America's Top Player

Chapter 128 Bang bang!

"I have some impression of this name," Li Ang nodded thoughtfully.

He spends at least dozens of hours on airplanes every month, and when he is bored he often flips through the tattered magazines on the airport bookshelves.

Jeffrey Burstein's name often appears in financial magazines such as Fortune and Bloomberg Businessweek.

His "Jay Burstein" company specializes in serving clients with personal assets of more than $10 billion.

New York State Senator Charlie Evans was also his guest.

"McKennedy is famous in the pimp world for his special services." Robinson's lips twitched as if he had eaten something dirty.

"What special services?" Li Ang smiled contemptuously.

He is not surprised by the heavy tastes of American celebrities.

Madonna is extremely fond of young men of color. Even when she was married to director Guy Ritchie, she continued to sleep with black and Latino men.

And Guy Ritchie always turns a blind eye to this;

Boxing champion Mayweather is obsessed with plump buttocks and sometimes uses women's taillights as punching bags for fun;
Driven by rap culture and consumerism, materialism has been pushed to a new level.

Body plastic surgery has become a major trend across the United States.

Every young woman is filling her body to satisfy people's increasingly perverted aesthetics.

But in the eyes of many upper-class elites who are tired of playing with it, the big Lei and big taillights are a bit boring.

"McKennie mainly provides young girls, very young girls," Robinson said, adding, "Disgusting white trash."

"Okay." Even the unscrupulous Leon was speechless.

He knew exactly what the other person meant by "very young."

Compared to endless plastic surgery and body augmentation, Burstein's hobby is obviously more perverted.

It has reached the point of violating the law.

"Can we contact McKennie?" Leon asked as he lit a cigarette.

"That guy is a pimp who moves in high society. Do you think he would deal with a black person like me who lives in Compton?" Robinson shook his head.

"Fxxk"

"But I can find those girls that McKenney has in Los Angeles."

Upon hearing this, Li Ang immediately showed a delighted expression, "That's great! Help me contact those girls immediately!"

"Man, I know what you want to do." Robinson's eyes suddenly became complicated.

Most of the girls in McKinney's hands come from poor working-class families in the Rust Belt and the South Side of Chicago.
Among them were young women from Compton, whom Robinson knew.

Under McKennie's brainwashing and careful packaging, he soon became a tool for the rich to entertain themselves.

Li Ang spread his hands and said, "Listen, I will give these girls a large sum of money, enough for them to start a new life."

"This..." Robinson thought about it and realized that there was some truth to this statement.

Anyway, these girls are used to providing services to people like Old Jones, and their lives have inevitably fallen into the abyss of being at the mercy of others because of poverty.

All Li Ang asked was for them to take a few photos while providing the service.

"Do as I say, buddy." Leon patted Robinson's shoulder. "I'm saving them!"

"I want to expose the vulgar and ugly behavior of those elites! For them, this is even more of a revenge!"

Early April, inside the Apocalypse Music headquarters.

Li Ang sat on the swivel chair and fiddled with playing cards.

Phil just walked in and saw this scene and said with a smile: "It looks like you are addicted to poker now."

"Fuck~" Li Ang pushed down the pile of cards in front of him, "You're late again, bastard."

According to the plan, they will set off for Adidas North American headquarters in Portland today to negotiate endorsement contracts.

This is a competitive negotiation because Kanye's management team will also be there.

In order to make himself more competitive, Li Ang decided to go to Portland in person.

"I'm so sorry, I'm hungover last night." Phil scratched his head. "We can leave now."

After a long seven-hour flight, they appeared at the Adidas headquarters in Portland.

In the conference room, the meeting was chaired by Adidas Senior Vice President Thorben Schumacher.

Just by hearing the name, you can tell that he is a genuine German.

Marketing Director Thomas and a group of senior executives sat on the left side of the conference table.

Leon and Phil sat opposite them, and Kanye's business agent, St. John, sat in the same row with them.

Torben first welcomed the guests and then began to introduce the glorious history of Adidas.

From the founding of the brand in 1949 to the subsequent separation of the founders, another world-class sports brand "Puma" was derived.

Li Ang listened patiently with a playful smile on his face. In fact, the history of this company is even earlier, probably dating back to around World War I.

During World War II, he made his fortune by manufacturing military shoes for mustache painters.

"Listen everyone, I may not know much about music or street culture, but I know both of you are amazing musicians."

"Kanye's 14 Grammy Awards is a great achievement"

Torben's words and actions revealed his preference for Kanye.

Phil quickly gave Thomas a look.

Those who take people have short hands and eat people with soft mouths.

Thomas, who received kickbacks in an "alternative way," quickly chimed in, "Mr. Li Ang is also amazing! He's currently the most popular singer, and most importantly, he's a symbol of street culture!"

"Yes, Mr. Leon's achievements are indeed remarkable." As a typical German, Torben is extremely old-fashioned and boring.

Whether it's rap or rock, he has no interest in music other than classical music.

He just wants to focus on making good sneakers.

If he had not been beaten dizzy by Nike in recent years, he would not have compromised with the market to cater to young people.

Torben then asked, "Please each of you tell me what signing with each of you will bring to Adidas?"

Phil was about to speak when Leon stopped him.

PUA was his forte, so he decided to do it himself.

"Traffic, huge traffic." Li Ang knocked on the table. "You are all experts. I believe you have done enough market research. My current traffic is self-evident."

"My name is being discussed in the music press, serious news, radio podcasts, and on the streets."

“Even if only one percent of this traffic is converted into purchases, it’s still an attractive sales figure!”

Torben nodded.

It is not complicated to measure whether an endorser is qualified or not. You just need to look at the sales data for one quarter after the endorsement is launched.

Although Li Ang does not have tens of millions of fans, there are indeed tens of millions of people who follow his information through various channels.

Kanye's agent kept his arms folded and looked relaxed while Li Ang was speaking.

It seems like this endorsement is already in his pocket.

After Li Ang finished speaking, he slowly began, "Kanye West was able to create a new sneaker line for you. He's a design genius." Phil couldn't help but retort, "Really? He didn't even sell a few pairs of the sneakers he designed for Nike."

"Whatever you say." John spread his hands. "In the sneaker business, if we don't have a joint series, it doesn't make much sense for anyone to be an endorsement."

Torben nodded repeatedly after hearing this, as these words really touched his heart.

As a specific category of consumer goods, sneakers fall under the category of sporting goods.

The right spokesperson can empower the product. The name Jordan alone can attract a large number of consumers to buy it, and they don’t care about the premium at all.

This is why sports brands usually prefer athletes when choosing spokespersons.

Even singers with greater fame receive contracts that are much smaller than those of athletes.

John continued, "I know your company has recently developed a new technology. The Boots sole is a great innovation."

Torben's eyes lit up. He might not understand the trends in the entertainment industry, but he paid great attention to sneaker technology.

He quickly signaled his secretary to bring over a pair of white Boots soles.

"What are Boots?" Phil looked confused.

Li Ang remained calm on the surface, but inwardly he was sighing: This is the end.
Obviously, as a full-time business broker, John made precise and comprehensive preparations in advance.

Holding the white sole in his hand, Torben said: "The BOOST sole is made of TPU foaming technology. It is composed of thousands of energy capsules that can effectively absorb the impact of the foot and convert it into rebound force, making jumping easier and more comfortable."

After a lengthy introduction, John confidently said, "Actually, after hearing the news that Kanye and Nike had terminated their contract, Puma also contacted us."

"Puma?" Torben snorted. "It's just our imitator."

"It doesn't matter. What matters is that Puma pays more, right?" John spread his hands.

Torben was speechless.

John continued, "And the reason Kanye chose adidas is because of your unique BOOST technology! Combining this technology with Kanye's genius design, we can create the greatest sneakers in history!"

These words made everyone present excited, except Leon and Phil, who looked ashen.

"This bastard is a negotiation genius." Leon said gritting his teeth.

The other party reversed the status at the negotiating table with just a few words, as if Adidas had become Party B, the chosen party.

Thomas realized the situation was not right and quickly said, "But we haven't even seen the design sketch."

"That's easy!" John snapped his fingers and said, "Kanye's head is full of sneaker design ideas lately! It will only take two months at most, and you'll be able to see sketches or even samples!"

At this point in the negotiations, Torben already had the answer in his mind.

In terms of sneaker design alone, Li Ang and Kanye are completely incomparable.

"Mr. Torben, I also have many ideas about sneaker design." Leon knocked on the table and said.

"You?" Torben's face was full of suspicion.

"Of course, Miss Cardi B and I founded a women's underwear brand," Leon said. "Evil Angel, maybe you've heard of it."

"never heard of that…"

Just by listening to the name, you can tell that it is not a serious brand. In Europe, where gender relations are extremely open, Germans can be considered an outlier.

Among the three major European economies of Britain, France and Germany, Victoria's Secret underwear sells the worst in Germany.

Thomas offered timely assistance: "This is a very strong emerging underwear brand. We currently sell over 30,000 pairs of crotchless T-pants of various styles every month."

I originally thought that Li Ang had nothing to do with the design industry, but I didn't expect that in just a few months he could achieve monthly sales of hundreds of thousands of dollars in the women's underwear market.

Torben, who knew how inward-looking the clothing industry was, was instantly in awe.

"If you are willing to give me a chance, I can also present you a new pair of sneakers with BOOST technology within two months." Li Ang raised the corners of his mouth.

"Fxxk~Underwear and sneakers are two different things." John sneered.

"Kanye knows the sneaker market so well. How many pairs of Air Yeezy have been sold in total?" Li Ang answered the question with one sentence.

For a company like Adidas, even if they design the perfect sneakers that amaze everyone.

If consumers don't buy it, it's no different from garbage.

After a meeting with a group of executives, they decided to make a decision after seeing the design samples of both parties in two months.

And they directly threw in a big promise: the designer of this new co-branded sneaker will receive 10% of the sales profits.

It's hard not to be tempted by this ratio, as Michael Jordan's share of Jordan Brand is only 5%.

If the contract is successfully signed, the treatment will be very generous.

Phil complained non-stop on the plane back to New York.

"Fuck, I can't imagine what kind of garbage you're going to give Adidas in two months."

"Have you forgotten that I bought a design studio in Los Angeles?" Li Ang rolled his eyes at the other person.

"Designing underwear and sneakers are two completely different things!" Phil retorted. "Kanye actually studied design while working for Nike, and he even has a team of professional sneaker designers!"

Li Ang could fully understand what he said. He knew that even if he delayed for another two months, his chances of winning would still be slim.

He just doesn't want his opponent to get the contract easily.

Even if I can't win, I still have to talk about it disgustingly.

A week later, in the Apocalypse Music office.

Leon drank his coffee while staring at the financial statements that Aisha handed over.

The physical album sales of "Faded" have exceeded 200 million copies and are currently applying for "Double Platinum" certification from the RIAA.

In a market where physical records are declining, this kind of achievement is undoubtedly a hit electronic music.

Grande's "Senorita" has also sold over 100 million copies, and the number of copies on streaming platforms has exceeded million copies.

In addition, the complicated calculation of various royalty income also caused headaches for the company's financial department.

Li Ang is already considering handing over the quarterly audit work to an accounting firm.

"Billy," released with Trauma Records, performed even stronger, exceeding 100 million physical album sales in just one month and 150 million copies sold through streaming.

According to the contract previously signed with Trauma Records, Li Ang's copyright income was included.

Based on the unit price of $4 for CDs and $14 for vinyl records, Apocalypse Music earned more than $190 million in pre-tax revenue from physical records alone.

Including streaming platforms, the total revenue is nearly $250 million.

Such exaggerated sales data even changed Dre's opinion of Leon. After deducting all the production costs of the album, Trauma Music made a lot of money.

Taking into account all record and copyright income, Li Ang has nearly 1500 million US dollars in liquid funds.

After everyone left work, he sat alone in the office browsing real estate agency websites.

Battery Park City, Central Park South, Tribeca, Long Island.
Leon was completely inflated, and he was dazzled by the mansions that cost tens of millions of dollars.

At 9 o'clock in the evening.

A high-pitched female voice broke into his ears - "bang bang".

One, two, three.
This is a chorus song performed by three girls.

She got a body like an hourglass, but I can give it to you all the time
She has an hourglass figure, but I will give you all my time~
She got a booty like a Cadillac, but I can send you into overdrive (oh)
Her hips are like a Cadillac, but I can make you go super fast~
You've been waiting for that, stop, hold up, swing your bat
Don't wait any longer, stop and swing your bat~
See anybody could be bad to you, you need a good girl to blow your mind, yeah
You see everyone is saying bad things to you, you need a good girl to make you crazy

(End of this chapter)