#They've learned to 'get over' their friends' deaths fast but sometimes I Do think one or two of them want to look back on the memories

[yeonban]

Since the majority of the Phantom Troupe "don't exist" in the eyes of society and as such don't have any records to speak of, once Kortopi died, he ceased to exist altogether outside of the spider's memory. The sole proof that he was ever alive at all can only be found in Shalnark's phone, as a series of mundane pics he took of each of the troupe's members.

Some have caught on to it and tried to either pose for the picture or stop him from taking it, while some were too immersed in whatever they were doing to notice one has been taken. Regardless of how poorly or "ugly" a few of them have turned out though (since they are of the troupe being themselves at random points of the day rather than their crafted personas), they can all be found in Shalnark's phone to this day. None of them have ever been deleted.

[hamofjustice]

Julinemo Week, Day 1: First Meeting "So uh… is he always like that?"

"Ugh, no. Well… I mean, he's usually a prick-- Uh, prickly guy, but… pero bueno, he's not usually not quite that--"

Nemona rattled her head, sending her ponytail swinging, and dismissively pawed at the air between her and her new neighbor as if tossing the unfinished thought out of her mind.

"Ah, whatever! Don't you worry about those weird vibes, Juliana! You've got enough on your plate, signing up to a new school in a new place with your new Pokemon-- You don't need to get sucked into whatever dumb drama the rest of us have goin' on. This is your big day! Sorry about all that."

"Nah, nah, it's fine, you didn't do anything wrong. It's, uh... definitely been an exciting day so far, that's for sure! Hehehe..."

"Ah, haha, yeah, for sure! Heh… man..."

Juliana turned to Nemona with a reassuring smile... and noticed her friend's hand seemed to be hovering over her shoulder. Nemona glanced away and quickly jerked her arm away to scratch her own scalp instead.

"… You okay?"

Nemona froze mid-scratch, eyes wide. "Huh?"

"I, uh… I guess I'm not the only one feeling kinda jittery this morning, huh? I promise I won't fall off any more cliffs for a while." Juliana said with a slightly forced-looking smile.

The taller girl remained frozen for a second as they walked, before snorting and visibly releasing a bit of her own tension. "Ha! Haha! Yeah, you better not, 'cause you know what happens when you scare somebody half to death twice?"

"They… get scared three-quarters to death?"

"… Heh! You've got a quick wit to go with that sharp eye, bud! No wonder you've been such a fast learner!"

"Hehehe. Thanks."

There was a pleasant lull in the conversation as they both grinned down at the road...

Soon, though, Nemona cleared her throat and stopped in her tracks. Juliana stopped too and turned to face her curiously.

"Speaking of fast learning, I should probably get out of your hair and let you have fun doing, uh, Trainer-y stuff without me hovering over your shoulder." Nemona suddenly decided. "Do what you want for a bit and I'll see you up ahead at the Pokemon Center, all right?" she proposed, pointing her thumb at the red-roofed, ad-covered outpost off in the distance.

"Oh, um… wait…" Juliana softly protested when Nemona started to leave, raising a limp hand as if she had a question in class and wished she didn't.

"Huh? What's up? Think you'll need more Poke Balls? I've got a bunch..." Nemona began, already digging noisily through her bag.

"No… well, I mean, maybe later, but, I just, um-- You're not bugging me, you can stay."

Once again, Nemona seemed to not expect that. "Oh... really? You'd... rather I stick around and keep an eye on ya, huh? All right then! You got it, boss!"

Juliana smiled brightly up at her. The morning light seemed to sparkle in the new student's eyes. "Well, yeah. We're friends now, right?"

Nemona smiled back as she zipped her bag shut, then rubbed the back of her neck and suddenly seemed very interested in the grassy field nearby. "… Yeah, but, y'know, sometimes friends might need… a little space and quiet and stuff. Gotta be considerate."

"No, I'm glad you're here! I mean... if you have some business you need to get to right now, that's fine..."

"Nope! No, all my attention's on you, bud! Well, I mean, unless you don't want--"

"Okay, okay! Just making sure." Juliana mercifully interrupted. "So uhhh… you said Normal Pokemon are pretty good against everything, yeah?" she asked casually, starting to walk down the road again.

Nemona's eyes brightened with renewed energy at the topic change. "Oh, uh, yeah! I mean, they've got a FEW issues, there's a few types that-- Uh, I'll warn ya if you're gonna run into 'em, but that Lechonk should be consistently solid against mooost things with some training, which is good if you're not sure what to expect yet! Now, you might end up not keeping it on your team forever, though, 'cause it's not really gonna have the advantage against much of anything, either. Well, unless you give it--" she rambled, then glanced down at her companion's attentive gaze. "Uh, never mind, I can nerd out about all that later. Yeah, Normal-types are nice and reliable, yep!"

Juliana nodded a few times. "Hmm… I dunno… I don't think I'd replace the first Pokemon we caught together. That's gonna be a great memory someday, right?"

Nemona blinked. "Wh-- Oh, yeah, true, can't be, uh, what's the word… too pragmatic about it, heh. Stuff like that matters for sure! Sorry, there's that competitive brain again…" she responded, looking away once more. "I'll make sure to train up that Pawmi I caught with you too, then."

"Nice! More little rivals, just like the Pokemon the Director gave us, hehehe!"

"Heh! Yeah… little rivals…"

"… Ooh, what's that?" Juliana soon asked, pointing ahead at what appeared to be a green-haired baby plodding around in a long white dress that would be a better fit for a green-haired toddler.

Nemona rattled her head again like she'd been caught zoning out. "Huh, wha-- Oh, that's a Ralts! They're pretty rare! Psychic and Fairy type, pretty good with special moves. It's a little flimsy at first and takes a while to train, but it's totally worth it in the end."

"Whoa, Psychic? And Fairy?"

"Yeah, there's a buncha Fairies around here, actually..."

"Well, I'm already sold on this one from how cute it is! I'm definitely gonna try and catch it."

The little Ralts seemed to immediately take notice of Juliana when she said that, and turned to face her.

"Oh, uh, Ralts can sense folks' feelings! It probably knows what you're thinkin' right now. Heh, wish I had that power…"

Juliana, meanwhile, was grinning confidently with a Poke Ball in hand. "Well, I've got nothing to hide from it. Let's make another new friend, Lechonk!"

Nemona beamed as she watched Juliana's battle unfold. The new Trainer was having too much fun in the wide world she'd been welcomed into, despite the bumpty start, to notice that the unrivaled Champion watching over her was wiping something out of her eye.

[thefreshfinds]

TOSO:

While TOSO's conscious ways are deemed as priceless, one can expect his overrall sound to be cheaper by the dozen! His range of topics (if measured) are off the scale. Nevertheless, he's fresh to death goddamnit!

In an instant the MC could be speaking on how we're robots in our modern society, "From the fact since I was young, I was raised to be a slave/Go to school, study math, beatings if my grades were bad. When all I really want to do is play some ball or write some raps../Hoping I can talk some real sh-t into all these little kids/What you're learning is from within. F-ck the system that was built. 'Cause real authority only comes after someones just been killed/True will is all it takes, turn yourself into a great." (Cant Stop Me). Then, TOSO can speak on how he's got varieties when it comes to his kush & women, "Have sex with b-tches in all 50 states/High everytime & it all feels the same/Yeah it's insane, rollin' them plain/ Quarter with me everywhere I go." (Fish Scale) or "When I do shows, f-ck h-es/Get checks (So Outstanding). However, it all comes down to the cadence he decides to use.

With this in mind, he says "The combination of meaning, cadence, flow & word choice is what makes for a good verse. A perfect verse will roll off your tongue perfectly without loosing breath. People should be able to understand your words & the flow you choose. Essentially your voice should be like another instrument on the beat." And so TOSO does his diligence to make a song for every mood.

On the other hand — the flow he chooses is stopped short. Simply, to keep a listener hung up on his choice of rhyme schemes. Yet TOSO's pride runs deep on creating #1 hits. 
"I love thinking about & creating new songs. But I love recording them even more." TOSO adds "Recording a song is like game-time to me. When I’m in the booth I know that all my practice has come down to that moment. I know whatever I do from that point on will be on record forever." All these components help TOSO to reach all audiences. At most, it's really unbiased.

Griginally from the suburbs of Lincoln, Rhode Island — TOSO is an independent hip hop artist who now resides in Los Angeles, California. Fond of his hometown's cheap rates, TOSO loves the fact that all of his friends & family are back there. But maybe (just maybe) they'll move to The Golden State? "Ever since moving to L.A I’ve realized how much more expensive things are in the West compared to the East Coast." he goes on to say "I’m sure if any of them had a chance to move to California they would in a heart beat."

Raised by parents who are migrants from Nigeria, he also has 1 older sister. In his earliest years, TOSO was involved in sports. However at 6 years old, he was involved a life threatening car accident that left him with a huge scar above his right eye. By college TOSO was playing Division 1 college basketball. Then he began taking music seriously & put his basketball career on halt to pursue it further.

Throughout the years he's loved writing. He would even write essays & create stories from his imagination. But TOSO took it further in middle school with song lyrics in middle school (which came naturally). He recalls his first time rapping in front of people in the 5th grade. It then followed with a couple of his friends asking him to freestyle for them. By high school TOSO was writing song lyrics to instrumentals. Then the MC found out quickly that he had a talent for making music; but was still serious about playing basketball & going to the NBA. So he decided to keep music as a hobby. Fast forward to TOSO's sophomore year of college when he had an apartment with some friends & basketball teammates. Suddenly TOSO had an ephiphany. For the long haul, TOSO wanted to start making music. "My teammates, Parris Massey, was also into making music & had a microphone set up in his room. Soon after moving in together, I would hang out with him whenever he recorded songs. During that summer Wiz Khalifa dropped “Kush & Orange Juice”, which had a huge influence on my life. I went from being a serious athlete to becoming a pot head musician. Most people saw this as a bad turn in my life, but I knew that If I worked hard I could turn my situation into a positive one." says TOSO.

Since then TOSO has been perfecting his craft & working on becoming the greatest rapper that’s ever lived. Ultimately his love for making music & hearing himself drove him to take it seriously. "I loved the reaction I got out of people when they heard my music. I loved the adrenaline that I felt after getting off stage at my first performance. I love the satisfaction of perfecting a song that I’ve heard in my head." A carefree being, TOSO keeps in mind that time is his to own! While he follows his intuition, he strays away from unneccesary drama. "In my music my message is that there’s no right or wrong way to live life." says TOSO "Enjoy your time as much as you can while you are here, effect the world the way you want to effect the world & let everything else play it’s part."

Likewise his music allows him to be honest & show people it’s ok to feel all sorts of emotions. It's very unpredictable. "Sometimes I’ll go through 500 beats in a day & only find 6 that I like. But usually out of those 6 I’ll be able to make a couple hit records." adds TOSO "After finding the beats comes the fun part. Writing song lyrics makes me feel as good as I use to feel when I played basketball. Coming up with a catchy metaphor is like hitting a nice jump-shot. Sometimes I’ll write a clever lines and get so excited about it that I scream out in joy. I love thinking about & creating new songs, and I love recording them even more." TOSO even says that writing lyrical verses & harmonizing are his biggest strengths. For him, writing lyrics & harmoninzing are like solving math equations. Harmonizing comes from his soul & he usually has no control over what harmony he uses because the different instrumentals dictate them. "Staking different melodies & harmonies are my favorite."

As artist, TOSO believes that they've got it all wrong. When it comes down to it, he says that in today's generation encouraging words, likes, shares, & attendance to shows are considered support. However artists expect their family & friends to do these things without hesitation. Honestly though, they are not required to. "Support comes from true fans who like you & your music. Make better music & present yourself a better way. The support will come." In addition TOSO wishes the current era would start a union that gathered all their fans & moved them in a positive direction. Fans need to get educated on the laws of their state & about banks. It's best to start a credit union. 

For all the upcoming artist — TOSO advises you to make clear-cut music & videos. Along with this, he encourages you to perform at any show they can & to network. Yet the most important piece is to know your worth.

Expect the interchangable MC to drop an album real soon. In his words, he's been working on his debut album titled “The Prophecy”for the past 3 years. It consist of his best work yet & has been the most difficult project he's ever worked on. "I feel like Jay-Z or J-Cole when they dropped their first album. Although I’m releasing it fully independent." TOSO goes on to say "I believe the music speaks for itself. Each song has a different vibe but the cohesive unit sounds like one sound. The best parts of the album are the instrumentals & the lyrics."

Moreover it took him 2 years to pick the beats on this album. "Each day I would go through over 100 beats & probably only wrote to 4 of them. Then after I had 20 songs written I would narrow it down to 3. I would repeat that until I had 15 songs. In the end I narrowed it down to 13 songs for the album. These are all my best songs and probably better than most the songs you hear on the radio. I plan to release this album this summer, but the date is still pending." 

Before the album TOSO will be releasing a single from the album called “The Best”. He says that this song is very uplifting & melodic. It's guaranteed to give everyone a good vibe. TOSO will also be releasing some tracks that didn’t make it on the album. "Even though they are not good enough to be on the album, I think they are still worthy enough to share with my fans." he says. The first release is titled “Can’t Stop Me” and can be heard HERE: https://song.link/i/1460102483w

By: Natalee Gilbert

LINK(s):

1. SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/therealtoso

2. Instagram: @therealtoso

3. YouTube: www.youtube.com/TheRealToso

4. Facebook: www.facebook.com/TheRealToso