Romantic

Yungblood lazily sat around, chatting as usual.

Miro was in the middle of talking, attempting to introduce the rest of Yungblood to Imani. “Ok, shut up. Imani, You caught their names?”

The girl put her index finger to her lips, humming as she looked on. She pointed at Y2 first. “You’re Yin, yeah?”

He nodded. “Bingo.”

“What’s your real name?”

Flu snickered. “Brian.”

The rest of the crew laughed as Yin rolled his eyes. “I know you ain’t talking. Ain’t yo middle name Valentina?”

This made Yungblood laugh harder. Flu faked his and responded. “Bro shut up! That’s my grandma’s name bro.”

Hendrixx waved the two bickering off. “Shut up, damn.”

Miro agreed. “Yeah. So that’s Brian. That’s Flu or Victor. And that’s Hendrixx. Or Kingston.”

All three waved a bit.

“Interesting,” Imani started. “So what made y’all name yourselves that?”

Kingston spoke up first. “My pops said he was friends with Jimi Hendrix. And he’s my favorite artist. So I just added the X near the end.”

Brian spoke up next. “Yin sounded dope to me. Plus Y2 is a cold-ass nickname.”

Victor, with a smug face, said is. “My bars are so sick.”

Miro booed him.

“Shut up!”

Imani playfully hit Miro’s shoulder, giggling at his rib. “What about you, Miro?”

He scratched the back of his head. “Eh… It’s depressing. I’ll tell you later.”

The rest nodded. Not even Flu made a rib. Imani silently went along. She noticed Y2 was playing a familiar song. “Is that Yu Yu Hakusho?”

Yin and the rest of Yungblood looked at her with surprise. “You know anime?”

“What? Oh grow up, It ain’t 2008 anymore.” Imani joked.

Miro shrugged. “Yeah. Yin’s been trying to sample the romantic theme for a minute.”

“I just…” Yin groaned “I need to find that right moment.”

Yin carefully scanned the music file. His music software of choice was FL Studio, something he definitely paid for on the laptop he got for Christmas a few years ago. He listened to countless songs, looping and chopping pieces for his friends to rap over. This was just another fun challenge for him.

He traced his hands along the beat machine, tapping the base drums until he finally found it. He captured the loop. He heard it at the 54-second mark. He looped it and created a basic drum beat with some hi-hat thrown in. The crew nodded their heads as he created the beat.

Miro tapped Imani’s shoulder. “He’s a wizard, bro. Hindrixx finna spit something crazy too.”

Hendrixx heard the full beat play out. “This gotta be our final track.” He said as he got his headphones.

Kingston’s voice was rather beautiful for a kid with such a deep voice. People often compared his singing voice to Brent Faiyaz, which was a huge compliment to him. He heard the intro and began to sing confidently since he remembered what was the main theme for the track.

I have all these problems.
I have all this pain.
But with you right next to me,
It all goes away.

Let’s get romantic,
Let’s get romantic.
Let’s get romantic,

Let’s get romantic.

You and me….

The crew daps up Hendrix as Flu got up to sing his verse. He had a strikingly different style than Miro, but it worked.

With Flu done, it was finally time for Miro. He always sucked at slower songs, but he didn’t wanna look like a punk in front of Imani. With a huff, he got up and walked over to the mic. He equipped his headphones and listened to the beat for a moment. His mind wandered to… Imani. How she walked on stage, how good she looked that night. He was feeling warm in his stomach as he looked right into her eyes and began rapping.

Aye, Yung Miro full of talk,
But he always needs a lady to settle down and walk.
I saw you from across the road,
you ran over and stole my heart,

You smart, so I know you see the magic.
The static we sparked,
This feeling I wanna start
Don’t narc, I wanna spend this moment alone.

Through the phone?

I don’t care, as long as it’s with you.
YM feeling romantic,
Don’t panic, cuz I’m just as worried as you.
This ain’t something I’m good at,

I’ll admit it.
But with you, I’ll try that
I’ll spit it.

This ain’t easy to say as a brag or a diss,
You a woman I wanna keep, never miss.

I wanna share a kiss,

Something that you’ll never forget.

Yung Miro.

The lyrics were recorded. With that, the group wrapped up for the day, glowing about the album they plan to drop on Spotify next Friday.

Dante and Imani left first as the sun left the sky, leaving the place low blue hue before the moon made its appearance. “That was a good verse, Dante.”

“Thanks, bro. I ain’t too good with slow shit, but I’m glad it could work out.”

Imani remembered the lyrics spoken. It felt… personal. Like he was saying it directly to her or something. She shrugged it off and waited at the bus stop with him. “Your crew is nice. How many albums y’all drop?”

Dante answered quickly. “One. And one EP. This one is gonna be our biggest one yet. I’m gonna go crazy with the promo.”

She smiled at his enthusiasm. It was cute.

“You ever thought about making music? Like, shit to record.”

Imani moved her head around as she thought. “Maybe. I’m just too shy. The open mic night thing was my first time going on stage in general, let alone singing to record.”

Dante nodded. “True. If you ever needed a studio, you know we here.”

Imani smiled. “Of course.”

They got on the bus, and as usual, Imani got off first. Before she left, however, she gave Dante a hug. His eyes widen as he took it.

Butterflies were in his stomach, his face felt hot.

Was he sick?

No, he was feeling romantic.