Page 490 of Call Me Baby 2: Side B

Callista’s hands crash over her mouth.

“YOU ASSHOLE,” she screams through the glass. “You got my heart pounding!”

Ace throws a hand out,

then the track surges forward⁠—

second verse, no turning back.

I turn to Callista,

and sing-scream it with her,

“‘You’re right, I’m fucking crazy.’

“‘I’ll scream it with a straitface.’”

And by the time we reach the second chorus—“‘all our lies fall apart—You, say⁠—’

“Electric guitar spiral!”

Then—BOOM! “‘Say my name’—”

The kick drum opens when the second chorus does, and the whole fucking room erupts, driving straight through my ribs.

The moment breaks open, all alive now.

I jump, the smile washing over me as I belt the lyrics, letting it consume me, then turn to the control room.

“C’MON ACE. These psychos are lit-er-a-lly OBSESSED. WITH RAP SHEETS DIRTY AS FUCK,” I clap out, buzzed.

“Amplify the cinematic feel.

“Swell the full choir.

“Layer in the subtle synth pads,

“give it texture.

“Take them to church, baby,

“'cause this is a fucking BAPTISM!”

Ace throws his head back with a laugh,

slapping Andrew’s arm,

his whole body jolting with excitement.

He cranks the dial up, the kick drum stomping like a second heartbeat.

He moves with it, head bobbing, feeling it, the rhythm rushing through his bloodstream.

“Peel it back at the bridge,” I shout. “Strip it down, she needs a confessional.”

He’s nodding, already on it.

“Then fucking slam it in the last chorus.”