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 whentheeOnyx 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?”
“IknowI 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.”
