Son of a Gun

Talk My Sh*t

I stood behind the stage with my mic in hand, waiting for the host to call my name, rockin' my head to the music that played. I was trying to contain my emotions, but I was nervous as fuck. I hadn't really performed in front of a crowd this large. I would perform for my friends, my family, and even myself in the mirror, but never strangers. I exhaled a shaky breath as I reminded myself that everything would be straight. I'd get up there and do my best.

"Everybody give it up for new up and coming rapper out of the city by the name of... Key Glock!"

"Fuck." I muttered to myself while clutching the mic even tighter as my palms grew sweaty and I walk into the view of the crowd. I could barely look out into it because of the club lights shining back at me. What made this experience even more frightening is the fact that I couldn't let Kamarion be on stage with me. I assumed they'd let me bring my own set of people, but I had to use the designated people by the club.

"What up? I go by the name Key Glock. Let's rock out." I turned to the DJ and nodded my head, letting him know to start the music. I nodded my head as the beat to my single, "Racks Today" started to play.

I looked into the sea of people, searching for a familiar face as I rapped the lyrics over the beat with the mic close to my lips. I paced the stage until I finally made eye contact with Kamarion and Jasiah standing in the crowd, rapping the lyrics with me. That gave me more than enough motivation to keep going and help me get into the performance. The crowd was a bit steep, but I invited a lot of my friends and associates to the show to at least give me some type of support.

As I got more comfortable into the performance, I was feeling it now. I only had a seven minute slot, which I think is not enough time, but I had to do what I could with what I had. The beat faded out, fading into Dig That. I swayed my shoulders, pulling my shades further over my eyes as I recited the lyrics to it. This performance felt like a regular thing to me. My nerves was gone and I could tell the crowd was rocking with me. I don't blame 'em. I know my music be hittin'.

"Thank y'all for fuckin' wit' me. Glock Season out now on all music platforms."

I exited the stage from the side, handing off the mic to whoever was closest. I didn't even realize it I had handed it off to Juniper's old dude. I sucked my teeth once our eyes met before attempting to walk past him, but he just had to open his big mouth.

"Ay, that was a good performance from a newbie. I didn't expect that out of you."

I was hoping he ain't say shit to me, but here we are. I looked at him with slightly lifted brows before relaxing my face and hardening my jaw as the last sentence rang in my mind.

"You ain't expect it? Yeah, alright." I shook my head and walked past him. I wanted to exchange more words but I decided against it. Juniper would've been pissed had I got on his ass.

Speaking of her, she approached me in her bottle girl uniform. They be making these girls wear nothing. She looked chipper with a toothy grin gracing her face.

"You killed that!" She said leaning in for a hug.

I started to smile, hugging her back. "Thank you, thank you. Where's 'Mari and Jasiah?"

"Oh I hooked y'all up with a section. They already there."

"Really? Damn. We 'bout to be lit. We get bottle service, too?"

"Yes! Already underestimating me. I got Dusse, Hennessy, and Casamigos for the freak hoes." She rocked her hips and bit down on her tongue, laughing.

"Na', sound like you tryna have us fighting up in this bitch." I joked while looking around. "You tell Kamarion about that nigga yet?"

She glared up at me. "I'll just take you to your little section."

"Oh so that way you can tell him?"

"What are we gonna do about that mouth? That big fat mouth." She quoted while narrowing her eyes at me. "They haven't seen each other. I'm sure you ran into him, but if they just stay separated then I have nothing to worry about. Right?"

"Yeah, I almost had to lay his ass out, but out of respect for you, I didn't." I said while glancing around the room.

"Why you keep glossing the room like this?" She questioned with her arms folding over her stomach and mimicking my actions.

"Tryna see where the bad hoes at." I answered honestly.

"Anyway." She rolled her eyes before reaching to grab my hand, pulling me through the crowd. "We just gon get you to your section. And don't you say a word to Kamarion. Okay?"

"You got til club closing time."

"Don't piss me off."

I couldn't see her face anymore, but I know she rolled her eyes.

Once we made it to the section, I was greeted with cheers and applause from my friends. I couldn't help but smile. I felt good about that being my first performance and I could see myself doing a lot more. I'm usually reserved about my talents, but my mom found my raps that I'd write and encouraged me to take it seriously. I just ignored her support because I didn't want to share that part of me with nobody. The first few rhymes I created were personal to me. I used to write about how my mom had me real young and I had to grow up with her and be raised by my grandma or how my dad was never really around. I definitely didn't want people knowing about that. I even wrote a couple of love songs when I would be crushing on girls. I definitely don't want people seeing that. Talk about embarrassing, but they only helped me get better at this. With a couple more life experiences, I was able to get to this point and it's only up from here. I know this was just an open mic, but it felt like a step in the right direction.

"How you feeling," Kamarion questioned while placing his hand on my shoulder, patting it a few times.

I shrugged while picking up one of the bottles off the table. "I don't know. It was just a open mic."

He looked at me and shook his head. "It's still one step closer to what you wanna do! Be proud of yourself."

"Yeah...yeah. I should, huh?"

"Yes, you should. You know how many people wanna be in your position..."

I was so focused on getting this bottle of Dusse open, I wasn't really tryna hear his little motivational speech. I started tuning him out, but once I popped that bad boy open, I was starting to feel the hype.

"Ay, pass me a cup.."

Let the celebration begin.