention, most of the girls I work with are fake and catty as hell. I really want to do something else, I just don’t know what.”
“Jaiyanna, you have a whole college degree. Why won’t you use it?”
“Because I don’t want to work for someone in some stuffy ass office, taking demands and not getting paid what I’m worth.”
“And you are aware you don’t have to work at all, right?”
“Troi, I’d sleep on a bus stop bench before I let him finance my life.”
“Okay, I understand that, but you know Kas would look out for you if need be as well.”
“Hell no, and before you ask me why, it’s for the same reason you wouldn’t allow Onyx to just look out for you.”
“Touché… well, what would you prefer to do? You’re good at collabing on those beats with Kas.”
“Yea, but that’s his thing. We’re not you and Onyx, I’m not trying to be his co-producer.”
“So again I ask… what do you want to do?”
“Well, when I think about the last time I did something I really loved, I’d have to say it was when I was helping you launch the pet food company.”
“Hence, you having a degree in business. So, business administrator, manager, consultant, something like that?”
“Yea, like, I’d love to set up people’s businesses for them or help new companies develop and grow.”