Long Island's Rising Popstar

Chapter 6: Thoughts

But first, he needed a recording studio.

This was a process Fresh King had been working in his brain for a very long time. He knew his mic needed work, but he didn't think it was that bad.

B. Wells had commented on it, and a lot of people agreed that it was not the greatest mix. But luckily, Jaelen knew plenty of artists in the city and even a producer by the name of Blanq Beats.

But who could he go to for a good deal on a studio?

He couldn't go to DaVan, he was on the other side of the state. TriVi was in the Philippines, and Niino Banks had his own label that would take forever to get connected with. He knew Matt and Ryan wouldn't be able to help him, so where would he start? All his connections went nowhere.

But there was one possibility he hadn't considered. It was a long shot, but G Stereo was still around. The issue was that the flop of a performance at Gabe's house had to be lingering in his mind and all of the friends who had been there. But Gabriel had a good mix, right? There had to be a way that he'd gotten that.

These were the thoughts in his mind as he lay on his bed, trying to brainstorm ideas for how he could make this work.

"I mean, from what Ryan said, Stereo wasn't hating on you. Neither was GTR Yung." Orion reasoned as he sat in the chair next to the bed in Jay's room like it was a therapy session. "I say give one of them a chance, they could help you. And like, why can't Kev get you a time slot?"

"He's too busy with his music videos and recording for his own stuff."

"How do you know? Just ask him."

Fresh sighed. "I'mma ask Gabriel today. That might be the easiest way to do this."

Orion gave Jay a side glance. "You don't like taking risks, do you?"

"Dude, what are you talking about? Last night was a whole risk! I could have gotten hurt."

"But look where you are now. You can afford a studio session. Just get the file from TriVi for the new song, and use your money."

The rapper knew his friend wasn't wrong. He was just nervous and afraid of rejection, it was pretty obvious. But he did have Niino's support, so why couldn't he talk to him?

Jay chuckled. "Ok, I'll think about what you said. But if it goes sideways, I'm going straight to Gabriel. And if that doesn't work out, I'll find some way. I'm not failing Cornell Stokes."

"You got the whole week to come up with a list of 3 well mixed tracks. You can do it, I believe in you, and so do the rest of your friends. So does Niayrah."

"Yeah... Where is she anyway? Niayrah? She didn't answer my text from last night. And she knows I hate being left on read."

Orion shrugged. "Assume the best. She's probably busy with family, it is Sunday after all. Don't worry about her, for now you gotta focus on yourself."

Fresh King nodded. "You're right about that." He sat up, his legs swinging himself into a sitting position. "Don't forget about Darien."

"Oh, right! I actually did forget about him."

"Bro, what kind of friend are you?"

"Sorry, there's a lot going through both our heads today. You wanna hit him up?"

"Actually, I might. You should come with me."

"To his house?" He asked with wide eyes.

"What else do you have to do today?"

Orion rolled his eyes. "You got me there."

Young Ferb was there since the beginning of Thunderwave Records, starting with DaVan's track, I Just Don't Care from his debut album Cloud 9. It had gone through a massive reupload after the issues with Set Me Free, but Darien had been able to keep his contribution on streaming services, and despite not even having released any albums and keeping to his singles, his mix in FL Studio was always on point.