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After Adonis had opened the label in Virginia Beach, he decided that it would make sense to have a second studio and building in Hampton, the other city where we spent most of our time, and where he had another great fan base and also heard was pouring with hidden talent. In addition, my brother and other friends of ours would be able to staff the Hampton studio.
About eight months after we opened the Virginia Beach studio, Adonis opened the second one on Broadway in Hampton-coincidentally, about a block and a half from the neighborhood where I lived with my mom while Adonis and I were dating. Because we were already so busy, this venture was more businesslike than a labor of love; we hired people to complete the work we needed done inside and out, rather than trying to take that on ourselves.
At the same time that Adonis's record label began gaining traction and he started signing more artists, his career as an entertainer was moving at an even faster clip. He was busier than ever in 1994. Now his obligations included making music videos-the new industry standard-as well as recording vocals.
For instance, the music video for "La Llamada," one of Adonis's biggest hits from the Adonis Live! album, was shot on the rooftop of a beach house in Malibu, California, which meant that we all had to fly out there for two days.
Many of the scenes in that video are of Adonis singing shirtless in trunks with a crowd of people dancing around him, as if he's at a big pool party; shooting them was fairly uneventful. We just had to spend a day playing through the songs over and over again, and then The Delegation got to leave. Adonis, however, had to stay for several more hours, because they were also shooting him singing the song against a blue curtain.
At one point, I went back up to the roof to see how he was doing. I was worried because the sun was going down. The darker it got, the colder and windier it got, and Adonis was wearing only a loose black tank top that couldn't be very warm.
I found him with a towel around his shoulders between shots. Still, Adonis's teeth were starting to chatter and he was shivering. I put my arms around him, rubbing his shoulders to try to warm him up a little.
"You good, baby?" I asked.
"I'm fucking freezing," he said.
"Uh, yeah, I can tell! I told you to bring your jacket but you didn't wanna listen to me and left the damn thing at the hotel."
"Damn, Sel! Don't you think I know that?" he said miserably, cursing under his breath.
