Page 21 of Love U Down II

“Look, it’s from a lil nigga that reps the set. He asked me to have you listen to his shit and I told him I’d at least pass it along.”

“What? You want to scout talent now?”

“Hell nah. I just know him and told him I’d play it. I didn’t make any guarantees and I’m not expecting you to just give the nigga a contract. I’m just saying you should probably listen to it. I haven’t heard anything like it since… Shit, you to be honest.”

“He coming like that?” I lifted an eyebrow.

“I wouldn’t fucking lie to you, Drix. He got a pen on him.”

“A’ight. Start that shit over then. Let’s hear it, and if it’s some bullshit, I’m going upside your head.”

Dashawn looked at me straight faced.

“Thinking you can beat my ass is crazy.”

I locked eyes with him. “You want to test that mothafuckin’ theory?”

We held each other’s sight for a second, then another, then both laughed.

Dashawn restarted the music and I raised the volume to listen. I bobbed my head as it played. It wasn’t bad. The lyricsand instrumental were both good. The quality wasn’t the best. It sounded like it had been recorded on a cheap microphone but the talent was evident.

We bumped the music until we got to our destination. I unlocked the front door and gestured for Dashawn to enter first then trailed him. I locked the door and we collapsed on separate couches.

“Tell me about the dude.”

“He’s young and rough around the edges, but he can be taught.”

“You sure about that?”

“Positive.”

“And what about you?”

“What about me?”

“When am I going to get your name on a contract?”

“Fuck out of here.” Dashawn waved me off and snickered.

“Only one of us is laughing,” I deadpanned.

“Nigga, I don’t know the last time I wrote a rap for myself let alone performed or recorded one.”

“This shit is like riding a bike or knowing how to swim. Just because you don’t use it for a lil minute don’t mean you forget how to do it.”

“Be real with me, Drix. Why you pushing this issue?”

“Because you’re like a brother to me. The same way I push Rome to be his best, I feel like I should be pushing you.”

“And rapping is my best?”

“It could be.” I sat forward. “Look, if you don’t want to rap just because you ain’t feeling it, cool. I’ll let the shit go, but if you don’t want to rap because of finances and shit, I’ve got you and Hazel. I’ll set you up with a cool advance and a one album contract to see how it goes. If you flop, you can pay me back over time. If you hit and this rap shit ain’t for you, that’s fine. We’ll still be done, but I want you to at least try the shit out, D. Weain’t the same lil kids that had to decide between pursuing music and slanging dope to make sure the bills were paid and I don’t know. I don’t think you should let the gift and talent you have just waste away. You know how many niggas would kill to write like you?”

Dashawn nodded.

“I hear you. I’ll talk to Hazel about it.”

“Alright. And in the meantime, set me up a meeting with your boy. I think we can do some business too.”