I'm Not Losing You
**********
A Story of Dedication to Those I Love
1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11-12-13-14-15-16-
“…but you got me goin’ crazy and now I’ve found that I’m doin’ these things that I said I’d never do. Goin’ home all alone, girl, it’s all for you. Don’t wanna be the one to get with every girl, livin’ coast to coast playin’ around the world. I’m lookin for the one but runnin’ out of time, when I see you backstage then I gotta make you mine…” Sam and I were singing along to our ‘Vi3 mix tape’ all the way back to my house.
“Can you believe how great tonight was?” she asked, starting to roll down the window.
“Yes. I mean, no, I can’t believe it, but I’m going to remember tonight forever. It was just like it was back in the day.” I replied. Then I poked fun at Justin. “Been thinkin’ bout times, rewind, back to the time y’all were mine. And I miss them days no doubt ‘cause Chi-town was the only thing on your minds. But now, things changed. It’s not the same. Who’s to blame? Yo MCA for takin’ my boys so far away. And the fans are screamin’ “Jackie!” Uh uh. And the fans are screamin’ “Lucas!” Uh uh! Must have a teenage conscience, screamin’ for my J-Ro? What is this nonsense?! One time then it’s shame on you, two times then it’s shame on them. Really ain’t that strange for me, it’s a game to me, matter of fact it’s just INSANE to me!” Sam started cracking up. I’ve always had a strange way of rewriting Vi3 lyrics to make sense in my own use. Like the time I rewrote the chorus to “Oh No” on the way to get some pictures done. Man, I am so weird.
“Oh my god you should let Justin hear that!” she said to me, puffing smoke out my window.
“Haha no way! He’d be like ‘oh my god you’re such a dork’ and then run away!” I laughed.
“He would not! He’d think it was hilarious!” I shot the “oh-my-god-you’re-a-dork” look, and told her to finish her ‘cancer stick’ so I could roll up the window. It was like twenty degrees out, and she’s got the window down. And me being me, I didn’t bother to put my coat on before I got in my car. I guess not only am I a dork, but I’m stupid too sometimes. But being stupid can be twice the fun as being normal sometimes.
The second she finished her cigarette, I rolled up her window as fast as I could and turned the heat on full blast.
“Damn, I hate the cold!” I complained.
“Then move to Florida.” Sam replied, sarcastically.
“And leave Chicago? No WAY man! Not a chance. I quite like it here.” It was true. I wouldn’t move out of Chicago for anything. Well, maybe some things, but it’s got to be a good reason. I love Chicago and the people in it. Especially for nights like tonight, where the hometown gets all the love. And as much as I like warm weather, I have this idea in my head that there HAS to be snow on the ground for Christmas. I don’t care if it’s 4 feet or just enough to cover the grass, there better be some snow. So moving to Florida would not make me happy at all come December.
We spent the whole ride home singing along to the Vi3 tape in my car, letting it repeat one and a half times before we pulled into my driveway. When I walked in through my garage door, I was careful not to wake anyone in my house up. I felt like I was sneaking Sam in again like when my mother went on vacation. That was pretty funny. I wasn’t supposed to have anyone in the house while she was gone, but I needed to have Sam spend the night so we could make it to the Vi3 show the next day. My mom told me that she was spending the night somewhere else, so I figured everything would be ok. So we get in my garage door, and there’s a note for me. It was saying that my mom was sleeping here and leaving at about 3:00 am. Both of us freaked out because if she found out that I was hiding people here the first night she was gone, she would kill me. So we had to somehow get both of us up into my room and hide Sam until my mom left. Thankfully she was sleeping already, so it was a little bit easier. We were coordinating footsteps, speaking with paper and sign language, hiding her in closets and setting my alarm for every hour just so I could see if she was gone yet. The two of us stayed awake until she left, which was about 2:30, and then Sam was able to sleep in a normal place, and not a closet. (Well at least it was a walk in closet!) At 3:00, we were finally able to go to sleep, which didn’t give us much time because we had to be on a train by 9:00. Wonderful. But it all worked out nicely, and neither of us fell asleep during either of Vi3’s shows that day. But back to the present.
Sam and I walked up the stairs, nearly silent, and lightly closed the door to my room. Both of us were ready to pass out and go to sleep once we got into my room. While I went to go wash off my makeup and change, Sam pulled out the couch bed so she could have somewhere to sleep. Once I came back, she went to change and such. I curled up on my bed, pulled the warm covers over me and scrunched up in my flannel pajama pants and sweatshirt, trying desperately to keep warm. The only thoughts running through my head were the scenes from tonight. Every smile on my face, my crew’s faces, the fans’ faces, the Roman’s faces and the guys’ faces flashed through my mind at double speed. And once Sam came back and turned the light off, I shut my eyes. It was then that the whole show started replaying itself in my mind. Every step was still vivid in my memory. The most vivid being “I’m Not Losing You,” because that was the highlight of my night. Well, one of a few. I let the scenes replay and take me to drift off to sleep. I can honestly say that I fell asleep with a smile on my face.
“I’ll be honest with you. Usually when I critique a hometown act, I’m very picky. Especially when it comes to sugar-coated, teenage driven, put-my-poster-on-your-wall pop. Which, in this case, was covered by hometown boy group, Vi3…” I was reading the Chicago Sun Times’ review of the show. When all four of us heard who did the review, we all cringed. This critic was known for bashing every show that he went to, causing a near riot by fans of every artist he reviewed and making people hate him night by night. So when I started reading the review, I started in a sarcastic tone, ready to snap back at this guy. However, as I kept reading, my tone changed.
“…Pop music? Yes. Teenage Driven? Definitely. But sugar-coated? Maybe not. In fact, maybe I’ll buy a poster for my granddaughter to put on her wall. Vi3 started their show on a high note, and didn’t slip off once. They hit a groove that even had the parents and boyfriends of these pre-pubescent girls bobbing their heads and singing along. Their boyish charm mixed with their hometown appeal showed Chicago that they do, in fact, have something to be proud of. In first hearing of Vi3, I assumed that they were manufactured in a studio, put together by a record label and their vocals sounded nothing like their recording when singing live. However, I admit that I was wrong. The vocals were there. One hundred percent. The dance moves were there. And as tired as I may be and as tired as many listeners may be of the whole “pop boy band” scene, Vi3 brings a new flavor to the table that seems to be irresistible.” He continued to write.
“Dude, is he actually giving the guys a good review?” Sam exclaimed.
“I think so!” said Rachel, completely excited. Rachel and I already had our pen and paper ready to write a letter back to this guy, telling him that we thought the show was nothing like what he wrote. I guess we’ll be writing more of a thank you note instead.
“Wait, wait, guys, here’s the best part!” I said, getting ready to read the next paragraph. “The group treated the crowd to not only high energy “hip-pop” dance music, but showed their softer side with some well-crafted ballads. Usually here, I would send my thanks to the professional songwriters behind the hits and complain that groups should write their own music, but I cannot even do that. The beautiful ballads, and even the majority of up-tempo numbers, were mainly composed by the group themselves. In fact, Justin Roman was named Chicago’s “Songwriter of the Year” at the Chicago Music Awards last year, and is once again up against R. Kelly for that same award this year. Roman defeated Kelly last year by a landslide and one can only assume that made him start writing even more. Roman is responsible for writing the group’s first national single. That nationwide hit “Eyes Closed So Tight” showed true songwriting ability and Vi3’s power to make a hit.”
“Ahh! They’re complimenting Justin’s writing!” Rachel exclaimed.
“Shh! Wait, wait! That’s not even the most surprising!” I said. Then I continued with what I was building up to. “The group treated their hometown audience to an exclusive preview of the first single off of their upcoming third album. The song once again showed the power of a good ballad. “I’m Not Losing You” was definitely one of the well-crafted and well rehearsed numbers that made me give this show positive feedback. The question on my mind throughout the song was, ‘Why has this song not made it onto an album yet?’ Yes, I admit that even I got into the groove for it. And I give the boys ‘mad props’ (am I hip now?) for being able to stay on track while dodging everything from roses, to teddy bears, to undergarments being launched at them from the crowd.” He wrote. That last comment was as close as he had come to slinging one insult at the guys. “You guys, he hasn’t said one mean thing about them yet.” I mentioned to my crew. The four of us were completely surprised and didn’t really know what to say. I kept reading the review. The last few lines said it all.
“…Vi3 has gone from local pop group to world-wide phenomenon in a matter of a few years. Their show reaches through and has the potential to bridge generations. Vi3’s energy and downright talent have proved to me that pop music can once again be a respected genre in the business. However, more importantly, they prove to the world that Chicago is far from dead. Wake up world, there’s a show you’ve got to see.” I set the paper down on my lap and looked up at the crew sitting across from me. The four of us were all speechless and our mouths were dropped open.
“I honestly don’t believe it. I think this is a miracle.” Mardy said. “We are so used to hearing bad reviews from haters and old geezers that we don’t know what to do with a good review.” She continued.
“Damn! And I was so ready to go off on this guy and write him a mean and nasty letter!” said Sam. “I need a cigarette!”
“Me and Mya had a whole petition planned out! Now this totally throws off everything!” Rachel joked. They were all right. We were so used to hearing haters and reacting to them that we didn’t know how to handle a positive review. We were so used to defending the guys and proving to people that they had talent, and now we didn’t have to. This critic did it for us. So what did that leave us to say? There wasn’t much. We really had two options. Tell the critic “Thank you” or tell the rest of the world “See! I told you so!” and now we got to debate between the two.
“Wow.” Was all I could say. I kept looking at the page, re-reading most of the article to see if any of the words changed as I read it again, but they stayed the same. Even the photo captions expressed support and love for the guys. “Yeah, I’m definitely framing this one guys. This one is going down in the books. I have NEVER read a positive review from this guy. Even when he reviews the Stones or Springsteen like we were telling Steve and Erik.”
“I know, right?” Sam asked. “Dude, I bet you that everyone in the ring is talking about this. And I’ll bet you that Justin is going to send out an email soon.”
“Haha you’re totally right! I will guarantee you that this is the hot topic of conversation for the next two weeks at least. I’ll bet you that Jen already said something, because you know, she IS on top of everything.” I laughed. That was Jen for you. Always getting the dirt out first. Rachel got up off the couch and went to the computer to see if what we were predicting was true. We heard her yell from the other room,
“Yep! There’s an email from Jen, one from Shilpa and one from Crystal. God are we good at guessing these sorts of things.” All of a sudden she saw a new email appear in her box. “Whoa, and magically one from Justin appears!” The three of us that were left in the room got up and bolted in to see what she was talking about. We all huddled around Rachel and the computer and read Justin’s latest email.
To: Vi3justin@aol.com
Subj: Re: Thank you so much!
To all of you on my email list, I just wanted to send out a sincere THANK YOU!!! Since the majority of you reading this are from Chicago, I figured that this would be the best way to say it. I wanted to thank you all for showing your support for us last night at the show. It was a major success!! The crowd was totally hyped and so were we. It was amazing to see so many of your smiling faces cheering us on and singing along!!! I cannot BEGIN to thank you all enough for showing us so much love and support!! Thank you from the bottom of my heart!!! And to those of you who we saw at the club afterwards, thanks for coming out there too!!
Also, if you haven’t done so yet, pick up a copy of today’s Chicago Sun Times. There is a full page review of our show featured inside. And it’s a GOOD review, which is even more exciting to us. We are so used to dealing with so many haters out there, it feels really good to know that there are critics that are behind us! So remember to pick up a copy of the paper and check that out!
In new stuff, keep your eyes glued to Vi3music.com because very soon we are going to be putting up a contest. I can’t give you the details on what it is or when it’s going to happen, but I can tell you that it’s something you DON’T want to miss out on! Believe me! So keep watching the site and watching for my emails to give you the update on that!
Before I go, I just want to again thank all of you who saw our show. Thanks for coming out there and for showing so much love and support. It really means a lot to me. And to all of you who have emailed me with your feedback on the show, thank you so much as well! And don’t be mad if I haven’t emailed you back yet, because I’m doing the best I can!! Don’t worry, I haven’t forgotten you!! I promise!! Thanks again everyone and see you all VERY (hint) soon!
Stay Faithful,
Justin R. – Vi3
Pick up your copy of our album, in stores NOW!
www.vi3music.com
