Dreamville

4.

It was about 6:30pm when J. Cole got on stage to open the show. "Welcome to the Dreamville showcase!" The crowd of about 100 celebrities, artists, and producers applauded. "Thank you for coming out tonight, and a special thanks to our producer and DJ, Elite, and to the Metropolitan Room for having us!" More applause. "Each artist here tonight has something unique and special to show you. We have worked hard all year to create the best songs for the fans. I think everyone performing tonight would agree, this is some of our best work. I will now hand the stage off to our first performer, Ari Lennox!"

Ari sang her songs flawlessly, making me feel very nervous for my performance. You can tell how much experience she has had, and I have not had any.

The performances went on, Omen nailed "48 Laws", Bas sang a slowed down jazz version of "Methylone", EarthGang and J.I.D blended their songs together in a unique way, and J. Cole even joined Cozz on stage for a special "Knock Tha Hustle" remix.

As J.I.D started his second to last song, I knew it was time to head backstage.

I found Eric backstage already which calmed me a bit. He gave me my earpiece, so I could hear myself preforming, and made sure I felt ready. My heart started beating in my chest as J.I.D ended his last song.

"Thank you!" J.I.D acknowledged the applause. "And now for our last performance of the night, new Dreamville signee, Aylianna!"

I walked on stage and J.I.D whispered in my ear "good luck" before he left the stage.

I looked out into the audience and saw lots of smiling faces which calmed my nerves a bit.

"Hi, everyone," I addressed the audience while I adjusted the mic. "The songs I will be singing tonight are just a little preview off of my new ep coming soon, hope you enjoy!" I kept my intro short and sweet. Let the songs speak for themselves.

I nodded at Elite to start "Forgiven".

I've been, I've been waking in the dark
Looking, looking for a place to start
I will break free
Be who I want to be
Through all that I've seen
I know that I've been
Forgiven
Forgiven

I glanced around at various people's faces during my singing, but my eyes fell on one pair of eyes for a lot longer than intended. Joey smiled at me and gave me butterflies in my stomach.

After I finished singing, I thanked the crowd and walked off stage before J. Cole gave his closing speech. Eric gave me an approving look backstage and I smiled and headed back to my seat. The Dreamville artists all gave me high fives as I went back to my seat. Theresa hugged me tight when I sat back down next to her.

"...and once again thanks for coming out tonight!" J. Cole ended the show. The lights turned on and everyone started to get up to leave. I was about to follow Theresa out when Joey and some of the Pro Era boys stepped in front of me.

Theresa gave me a smirk before she walked off with Eric.

"Hi, I'm Joey from Pro Era, and these are my friends Nyck and Kirk."

I shook their hands. "Hi, yeah actually I'm a big fan of you... and Pro Era, it's nice to meet you," I said instantly regretting what I said seconds after. Ugh why can't you be cool.

Joey smiled. "So you're familiar with our work," he said, glancing at the the other two while they nodded back.

I nodded my head.

"That's great because we wanted to ask if you'd like to be featured on a song we're working on right now, we need a strong female vocalist for the chorus," Joey explained.

"I- I would love too," I replied without even thinking about it. I shook my head "But wait, when do you need it? And where-"

Joey put his hands up to stop me. He chuckled a little. "J. Cole has been helping us produce the album, so we're over at Dreamville frequently. We're in the studio tomorrow, if that works for you. If not, no stress," He smiled at me again.

"Nope, nothing on the schedule, tomorrow's perfect," I said, still acting nervous around him.

Joey seemed to sense my nervousness and smirked a little, aware that it was him who was making me nervous.

"Aight, see you tomorrow at 1 then in the studio?" He asked, still holding a sly little smirk.

"Yes," I replied, nodding my head one to many times.

"Coo, me and the boys are going to head out, see you tomorrow, Miss Aylianna."

"Ok," I blushed a little at how he addressed me. "Oh and you can call me Ayla- if you'd like," I smiled shyly.

"Haha alright, Lil Miss Ayla," Joey gave me a wink that only I saw before he walked out of the club.

I bit my lip subconsciously while I stood in the same place, replaying the events of the night in my head.

I soon spotted Eric walking towards me. "So I saw you talking to Dreads over there," Eric stated, referring to Joey.

"Yeah," I smiled at the ground. "He asked me to be on a song, he wants me in the studio at 1 tomorrow, that works right?" I asked.

"Yep sounds great," Eric replied. "See this was such a good opportunity for you," Eric side hugged me. "I already have some people asking me about your availability for shows," I clapped my hands and smiled excitedly. Eric continued, "Ok, ok. It's 10pm already missy, time to get home. Your car's out back."

I rolled my eyes. He wasn't going to follow my parent's rule about being home at 10pm was he? Ugh. I left the club alone, this time leaving through the back door, dodging the media. I found my car and Cameron waiting in valet.

"Where to next Ms. Montgomery?" Cam asked.

"Just to my house, the first address. Thanks Cam," I sighed. I was pretty tired and ready for bed, but I had a feeling that the other Dreamville artists were headed to some after party I didn't know about, and Eric knew my parents wouldn't approve. My parents made it very clear to Eric he was pretty much responsible for me, even though I was 18.

When we reached home, I immediately went to bed. Turns out I was exhausted, but if there really was some epic after party, I'm still going to be a little salty.

I drifted asleep thinking of singing, my family, the future, and Joey...