NOVEL NEXT Chapter 255: Team TV OFF
"Why is that stupid production team always messing around with him? Huh??" Grace grumbled as she watched Ari climb down from the speakers with the coldest smile on his face while his eyes were spitting fire.
To those who didn't know him, it might seem fine, but having seen what his genuine smile looked like vs when he was frustrated, to Grace, it looked as if Ari wanted to rip somebody apart as his eyes settled on somebody in the judges' area before he turned around and rejoined his team.
Clearly, something more serious than what the audience was seeing was going on, and all she knew was that it wasn't fair to him or his teammates.
"Calm down, Grace! Don't become a conspiracy theorist!" Justine grabbed Grace's arm when it looked as if she were about to charge to the stage.
"I am calm! But what kind of irresponsible organizers are there that not only did a light fall on the MC right as he was leading Ari and his team onto the stage, but then the MC fell through a hidden hole and had to be rushed to the hospital. If Ari hadn't let the MC go first, he would have been crippled. Now the wrong song was used? And it's a trashy song at that. Does this make any sense? Huh? You're telling me it's not a conspiracy?"
"Okay! But calm down!"
"I am calm! I'm so calm that I'm going to expose those f- ughhhh!"
Holding back a scream of frustration, Grace glared at where the judges stood, angry that none of them had even bothered to go on stage to at least take charge of the unexpected situation, and instead let an 18-year-old contestant do it with his team.
From handling the injury to everything else, they just stood there like planks of wood and let him handle the crazy atmosphere of the crowd.
Did that make any sense?
Thankfully, Ari was someone who clearly didn't have nerves, because the rest of his team was shaking from the negative crowd energy and quiet until he loosened the atmosphere.
Making sure she was recording everything in high definition, Grace began planning how she would report this issue when suddenly the music changed and someone started to walk out.
Click.
Click.
Click.
Taking long, measured steps that synchronized to the beat, a tall boy wearing a well-fitted navy blue suit appeared alone on the stage.
With bold-framed black glasses, icy blue eyes that glimmered, and a polite, amicable smile while holding the microphone held at the perfect distance, despite his blue hair, many people immediately assumed that he was the replacement MC rather than a part of the group, due to the way he was dressed and carried himself.
The simple beat that had punctuated his steps subtly changed into something more elegant and sophisticated, the drums and high hats being accompanied by a simple piano melody, the perfectly modulated voice reminiscent of a news caster, a broadcast announcer, or someone on the radio, the very reason that Ari had harassed him to come back after each person had attempted to do but failed.
"Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls,
I'd like to invite you to the battle that's televised,
Two groups. One battle.
A tale as old as time,
Fire and ice,
dichotomy and opinions
Settled only with rhymes
And poetry, the essence of rap,
across all genres, beats, and flows
Self-expression to the fullest extent,
Ladies and gents,
allow us to demonstrate what a rap battle meant-"
It was a smooth voice, rhythmic and mellow, imitating the rap style that many of the original MCs had when rap first became a genre, and many people who were used to Levi's aggressive rap style stared open-mouthed as their brains short-circuited for a second.
Was this the sharp-tongued, motormouth rapper, known for his aggressive style?
Where did this suave, smooth gentleman come from?
As the audience marveled at Levi's mature side and sudden change, he bowed politely and stepped back while the other five boys came forward with fierce expressions.
Dun dun dun dun dun
Dun dun dun dun dun
As the intense beat rang out, the two groups, easily distinguishable by the color of their costumes, stared at each other as if a fight were brewing.
With a mocking expression, Ari waved off the other team as if they weren't worth his time, and, taking offense, Minjun stepped forward after popping his collar, and Leo brushed his shoulder off with a cool movement.
As the beat was about to drop, Minjun started to perform the simple hip hop choreography that Mathew had made for their chorus as his Leo hyped him up from the back, while Vishal, Mathew, and Ari mirrored it, making it look like a battle.
"Who wanna rock with Minjun,
Can dance and rap like Minjun
Who got them obsessed like Minjun
Like, like Minjun."
The beat transitioned as the chorus shifted, and Minjun began rapping his verse to a melodic type beat while Leo did ad-libs for him.
The two of them worked the stage while pressing Ari's group, who were trying to play it cool as they retreated.
"With the sound of the bell,
(Ding!)
I step in the ring like I'm a boxer,
Float like a butterfly,
sting like a bee,
Conviction on my fist,
I'm strong and fight to be free,
I want that knockout,
Right hook, left hook
Beat him up, like I'm Pacquiao
Blue like the sky,
I'm on top of everything,
From Min to Win,
Flip my M into a W,
Blue team on top,
Do your worst, send your best,
We can never be stopped,
So who-"
Before Minjun could finish his line, Mathew seemed to explode forward, pushing him back with two fingers on the forehead as the chorus suddenly started again.
"Who wanna rock with Mathew,
Can dance any style like Mathew
Who got them obsessed like Mathew
Like, like Mathew."
As the chorus ended, a completely different style of beat could be heard as Mathew began his rap, which was on the slower side and allowed him to incorporate his slick dance moves.
"Red teams best dancer, I'm blazing hot
Killin' the beat, there's no way I'll stop,
They call me the dance machine,
Cause I keep on groovin,
Step all over that blue team,
gotta keep it movin,
If you're the sky, then I'm in outer space,
Moonwalk on your dreams,
You can't even chase,
Got that fire in my eyes,
Just like my team color,
Tell the blue team bye,
Red team stands taller."
Just as Mathew finished, Levi reappeared as if by magic as the music suddenly turned mellow once more.
"It's a 1 v 1,
The game seems tied,
The beats, the punchlines, the verses,
It can't be quantified,
But the show must go on,
We can't stop here,
This time, the red team,
You'll be the first to appear."
Vishal stepped up with an uncharacteristically bold smile on his face.
Styled with a bucket hat, goggles, and street wear instead of his usual glasses and business casual clothing, he began the chorus before transitioning into his verse as he pushed Levi away.
The audience gasped, as if they couldn't believe he was really dissing the other team, while Levi retreated once more.
"I'm from both bays,
A chai latte, if you will
Nerdy boy with some culture,
Determined to make it up the hill
Say my talent is low,
Say I can't compare,
You can doubt me all you want,
I'm still going to be here.
Red team gets the win,
Cinch the battle in three,
Call the blue team 404 cause they won't be around,
Look it up; that error means they can't be found."
After Vishal wrapped up his verse, Leo slid forward, and after performing his chorus, quickly rapped his verse to a different beat than all the others, showing a style that allowed his slightly melodic voice to shine.
"If you're on the moon,
I'm in another galaxy,
You take baby steps,
I'm a giant here leaping,
Call me Armstrong,
The stars and my spaceship are the only things in sight
Traveling toward my destiny faster than light
My enemies appear from wormholes and planets
I draw in everything like gravity
And my lasers to implode your reality."
Once Leo was done, Ari slid to the center, crunching down on the remaining cough drop and swallowing it before starting the chorus that stated his name.
"Whooo wanna rock with Ari.
Sing, rap, and dance like Ari
Who got them obsessed like Ari
]I think you really like Ari
Haters are always mad about Ari
Now, have you ever met Ari?"
His eyes, which were usually focused on the crowd while performing, were now fixed on the section that had the judges, producers, and PD.
Seeing Producer Benny's face and, along with PD Emily's face, Ari got even more pissed off after thinking of what had almost been allowed to happen to them.
Glaring as the beat changed to the more aggressive beat that was originally Levi's and mentally rewriting a few things in his head, Ari finally began rapping all the things he wanted to say that had always been blocked by the production team.
He was sick of people messing around with him when he just wanted to keep to himself, perform missions, and carry on.
He was sick of the narrative that production always spun without them taking accountability for anything that happened.
He was really sick of William, who couldn't just focus on himself and always had to mess around.
And this was his only chance to get what he wanted to say out.
Remembering the pact that he and Levi had made with each other, Ari quickly edited, mentally said a quick apology to his teammates, before pouring his words out.
You do sneaky things behind my back,1
gossip and nonsense out of your mouths
You hate, but never to my face
Okay, let's get it then
A-R-I, I want money, power, respect
The first one is better
So tell production to go write my checks
Ari intentionally pointed toward PD Emily, so everyone would know exactly what he was talking about.
I mean, ah,
I'm not trying to be symbolic
Ah, my temperament is honest,
You made me choose violence
Okay, I'll bring it up,
You like to say that I'm the problem,
production messing up,
Letting others sabotage me
And I'm still not at the bottom
So all I say is awww
Yeah, huh, yeah, take it up with me,
What are you gonna do?
Mute my microphone?
I got at least 3 other options,
Captain Crashout,
You think I can't rap,
I'm versatile if I have to
Got the best visuals,
the best vocals,
And I made a trashy song sound good,
It's up
Noting to lose,
So why would I play it safe
Head held high when I walk around,
Stand behind everything that I say
If you think you can control me
You must not know about me,
I'm not in your big three?
Good, cause it's just big me
I'm the bomb,
What? I think I'm like that
Send your obstacles,
They're a light snack
I'm the big shark,
and I bite back;
they're all chum,
All my opps are getting buried,
When you see red in the water
You'd better run, 'cause I get scary
And you're all bums!
Feeling completely refreshed, even though his throat was a bit sore, Ari felt the stuffiness that was in his chest be fully released.
Completing the dance break, the wide smile on his face became even wider as he saw frowns where the judges stood.
Good.
He wanted them to be uncomfortable.
As the music mellowed out and came to an end, Ari took the microphone.
"This was Team TV Off. Thank you for watching our performance."
Feeling the confused gazes of his teammates since Levi never came back out for his final closing part, Ari began ushering them off the stage despite their protests.
Their portion of the performance was complete, and it was now time for the Team Crashout to live up to their name.
And as they passed, Levi was chuckling as he walked onto the stage as the music grew more menacing.
"Heh, heh, heh,"
His jacket was tossed aside, and his sleeves were roughly up, changing him from a working professional to a young man with a sharp impression.
With a beat that was reminiscent of a battle song in a movie or TV Show, it suddenly blew up.
"I just wanna say Musttttttttaaaaardd! Or should I call you Dijon?"
With a wolfish smile, Levi pointed right at Dijontae Vee, aka DJ TV, who stood alongside the rest of the judges, the venom in his eyes completely visible as he tossed away his glasses before loosening his tie with a careless motion.
"You say I'm bad, but somebody's gotta do it. 1-dimensional and can't rap, well, somebody's got to do it."
Hopping down from the stage, Levi continued rapping while staring directly at DJ TV in the judges' section.
It was as if he wanted the man to know that this verse and everything that followed were targeted directly at him and no one else.
"I'mma turn your TV off, turn your TV off. Turn your TV off, turn your TV off.
There's no rap top 3 in this rap thing.
I'm the entree, they're mere fillings,
Don't consider them my opponents,
With one song, they disappearin'
This is my style, not jacked from anybody,
Just because I keep it sharp like I got a bone to pick with everybody,
doesn't mean I don't have a deep bag,
Point them out, I'll body your favorite rapper as a hobby.
Young and I'm reckless,
I'm here to prove a point that I have lots more to show,
Not because I have to, I just thought that you should know,
I'm better than some old head who can't show newcomers the ropes.
Playing favorites, putting others down, I get it, you might be going broke
You're trying to save your face, improve your cosmetics, this is your come-up,
Those numbers looking low, so you're discredit a young pup,
Blame me for my family, it's not my fault, there's nothing I can do
Just say you want my life, I certainly wouldn't blame you,
Jealousy is a sin, and misery loves company
Could give advice, instead you're beefing with me,
4x my age and just as mature,
I used to look up to you, but definitely not anymore.
I've got questions since you wanna be strange,
When was the last time you were on a stage?
When were you even relevant? Was it when you were my age?
Did I go too far?
Good. I've heard the truth hurts, and your mouth is full of deceit.
Don't be a coward; tell it,
What's your problem? Tell me, let me hear it.
Levi held his microphone to the DJ TV, but the man didn't say anything, and with a smile that wasn't a smile, Levi spun around and began heading for the stage that was completely empty except for one person.
It was the person who cosigned and allowed him to get everything he wanted to say off his chest, since this would most likely be his very last performance.
"If you disrespect me, just know I'll walk into that room with no etiquette while yellin'"
Reaching out and clasping the slender fingers that had a surprising amount of strength, Levi used Ari's extended hand to leap back onto the stage.
"Mustaaaaaard! You said I'm bad, well, somebody's gotta do it. 1-dimensional and can't rap, well, somebody's got to do it. I'm going to turn your TV off, turn your TV off. Turn your TV off, turn your TV off. I'm going to-"
As Levi held out his hand as if he were turning off a TV remote, the sound of the signal being cut was heard before he dropped his microphone.
And in full view of the camera, with a sharp smile that transformed his face, making several people gasp, Levi stuck a middle finger directly at the area where the judges stood, and then walked off.
Quickly picking up Levi's microphone, Ari laughed before giving his final statement.
"We're team TV Off part 2, thanks for watching our performance. Enjoy the rest of the performances."
Like That, Kendrick Lamar Verse ^_^