' 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗦𝗘𝗡𝗗 𝗠𝗘 𝗦𝗪𝗜𝗡𝗚𝗜𝗡 ' › D. SWING

02.

With Sista's '4 All the Sistas Around da World' album released, things were finally taking off for them as a group, though there was still tension with the girls and La'Shawn due to her still keeping in contact with Jermaine Dupri—and all know he likes to steal people's music and style for his own label's success. Speaking of labels, Rhonda had finally launched her own titled 4HERDAMNSELF which DeVantè had quickly took a liking to, naming his publishing company 4HISDAMNSELF which caused her to contact him with frustration just to curse him out. Believe it not, he had been doing things like that for months now in order to get her attention and it was working, even though he wasn't receiving positive reactions from her. And he was fine with that, telling his friends that he didn't care, as long as she spoke to him. Did I mention DeVantè had won his case? Well, yeah. He did, though it still doesn't help him sleep at night. With the untreated trauma from the robbery back in '93 along with the '94 trauma from Suge and the crew, his high anxiety and paranoia were beginning to catch up to him but he attempted to minimize it by smoking chronic that had been provided by Snoop, of course. He had become dependent on the drug and though it wasn't physically harmful, it did have an effect on him that wasn't necessary positive. He was lazy, not being much of a workaholic as before and people began to notice. All except K-Ci and JoJo, we were far too busy drowning in their own addiction. Alcohol. With all three of them battling their demons, it left Dalvin overwhelmed as he tried time and time again to help them, though they didn't believe they had a problem. He often attempted to persuade them to go to rehabilitation programs only for them to dismiss his reasonable suggestion and call him a 'pussy' or a 'bitch ass nigga'. There was talk around Hollywood, saying that the group was losing their musical drive and could possibly become has-beens but they hadn't paid it much attention, confident they could accomplish just as much as they had with their first two albums with their third one.

Despite all of DeVantè's internal battles and current lack of inspiration to do anything regarding music, he continued to work and produce for artists such as Usher's Can U Get Wit It and Whispers from his debut album and Snoop's Murder Was the Case soundtrack. Though he wasn't doing much, he still did enough to keep himself relevant and not to mention respected as the genius that he was. He was getting royalty checks from every direction, and one was currently from Adina Howard who was sampling Part-Time Lover for her debut album that was supposed to be released some time in '95. With money constantly flowing in, he didn't have to do much to be financially stable and keep up with his lavish lifestyle. And as promised, he was using the rest of '94 to focus on Swing Mob and Jodeci only. He had been allowing Timbaland, Tornado, and Static—with the rest of Playa—to each have their own studio room to create their own projects while he took turns with each of them, mentoring them throughout the entire process. Of course Tornado was scared to be alone with him so he'd make sure Magoo or Mad Skillz would be sitting in the room with them, which DeVantè founded to be immature but he didn't bother to protest against it. Truth be told, he couldn't stand Tornado because he had chosen 'that dumb ass name' and 'talks too damn much'. However, for the sake of the label, he decided to put his annoyance aside and be professional. Well, that is until it comes to having sex with his artists. He was still having his rendezvous with Rolita, who was a clingy mess. She reminded him of Kim when it came to that specific characteristic but otherwise, they were completely different. Kim was reserved and judgmental while Rolita was open-minded and caring. Though he enjoyed her company, he couldn't see himself getting serious with her although she had fallen in love with him. And it wasn't because they weren't a good fit, it was simply because he was in love with Rhonda.

When Melissa had founded out about his affair with Rolita, she grew jealous and resentful toward him but she couldn't make it obvious that there was an issue or Timbaland would catch on and more problems would occur for the two of them. So instead, she kept her emotions within and watched as he and Rolita openly spoke about their sex life, unable to do or say anything. Without a doubt, she had deeply regretted what she had done to Rhonda and hated herself for it, becoming depressed and it began to reflect on her work, causing her to lose her drive. When the Mob would as if she had spoken to her, she'd come up with a crazy story, telling them 'she got attacked by a few bees and is in recovery' or 'she left her luggage in Mexico and had to fly back to get it'. Either way, no one believed it and came to the conclusion that the two had gotten into a dispute that currently had them at a distance of each other with complete loss of communication. With no one else to talk to, she founded herself reaching out to Mary J. Blige, who ended up revealing that she too had slept with DeVantè before she was introduced to K-Ci—and though it had been a lie she had made up out of the anger she still felt toward Rhonda for the studio mishap, Melissa believed her and so did Faith, who heard the entire conversion and didn't hesitate to call Rhonda and let her know all that she had heard.