Sky's The Limit

xxxv

thirty five | ishaan

April.

New season. New beginnings. New priorities.

The semester was winding down, and it was the most I'd had my head in the books since Autumn and I began dating.

Studying and shit was the last thing I wanted to do, at the turn of the year, but quite a few things have happened in the last month that have made me take inventory in other places of my life— not just in the studio.

It began after we made "Sugar Hill."

The song still had to be mixed and mastered, but besides that, we had it squared away as our first single.

After months of writing and laboring, this song was the first thing we'd made that felt even remotely close to who we were as a group: ambitious storytellers with dreams as real as our pens.

From there, it felt like we were starting to hit our stride.

"Abandon Ship" was almost done, and Will was campaigning to tack a psychedelic jazz sample onto the end of it. "It can lead into the next song!"

"We don't even have a next song that sounds like that or even has that tempo," Kay shook his head with a chuckle.

Will had an answer for every music-related concern. "Well, let's make it."

It wasn't that simple, and after just getting a hang of this "making a record but doing it on our own terms and making the label happy but doing it in our own way" thing, the level of difficulty went without saying.

But we still tried to make it happen. In the midst of our experimentation, Stephen rolled up to the studio.

It caught the room off guard, seeing as though we'd usually be notified whenever he would be making an appearance. We rolled with the punches though.

"Y'all got anything new?" Stephen plopped down with his jacket still on, making it known that he wouldn't be here for long.

Such a question didn't have me as anxious as it did the first time Stephen inspected our work. In fact, I was more than prepared to play some shit and to receive feedback, no matter how quickly it was given, and no matter how much of an asshole he was in giving it.

We put a pause on what we were working on and went through an assembly line of music.

Some songs blasted for a longer duration than others, such an instance making me think that we were making real progress in catching and keeping the attention of even the hardest critic.

"Abandon Ship" was played last, earning a nod of approval from a man who rarely dished them out.

"You niggas do listen from time to time, huh?" he chuckled.

Will and I nodded at one another across the room, the pride brought on by success swelling in my chest.

"Yeah, good job. It seems like you're all catching your footing," Stephen added.

"You think we got a hit out of these though?" Antonio asked from the opposite end of the soundboard.

Stephen didn't hesitate with an answer. "Maybe. That 'Sugar Hill' joint is nice... Where's that Lisa Lisa joint though? That could be big too."

My brow furrowed at such a name. What the fuck was he talkin' about?

I glanced at Kadence, who mirrored my expression. I turned in my chair, catching eyes with every member of my group except Crystal, who was hiding behind her rhyme book as usual.