CHAPTER 1
MYOME ROSS
Itapped my pen on the boardroom table in front of me and did my best not to seem uninterested. Charm, Retta, and I had heard all of this before. We were amazing artists and people loved our work ethic but there was something missing. Our manager Allison gave us the same rundown every time we were about to get into something that could potentially be huge for our girl group, Radiant Reverie.
“Look, I’m not sure why you ladies aren’t making the noise you should be making with your talent but I think this next song can change everything.”
“What’s the next song?” Retta crossed her arms over her chest and leaned back in her seat. “We submitted like six.”
“None of them. I was actually hoping to get you in the studio and have you work on something completely new.”
“What?” Retta sat up in her seat. “Allison, our album is due?—”
“I know when your album is due and it’s going to come out on time, but unfortunately this is the only time we could get Drix in the studio.”
I paused and looked at Charm and Retta who were just as shocked as me.
Drix was somewhat of a legend to us. At age nineteen, he’d released a ten-song rap album with one singular feature— his younger brother Rome—and had taken the charts by storm. Everyone had been amazed that not only had he written all of his lyrics but he’d produced, mixed, and mastered his entire album at such a young age. Then, the album had gone diamond. He did one tour, twenty-two dates, collected his check and stopped rapping, just like that.
A decade had already come and gone and he was still only producing music for others. Even then it was hard to get ahold of him when people were fighting to get in the studio with him and he was in and out of jail somewhat frequently for his temper that he was known for just as much as the slick lyrics and how hard it was to get him to sign off on a song he didn’t fully back.
Everyone called him a hit maker and the running rumor was if he couldn’t produce a hit for someone, they didn’t need to be in the industry. We’d all heard horror stories about how anal he was with every meticulous piece of music he put his name on, but even if those rumors were true, I wasn’t tripping about it. Shit. I hadn’t heard a flop come out of his studio yet.
“Drix?” Charm repeated. “You’re fucking joking, right?”
“Nope.” Allison smirked. “I had to move a lot of things around but I was able to get you an appointment; so you’re welcome.”
“Thank you, Allison,” we said in sync.
“If you want to thank me, please just make sure this meeting goes well.”
“We’ve got this,” Retta assured her. “Don’t worry.”
“Okay. Good. Because the money we’re pouring into this is eating our budget alive. I had to move a lot of stuff around to make this happen. We can’t afford to fumble this opportunity. Just be your usual professional and hardworking selves and don’t get starstruck.”
“We’ve got this,” Charm said. “Relax.”
“Okay, okay.”
“When is the session?” I asked.
“In about”—Allison looked at her watch—“An hour and a half.” She exhaled. “So, go ahead and get a move on. It’s better to be early than late.”
“We’ll be there on time.” Retta waved her off.
“Alright and call me immediately after the session.”
“Yes ma’am,” Charm giggled. “We’ll keep you up to date on everything.”
“Good. Thank you.” Allison grabbed her phone the second it rang and put it to her ear. “Hello? Yeah. I can talk.” She spun and headed out of the room, leaving us at the table.
The second the door closed, Retta danced in her seat and squealed.
“We’re meeting Drix today!”
“For a song,” I reminded her. “Not to be social.”
“Girl, how are we supposed to work with the man and not talk to him?”