174 Rap CD in Blue

A failed rapper began handing out his CDs on the street for free, hoping he would gain traction. He had chosen the area of town wisely, so there were many takers.

All his "customers" seemed very polite and thanked him. Some new fans even would ask for the CD after they had heard it at a friend's or at a party. After a month of this type of forward marketing, he figured it was time to move forward. His fans, being so polite, would certainly help him finance a larger distribution of his CD-in-progress.

He began to ask around town if anyone would help finance him with donations to issue a 5,000-disk run. It turned out his fans were not as polite--or giving--as he had assumed.

He realized two things: he needed money, fast; and he still needed a title song.

He had worked odd jobs to support his career, but still had little to show. He vowed to make things different, for he felt his message was important--important enough to skirt the law. So he undertook his oddest job yet, which involved a pistol, a mask, and a robbery note he passed to the bank teller.

That night he counted his money; he had enough to stamp out copies of his new CD, but it was still missing a title song. He had been holding out for inspiration: now he had it.

He titled it "Blue."

I'm a colored man 'cause I'm feelin' blue

You don't dis me I don't dis you

But if I wasn't painted blue I'd be thru

'Cause I live the blue life and walk the blue walk too

******

And I always be tellin' the truth when

I talk the blues talk then

But it's depressing to see my own way back when

They colored me blue--now drop me ten

Muthafucka

He recorded it on his drum machine which had a CD-burning feature and once complete, he took it to the CD man.

"That's $2500 if you want five thousand," the man said. So he paid the man in blue-stained, small, unmarked bills. His fans also thought it was extremely clever marketing to dye himself blue.

"Blue" went gold.

__________

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Yo! For Saturday, June 22, Day 174 of the Story-a-Day Challenge

366 WORDS (without A/N)

Title-accompaniment photo was AI-generated but the explosive money bag was not.

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There are currently three surviving Vocal writers still participating in the 2024 Story-a-Day Challenge:

• L.C. Schäfer, challenge originator

• Rachel Deeming

• Gerard DiLeo (some other guy)

Read them. Support them. Pray for them. And watch wonder where all that bass is coming from in traffic. Yo!