Chapter 45: The Full Circle
Monday, November 23, 2015
Michael woke up to the soft sound of rain hitting the window of his new room. For the first time in months, he didn't feel the wave of anxiety about Ethereum. He had checked it the night before. The price remained stable, $0.88. He was getting used to the slow drip.
What he did feel was curiosity.
He had released 'Ghost Girl' the night before, on Sunday. He knew it wouldn't be a viral banger like 'White Iverson' or 'Sodium'. He didn't expect millions of views. This song was different. It was a gift. A story that needed to be finished.
He got up, made himself a coffee, and went to his studio. He sat in his Herman Miller chair, the steam from the cup rising in the cold morning air.
He turned on his MacBook. It was time to see the reaction.
He opened his laptop and checked his social media. The reaction was already flooding his feed. His tweet —"Started with a ghost. Let's close the circle. 'GHOST GIRL'."— had been retweeted hundreds of times.
But it wasn't the hype blogs. It was his fans.
He opened SoundCloud. His eyes went straight to the numbers.
The song wasn't a failure, far from it, but it wasn't a viral explosion either. While 'White Iverson' had reached millions of plays in its first few days, 'Ghost Girl' had a respectable 300,000 plays in its first twelve hours. His other hits had acted like a magnet, drawing people to his profile, ready to listen to what was next.
The numbers were modest. But the "like" ratio was insane. It had more "likes" than 'Sodium', which had triple the plays.
And then, he saw the comments. And they were exactly the ones he expected.
The top comment, pinned by "likes", was from Chloe.
"It's perfect. It's the other half of the story. Thank you. <3"
Below her was Victor.
"Dude, this. This is the vibe. 'I know I need my own girl'. I'm sorry. For real. It's beautiful."
Then came the 'crybaby' and 'Ghost Boy' fans. For them, this song was gospel.
"YES! I KNEW THERE WOULD BE A SEQUEL!"
"The 'Ghost Boy' has his 'Ghost Girl'. It's perfect. <3"
"Same guitar vibe as 'Star Shopping', but the lyrics are even sadder. I love it."
"It's like 'Ghost Boy' was about being alone, and 'Ghost Girl' is about being alone WITH someone. Fuck."
"Thanks for going back to this sound. This is why we follow you."
"#GHOSTGANG"
"#GHOSTGANG FOREVER"
Michael smiled. He had nailed it. He had hit the mark with his core audience. The people who had arrived for the viral fame were staying for the raw emotion. He had unified his oldest listeners.
He didn't feel euphoric, like with the virality of 'Sodium'. He felt... satisfied. Deeply satisfied.
He had completed the circle. He had given his original fans, his "tribe", the other half of the story they had been waiting for, whether they knew they were waiting for it or not.
Michael watched the comments on 'Ghost Girl' throughout the day. Something was happening that he hadn't foreseen. His audiences, which until now had been fractured, started talking to each other.
But as he kept scrolling down, he saw something he didn't expect. The 'White Iverson' fans, the more mainstream crowd, hadn't left.
In the 'Ghost Girl' comments section, he saw a thread that perfectly summed up his new position.
A 'White Iverson' fan wrote: "Ok, it's not Iverson, but this guitar vibe is great. Very relaxing for studying."
A 'Paris' fan replied: "It's not just 'relaxing', dude. Listen to the lyrics. 'I don't give a fuck, bitch, I be on my lonely'. That's as dark as 'Paris', only it's quieter."
An emo girl added: "Exactly! It's the same energy, different sound. It's for those of us who feel lonely even when we're surrounded by people."
And a random teenager wrote: "I don't know what it is, but I can't stop listening to it. It's sad, but it gives me confidence."
Michael realized what he had done. With 'Ghost Boy' and 'Star Shopping', he had created an audience for pain.
With 'Sodium' and 'Paris', he had created an audience for dark aesthetics. With 'White Iverson', he had created an audience for commercial vibe.
And with 'Ghost Girl', he had just proved to everyone that those three styles weren't different. They were simply different facets of the same person. Him.
General people, teenagers, emos, goths, and mainstream rap fans, everyone was in the same place, discussing his song. He had unified his tribes.
Michael leaned back in his chair, taking a sip of coffee. He had done it.
'Sodium' and 'Paris' were the aggressive filters. 'White Iverson' was the commercial hook. But 'Ghost Boy', 'Star Shopping', and now 'Ghost Girl'... those were the heart. They were the foundation of everything.
He had managed to create a space where goths, sad kids, hype fans, and outcasts could coexist. Everyone was there for different reasons, but everyone was there.
And most importantly, song number nine was on the board.