' 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗦𝗘𝗡𝗗 𝗠𝗘 𝗦𝗪𝗜𝗡𝗚𝗜𝗡 ' › D. SWING

17.

Rhonda.

It had been days and nights I've spent at the studio with Tornado, Timbaland, and the girls to help Jodeci develop a specific sound for the upcoming album. With the amount of work Sista was putting in, you would think they would have some type of deal by now. It just didn't feel right, so today, I planned to address him about it.

Since we had been working with the guys, there was sone tension between me and La'Shawn and I wasn't quite sure why. I didn't care to ask either. If she wanted to be ungrateful and snobby, she could easily be replaced. That was no issue. I still had Mary's number and little did Shawn know, I had invited Mary to come through some time this week just to give her a wakeup call. Mary was currently trying to work her way into being a solo artist and felt that joining Sista would be good way to get people familiar with her face. I agreed and honestly wanted to show La'Shawn that she's not needed to make this group a success. I don't need that type of negativity when I'm trying to get business done.

I sat in the chair Donald usually occupied, playing around with the soundboard, trying to make a few minor adjustments. We had Sweaty recorded and now we were moving onto the next song. Donald had written some of it but lately, he was too busy to make it to our sessions so I had Dalvin, JoJo, and K-Ci finish the rest of it. Hopefully by today, we can have the lyrics and beat together and at least lay down the background vocals. Aside from Donald, I was the only other person the guys trusted to get the job done and I was grateful for that because we weren't always as close as we are now. I worked hard to get their respect and now that I have it, I was going to take advantage of that.

After an hour, they had all agreed to the finished lyrics and I wanted to hear it. They began to rock to side to side and snap their fingers while I watched them.

"Check it out. Come on, baby baby. All ya' got, yeah—you know I want it", they rapped.  I nodded my head to keep up with the rhythm, trying to get a feel of the sound I could bring. Rising up from my chair, I walked toward the drums, taking a seat on the short stool and began to create a beat that meshed well.

"All—you got—. Gimme all you got, gimme all you got", they sang in harmony, repeating it once more. "Give it to me lady." They sang both parts again before K-Ci began to sing his verse and I cued Dalvin to come and take over the drums, and so he did. I walked to the trombone, picking it up and spacing out the time I blew into it very carefully, every 14 count of the chorus and bridge. Tornado took over Dalvin's note and helped with the background vocals and rap. The girls all watched with fascination and Tim sat at the soundboard, bopping his head to the beat.

Within no time, we had the basics of the beat figured out and took turns in the booth recording the drums and trombone. Slowly building the beat, I decided to add the keyboard into the mix somehow, rearranging the sound to where it came out more like a synthesizer, playing around with the chords to see where I wanted to go with it. I was so focused on creating the perfect sound, I hadn't even realized that Donald had even walked in. He stood in front of the soundboard beside Tim, looking at me through the glass while I tried to figure out the melody before he pressed the intercom button, knocking me out of my thoughts. "How about this?", he started then sung out how he thought the chords should be and I nodded my head, playing them in a slightly higher key. "Go a lil' higher so it don't throw shit off. Tim record that and I'ma build onto what y'all got so far." He finally took his finger off of the button and spoke to the guys. I couldn't hear what he was saying but by the looks on their faces, he was pleased with what we had so far.

We recorded the keyboard and let Donald do his thing, finishing up the beat, all watching him in his zone. He was so sexy when he was working. It was like he was in a different world. His own little world. I could tell Tim was trying to soak up as much information from D as he could, as he should have. D was a musical genius and doesn't get enough credit for what he does. He taught me everything I knew about music, which is why I loved it so much. It was the only way we connected best. What I loved most about Donald was that he didn't mind sharing his knowledge and teaching others. He wanted everyone to succeed and better themselves. Many producers would feel threatened, as if they could be easily replaced if they shared too much. But not D. He knew he was one of kind and no one could ever amount to the producer he was.