Little Pink Starfish

It wasn’t always the case, but typically Sound Fact followed a three-part format in each podcast episode.

Part 1 was a review-slash-chat about new releases from the past week (or month).

The reason they mixed in chatting was because there weren’t always notable songs to talk about.

Sure, hundreds—if not thousands—of songs were released every day in the U.S. market, but even then, there were dry spells.

Lots of songs dropped, but not much worth discussing.

In those cases, the veteran hosts Bonnie and Ronnie would pick some topics and have freeform discussions, which were often pretty entertaining.

That’s one of the reasons why Sound Fact had stayed popular for so long.

Part 2 usually featured a guest segment.

That didn’t necessarily mean someone had to appear. Even if they were paid to review a particular album or artist, they’d jokingly say, “We invited this album on behalf of a company’s money.”

Today’s episode was the same. Even if Question Guy hadn’t appeared, the title would’ve still been Guest Segment Sponsored by Colors Media Dollars.

And finally, Part 3 was for song recommendations and listener interaction.

Ronnie and Bonnie listened to an absurd amount of music, but they couldn’t cover it all in the show.

So in Part 3, they’d recommend songs they liked—and finally open up to listener interaction, which was rare in Parts 1 and 2.

Their recommended tracks were fascinating to some and infamous to others.

Because they were chosen purely based on their own tastes.

They once recommended a chanson from some obscure Italian indie film no one watched, and even a seven-minute guitar solo from a nameless band that made people wonder why it existed.

But if Bonnie and Ronnie recommended something, it was guaranteed to have quality.

Still, because they didn’t care about popularity in Part 3, they sometimes picked really weird stuff.

There were even times when Bonnie cursed after hearing Ronnie’s pick, or when Ronnie rage-quit the show over Bonnie’s.

Even so, Part 3 was their favorite.

It was that classic otaku energy.

The thrill of introducing their beloved subcultures to tens of thousands of listeners?

How could they resist?

That’s why, when Part 3 began, they perked up like they’d just gotten a stimpack after dragging through Parts 1 and 2.

And in that sense—

Without a doubt—

Never before had Part 3 begun with Bonnie and Ronnie this silent.

“……”

“……”

Even after the transition music between Parts 2 and 3 faded out, neither of them spoke.

Unlike in Parts 1 and 2, listener reactions this time were explosive.

-QGQGQGQGQGQGQG!!!

-WHO IS THE QG!!!!

-Stop keeping it to yourselves, just say it already!

-We don’t want Bonnie and Ronnie, we want the Cali guy!

-Just let QG host the show from now on!

-I bet the Madrid guy is kinda cute 🙂

Clearly, everyone had been fooled by Question Guy’s misdirection.

Some people called him the “Cali guy” because of his accent. Others thought he was Spanish based on what he said.

Among the comments, a few rare ones said:

-I’m Korean and I know who he is. He’s Korean lol

But that comment was lost in the flood of messages and got no traction.

-He is Chinese!

-He is one of Thailand’s most talented musicians 🙂

Just a ton of nonsense.

The speed of the chat was ridiculous compared to usual.

Which meant QG’s strategy worked, his music was great, and people were curious.

-Looking up DROP’s track credits, it says Chris Edwards. Was QG Chris Edwards?

-Don’t be ridiculous. That wasn’t Edwards’ voice or accent.

-No no, Chris Edwards is just the arranger. The composer is ZION.

-Who the hell is ZION?

-That name sounds familiar?

-Probably just common. I bet there are ten guys named Zion in your local church.

-Same here.

Even with the chat blowing up, Bonnie and Ronnie still said nothing.

When people began to wonder if the broadcast had broken down, a faint voice came through.

“FUCK.”

A curse.

Bonnie, who had been covering his face with both hands in utter disbelief, finally spoke.

“He ran away.”

That drew a flood of question marks in the chat.

Comments demanding they bring QG back or reveal who he really was.

Ronnie suddenly shouted.

“You morons! QG ran away! He said he’d tell us who he was after Players! He said so!”

“He gave that smug smile, said he had to hit the bathroom, and disappeared!”

“He literally ran off!”

“I should’ve stopped him!”

“I should’ve told him to hold in his damn piss!”

Bonnie and Ronnie were not the kind of hosts who forced energy for a show.

What they were feeling now was 100% real bewilderment and rage.

They were dying to know who he was and wanted to talk more, but he just dipped without warning.

Sure, they could probably look him up after the show.

They had two clear keywords now: Players and DROP.

But when you’re really desperate to know something, even waiting a few minutes can feel unbearable.

They’d have to wrap up the show, edit for YouTube, deal with a couple urgent schedules—by then, it’d be the next day before they could really dig into who he was.

And they couldn’t stand that.

“Damn it…”

“This sucks…”

Then Bonnie had an idea.

If they couldn’t find out right now, then they’d find out everything—down to the last detail.

“We’re putting a bounty on him.”

“What?”

“Think about it. By the time we finish the show, edit the YouTube upload, and handle a couple things, it’ll be tomorrow and we still won’t know who QG is.”

“Yeah, fair.”

“So let’s put a bounty on him.”

“How?”

“Listen up. Within the next 24 hours, we’ll give $1,000 to the one person who gives us the most detailed, accurate info about QG.”

People in the chat said that wasn’t enough, so Ronnie chimed in.

“Alright, let’s say $100 per hour—so $2,400.”

“Just round it up to $3,000.”

“Fine.”

Three thousand bucks wasn’t pocket change, but it wasn’t some life-changing amount either.

But since Sound Fact listeners were already searching for info about QG (or even during the live show), turning that into a contest could be a fun little game.

By now, Bonnie and Ronnie were also thinking strategically like real broadcasters.

They never aimed to make Sound Fact a mainstream show.

If they had, they would’ve already made the concept more accessible.

But they also weren’t dumb enough to let a viral moment pass by.

If they lacked that sense, their niche podcast wouldn’t have made it this far.

‘Whatever happens, it’ll go viral.’

That thought definitely crossed their minds.

But more than anything, they really wanted to know who QG was.

“Oh, and one more bounty.”

“What now?”

“If anyone finds a total garbage song QG made, let us know. We need to bring that bastard back and roast him on air.”

“That’s… surprisingly good of you.”

“First person to report a QG-made crap song gets the same bounty.”

“Damn it. Let’s just start Part 3.”

“Part 3 is recommendations.”

“My pick… is the original version of Players.”

“WHAT?”

“I mean, did you hear the melodic transitions earlier? That was insane.”

“True. But do the one you prepared.”

“Damn. Fine.”

And so began one of the most chaotic Part 3 segments Sound Fact had ever aired.

---

A few years ago, Sound Fact used to get talked about a lot more.

That was because there weren’t many platforms openly criticizing mainstream artists.

Well, technically there were—but most never reached the public.

Because they weren’t popular enough.

But Sound Fact had a huge listener base and still kept a critical tone, which made it great media fodder.

But as with all things, people got used to it.

They got labeled—”Those guys are always like that”—and it stopped being buzzworthy.

This time looked the same.

Discussion about QG was hot among podcast fans and music forums, but it hadn’t really spread.

The YouTube video hadn’t even gone up yet.

Given how Bonnie and Ronnie had reacted, that was a shame.

Of course, Colors Media wasn’t just going to let this buzz fade quietly.

Their marketing team would definitely try to bring it to the surface.

But moving too fast could also backfire, so they chose to wait until the YouTube upload dropped.

Then someone else made the first move.

It was Iovine.

[Bonnie and Ronnie got totally owned by QG and I LOVE IT.]

[Can someone PLEASE tell me who this guy is?]

[I thought no such thing as an unknown genius existed.]

[But this guy? This guy’s a genius no matter what anyone says.]

He tagged Sound Fact and its hosts in a post on social media.

It was true—when Iovine appeared on the show, Sound Fact gained a lot more attention.

But the reverse was also true.

When the then-unknown Iovine decided to go electronic pop and dropped the masterpiece SINCE, it was thanks to Sound Fact.

What started off as a rocky relationship didn’t end that way.

They became friends who frequently met up outside of work. Iovine always made Bonnie and Ronnie listen to his drafts when working on new songs.

He even thanked them on stage at an award show once.

Granted, Iovine always called them idiots, and they called him a dumb artist—but still.

Anyway, Iovine’s post became the “spark.”

People usually react negatively to the word “genius,” and that’s what made them check out the podcast he tagged.

Even fellow artists were curious.

Some of Iovine’s friends laughed at the “genius” label—then looked up Players and DROP.

And just when reactions were starting to build…

Exactly 15 hours after the podcast ended—

The latest Sound Fact video dropped on YouTube, way earlier than usual.

The thumbnail was bold.

[WANTED: DEAD OR ALIVE]

The background had that classic Wild West bounty poster look, with QG’s face underneath.

And the guy grinning slyly, having trolled Bonnie and Ronnie—

-WHAT?

-He’s Asian?

Was smiling like the sun.

A grinning Asian man.