America's Top Player

Chapter 140 The Hip-Hop Godfather Who Can’t Rap

Looking at Leon's strange eyes, Taylor felt something was wrong, but he couldn't tell what was wrong.

"Still, there's no need for that. I have my own personal trainer."

"Don't think too much, it's just an ordinary sport." Li Ang responded with a smile.

"I'm not thinking about anything else." Taylor accidentally glanced at his yoga pants that were completely stuck to his skin due to sweat, and a blush crept up his cheeks again.

Now, the clothes and skin are tightly attached to each other without any gaps, as if I am not wearing anything.

She waved her hand and said, "Let's talk about Robbie."

Hearing this, Li Ang frowned: You called me here just to say this?
Now he finally understood why Taylor was so cold and aloof towards him today.

Every time they get together with their girlfriends, they usually criticize Li Ang as a cold-blooded and heartless scumbag.

"I think there's nothing more to talk about this matter." Li Ang said straight to the point, "It's over."

Taylor instantly showed a shocked expression, his mouth forming an O shape. "Are you serious?"

"I'm serious. Robbie and I can't go back to the past," said Leon.

"But Robbie has been waiting for you, waiting for an apology." Taylor persuaded repeatedly.

"I didn't do anything wrong, why should I apologize?" Leon paused and said:

"I told everybody at the Grammys that I will never apologize to anybody."

These words left Taylor stunned for a full thirty seconds.

After recovering from the shock, she kept muttering in a low voice: "Bastard, scumbag"

Li Ang deliberately said it so decisively, almost cutting off any possibility of the two of them getting back together.

The contradiction between the three views cannot be reconciled no matter how many apologies are said.

He likes the one who is despised by the whole world and labeled as Satan.
But Robbie still didn't care and said to the media camera, "If he is Satan, then let me become a devil too."

The two entered the house from the lawn, and Taylor handed a cup of coffee to Leon.

He then walked up the stairs and disappeared.

Just leave Li Ang, the guest, aside.

Li Ang shook his head helplessly. He knew that in this woman's heart, he had become a complete synonym for "scumbag".

Bored, he walked around the huge living room.

Although the area here is large, it seems unusually empty.

Taylor is not like Beyoncé, who is keen on filling her house with art and trophies.

There were only two Scottish Fold cats walking around the house casually.

Twenty minutes later, Taylor came down the stairs.

The tight sports suit turned into a loose black silk pajamas.

Her straight, white calves and a large area of skin on her chest were completely exposed to the air.

Although she is only 22 years old, she is full of the fatal temptation of a housewife.

"It turns out that this woman went to take a bath." Li Ang felt deeply helpless.

Leaving the guests aside and running to take a shower is too disrespectful of yourself.

Taylor sat down on the sofa across from Leon.

The pajamas naturally slid up a few inches, revealing her white thighs.

She took a sip of coffee and asked, "We need to speed up the progress of the music video. Scott hopes to have the record officially released within two weeks."

"I see." Leon leaned back on the sofa. "You just listen to him like that? You look like his pet."

This may not sound pleasant, but it is the truth.

Even Taylor herself could not refute it. Many times she could realize that she had been completely controlled by Scott.

Big Machine Records is a rare record company in today's music scene that is not backed by any giant.

This is exactly the same as apocalyptic music.

But the difference is that Apocalypse has three equally famous female singers under its label, while Big Machine relies entirely on Taylor.

The speed with which she writes lyrics seems to be a supernatural power.

It took her only two hours from the moment she came up with the inspiration to writing the lyrics and composing the music for the song "Never Grow Up".

Taylor Swift not only has a remarkable speed when it comes to songwriting, but she also consistently knows how to convey her own experiences and deepest feelings through song.

Leon has been coveting this ability for a long time.

Scott, the owner of Big Machine Records, made him jealous.

If Apocalypse Music could get a singer of Taylor's caliber, it would probably be able to establish itself as a top-tier record company.

"My schedule has been very busy lately, so I have to hurry up and record." Taylor raised his eyebrows. "I'm on a world tour, you know."

The Speak Now World Tour is Taylor Swift's second concert tour.

The tour has covered four continents, with a staggering total of 111 events.

Only superstars can support a global tour of this level, and Li Ang is still a long way from this.

In the Asia and Europe tour that has already concluded, Taylor's concert attendance rate has reached an astonishing 100%.
One month later, the major North American tour will officially begin.

By then Taylor will have no time to take care of the MV shooting.

"The filming is easy, the problem is the funding." Li Ang simply stopped pretending and came straight to the point.

According to the distribution agreement signed by Apocalypse Music, Big Machine Records and Columbia Records.

Li Ang, the main contributor to the lyrics and music, owns 50% of the copyright to "bang bang".

Beyoncé, Taylor Swift and Cardi B each hold a symbolic 10% copyright.

Seeing the potential of this work, producer Max Martin insisted on taking 20% of the copyright.

More complicated is the distribution of record sales.

Columbia Records and Beyoncé will share 25 percent of all album sales, including physical albums and streaming channels.

The same thing happened with Big Machine Records and Taylor.

The remaining 50% will be divided into 10% for Cardi B
After calculating all the costs for recording, promotion, MV shooting, etc., Li Ang couldn't help but have a bold question mark in his mind:

How can I make money if I continue like this?

With two Divas on board, making money is a must, but after deducting the costs, it will probably be difficult to reach Li Ang's expected figure.

"You're obsessed with money," Taylor sighed. "You've made so much money, yet you can't even afford to shoot a music video."

"I'm not as rich as you."

"Miser!" Taylor muttered. "Is money so important to you?"

Li Ang didn't know how to answer for a moment.

Taylor comes from a middle-class family and has had no worries about food and clothing since childhood.

She hadn't lived in the gang-ridden world of Brownsville, and her experience of singing for pocket money was limited to her school days.

Rather than in an old and dim subway station.

After about half a minute of silence, Li Ang said, "Nothing."

Then he raised his head and added: "Everything"

Taylor waved his hands angrily after hearing this.

She has never been poor, so she won't understand.

"Okay~ I surrender to you, you stingy guy." Taylor rolled his eyes, bent down and picked up the Scottish Fold cat on the ground.

She leaned over and put her face against the cat, rubbing it lovingly.

She was completely unaware that when she bent over, a large area of her chest was exposed.

"This looks similar to Xiao A." Li Ang commented.

Compared with his slender and powerful thighs, Taylor's upper body is obviously much weaker.

"What are you looking at?" Taylor asked, looking up.

"I didn't see anything." "Are you staying for dinner?"

"I have no intention of doing so."

As he said that, Li Ang quickly stood up, as the other party had already ordered him to leave.

From the neatness of the cupboards and kitchen utensils, it can be seen that this woman doesn't know how to cook at all.

This is basically the case for women in the entertainment industry. Cardi B wrote this in "WAP":
[I can't cook or do housework, but I can make you feel great.]

To Taylor, perhaps one more thing should be added: I don't have children.

She has expressed her unwillingness to have children in front of the media many times.

But Leon doesn't know whether she has the same ability to make people feel happy as Cardi B.

After resting for a night in the hotel, Li Ang immediately flew back to New York.

Two days later, the first issue of Vibe magazine after its resumption was released.

It quickly became a hit thanks to its explosive content.

On the day of release, 20,000 physical copies of the magazine were sold out in New York State.

The online magazine's subscribers reached an astonishing 50,000.

The physical magazine costs $7.99, and an online subscription costs $4.99 per issue.

Vibe is currently a bimonthly publication, published twice a month.

If this momentum can be maintained, revenue from network subscriptions alone could reach $50 per month.

The profit center of traditional magazines lies in advertising, which still generates huge profits.

Leon has already proposed to Sean the idea of charging subscribers an annual fee.

Subscribers only need to pay a certain fee to read the "Vibe" magazine for a whole year, which can increase the number of subscribers.

"The whole entertainment industry was talking about our column!" Bonnie said. "The internet was all over the place talking about Diddy's party."

Following Leon's instructions, Sean revealed many details of Didi's party.

For example, group drug use, group sports, etc.
Although most of the celebrities involved were not named, everyone can basically guess who they are.

The description of "a gorilla wearing a maid costume playing basketball" can be seen at a glance as referring to NBA superstar James.

Others include Jennifer Lopez, Usher, Justin Bieber, and Will Smith.
None of these people were spared.

In addition, the article also delves into Didi's family.

He was born into a drug trafficking family with a lot of blood debts.

His father, Melvin, was a member of Frank Lucas' drug trafficking group.

The most notorious story of this gang is that they used the bodies of American soldiers killed in the Vietnam War to transport them back to the country.

With this pioneering smuggling channel, Frank became the biggest drug lord in New York around the 70s.

Melvin died in an unexplained shooting when Dee Dee was two years old.

But through Sean's magic, this story turned into Melvin betraying Frank and becoming an insider for the police.

That's why Frank sent a gunman to execute him.

"Informer".

This is the most despised behavior in the rap culture circle.

The article ends with T-ray speaking to Diddy: "The horn of war has been sounded. If you want blood, the Chister Blood Gang will make you bleed like a river."

"Don't forget, I'm hanging out with Leon the Street Coconut."

"He won't let any opponent go. You can pray to God!"

It is worth mentioning that on the day "Vibe" was released, the New York Police Department police found T-ray.

But the fat man remained tight-lipped, insisting the shooting was an accident.

Before leaving, the police warned him: "Don't let the situation escalate!"

Discussions on social networks never stop. Just slide the middle axis of the mouse and dozens of the latest discussions will pop up in one second.

Serious news media like CNN spent nearly three minutes introducing the whole story of the "Second East-West Coast Gang War."

Everyone is curious about what will happen next and whether P. Diddy will be retaliated against.

With his Vibe magazine, his involvement in the "Second Coast Gangster Rebellion," and the upcoming black hip-hop film "Straight Outta Compton,"
Li Ang is known in the media as the "godfather of rap who doesn't rap."

"What should we do next?" George unexpectedly appeared in Leon's office.

As T-ray's big brother, he was inevitably involved in this matter.

"What do you want to do?" Li Ang really wanted to hear the other party's thoughts.

This beef looks simple, but it is actually very complicated.

If it happens on the streets, just fight back and make sure blood is paid with blood.

But this is the entertainment industry, and it would be difficult for him to directly have someone shoot a superstar who lives in the spotlight.

And doing so will not bring any economic benefits to yourself.

"I don't know," George said. "I haven't found the gunman yet. He might not be in the United States anymore. It seems that this matter has to end here."

"WTF! What are you talking about!" T-ray said excitedly, pointing to the spot where he was shot in the buttocks. "Bro, I was shot four times, are you just going to let this go?"

George spread his hands, he was also forced to get involved in this conflict.

T-ray gained both fame and fortune in the radio business thanks to Leon's traffic, but George didn't get any benefit at all.

After a moment of silence, Leon asked, "Do you know this guy Duan Davis?"

"Duane?" George looked troubled. "That guy is no ordinary person. He's been hanging around on the streets since at least the time of Frank Lucas, when he was only a teenager."

"The gunman is Duan's man." Li Ang said straight to the point, "We can randomly retaliate against one of Duan's men."

“This…” George’s expression became increasingly ugly.

It would be difficult if this matter involved Duan.

Even if they were to compete in terms of street influence, he was not even slightly inferior to the other party.

Li Ang saw the other party's concerns and continued, "It's just a dead Nige, no one will notice~"

This is the best way to respond at this time.

It can keep the heat going without attracting the attention of the police.

No one knows how many black people die in unexplained gunfights every day in New York, and most of these cases go unresolved.

The police generally classify such incidents as gang fights and don't really bother to investigate.

"Bro~We have to teach Duan a lesson!" T-ray encouraged from the side.

In fact, Leon could have let Jorge and his men do the dirty work, but the best candidate must be George.

George is known on the streets of Brooklyn as the big brother of T-ray.

It is perfectly reasonable for Big Brother to avenge his younger brother.

Li Ang not only gained traffic but also was able to distance himself from the matter to the greatest extent possible.

Even if Diddy used his connections with New York Police Commissioner McMahon against him, he wouldn't be able to find any evidence.

"Listen, George, if you can't respond to this, then your street career is over," Leon said.

George was very clear about this and he could not lose his dignity even if he offended Duan.

Respect is the guarantee of everything when wandering the streets.

His only worry was that he did all the dirty work in this matter but got nothing in return.

Seeing George's expression wavering, Leon struck while the iron was hot, "There's a club called Naughty Kittens in Brownsville, you must be familiar with it."

"Such a fun club and now it's almost closed down."

"In order to allow those girls to continue contributing to the community, I plan to buy the place. But my energy is limited and I can't take care of the business there."

"George, are you interested in that club?"

(End of this chapter)