Leon wasn't surprised at all by the news that Duane was still in the US. He even had reason to suspect that the other party had sneaked back into the country specifically for him. This guy was wanted across the US; the old case of Tupac's shooting had been dug up by the police for reinvestigation, and the truth that had troubled the entertainment industry for 16 years was about to surface.
And Leon had first sent Duane's sugar daddy to prison, and not long after, made Jay-Z shoulder the divorce case of the century.
It would be a miracle if he didn't face retaliation.
Leon had long anticipated possible dangerous situations and made preparations in advance.
First, he gave Jorge's team a raise, then asked him to return to Chicago to recruit a group of ruthless Mexicans with street or military backgrounds.
Although he had taken all precautions, on the surface, he still looked indifferent. "I never worry about those idiots who only know how to wield knives and guns. Times have changed. That ngga is almost fifty years old; does he still think he can be the king of the streets by waving a Glock and showing off his tattoos?"
"Don't mess with me, otherwise he better pray for a good ending."
A seemingly calm statement, but revealing the aura of a big shot everywhere, made Kendrick feel respect.
Compared to Dre, who only wanted to make money and break into high society, this white kid who was three years younger than him had more leadership qualities.
"Sht bro... no matter what, I stand with you. Don't forget you still have brothers in Compton; Boss Robinson will support you!" Kendrick affirmed his idea of sticking with Leon to the end.
With a godfather-like figure like "Saint" Robinson behind him, Duane might not dare to replicate the famous scene of 1996—shooting Tupac openly on the Las Vegas Strip after Tyson's match.
"Saint..." Leon muttered in his mind.
This resounding title was a double-edged sword. On one side, it was a sharp weapon to consolidate his position on the streets.
But on the other side, this guy was a criminal enough to go down in criminal history!
His bloody history of making a fortune could be dug up by the FBI at any time, and Leon might be implicated.
Therefore, after Straight Outta Compton finished screening, he always kept a distance from Robinson—close to the streets, but avoiding trouble from the cops.
"What has the Saint been busy with recently?" Leon took out a cigarette and asked casually.
"Boss Robinson is doing something big recently! You absolutely can't imagine!" Kendrick sat up straight, his eyes beaming with worship.
"Big thing?" Leon took a puff of smoke lazily. "He's not back to his old trade, is he? Drug smuggling in Southern California is increasingly rampant. Mexican drug dealers make tens or hundreds of millions every day; this is much faster money than making movies."
Besides Texas and New Mexico, California is also the traditional golden channel for drug smuggling on the US-Mexico border.
California has strong demand. The straight-line distance from Tijuana to Los Angeles, the largest drug-consuming city in the US, is only 204 kilometers, a direct supply from the real source.
In 2006, Mexican President Calderón started the drug war, which ironically accelerated the militarization process of Mexican drug lords.
Drug lords reap hundreds of millions of dollars in profit every day, at the cost of hundreds of people dying from gunshots on the US-Mexico border every day.
A large number of Mexicans with rich criminal experience poured into California. The street rules of Los Angeles have long ceased to be dictated by black gangs who bully the weak and fear the strong.
"No! Not what you think." Kendrick shook his finger, looking proud. "Boss Robinson is running for Los Angeles City Council! Yes, you heard right! He will represent Compton in the election, dedicated to improving the status quo of our neighborhood!"
"Um... I hope the Saint succeeds. It sounds like he is replicating the story of the Mafia in the last century..." Although this answer was shocking, it didn't surprise Leon.
From the beginning, he knew the other party was not a simple-minded street thug.
Criminals participating in politics to wash themselves clean has a long history in America, not even pioneered by the Mafia during the Prohibition era.
After the founding father Washington established the country, a large number of unemployed and landless people took their families to open up wasteland.
They couldn't take out a cent from their pockets, but they held flintlocks and sharp knives tightly in their hands.
Immigrants with the same bloodline organized themselves to plunder land resources by violent means.
It is an absurd lie that diligent pioneers can get rich; only those thugs holding guns could complete the primitive accumulation of capital in the savage land through violence.
Many of their descendants became famous politicians.
"Find some time to come to New York before the Grammy Awards ceremony. Cardi can't wait to collaborate with you." Leon glanced at his watch, preparing to leave.
"Hehe, I can't wait to see Cardi again either. I see her showing her butt on social media every day." Kendrick rubbed his hands excitedly. "That bitch Nicki Minaj's new album is about to be released. I'll make Cardi crush her!"
Cash Money Records released news that Nicki Minaj's second studio album Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded would be released in April.
This album integrated the top resources in the rap circle currently, produced by as many as ten top producers including Benny Blanco, David Guetta, Lil Wayne, etc.
The album gathered the creations of Lil Wayne, Drake, Nas, Chris Brown, and others, mobilizing all the power of Cash Money Records.
Nicki Minaj and Cardi B were regarded as similar competing products in the market, with the smell of gunpowder everywhere openly and secretly.
The former just released a sexy photo showing her chest, and the latter posted a photo showing her butt in return.
This was most directly reflected in the scale of MVs—If you are slutty, I will be sluttier than you!
If the two continued to compete like this, it was believed that the American people would soon unlock the new welfare of watching porn in MVs.
"I believe in your ability, man. You never disappoint me. I gotta go." Leon reached out and fist-bumped Kendrick.
After a six-hour overnight flight, when he returned to New York, it was already six in the morning. The sky was pitch black.
Leon was so sleepy he could hardly open his eyes. Too lazy to even take off his clothes, he pushed aside the Siamese cat that was enjoying sharing the bed with Taylor.
He fell onto the pillow and fell asleep in a second.
When he woke up in a daze, it was already twelve o'clock at noon.
"You're awake, honey?"
Taylor was applying makeup at the dressing table. Seeing Leon wake up, she immediately pounced on the bed, blinking her big eyes and staring at him. "Is this lipstick shade nice?"
Leon had just woken up, and his vision was blurry.
In his perspective, Taylor's lips were no different from usual, still bright and eye-catching red.
"I think it's about the same as usual."
"Look closer!" Taylor pressed her lips closer, almost touching his eyelashes.
"It seems a little different..." Leon rubbed her head perfunctorily. "It seems a little redder than usual."
"You observe very carefully!"
Smack—Taylor rewarded him with a kiss, picked up Christmas, and spun around. "I decided to use this shade at the Grammy Awards ceremony. Does it make my skin look fairer?"
"As long as you're happy..."
Leon found it difficult to understand the brain circuits of female stars. Many times, for them, attending important award ceremonies, winning awards wasn't even the ultimate goal.
Outshining other female stars on the red carpet meant more to them.
Leon never cared about these things, often attending major award ceremonies in an Adidas tracksuit.
If not for being nominated for two awards, he wouldn't be interested in showing up at the Grammys at all.
He curled the corners of his mouth, hugged Taylor's waist, and gently laid her down on the bed. "I want to try what this shade feels like right now?"
"What?"
Taylor didn't understand the meaning of this sentence for a moment, subconsciously thinking he was asking for a kiss.
When she puckered her lips, she saw Leon pointing to his lower body with a wicked smile.
"Leon..."
A blush spread upward from Taylor's neck, her face burning hot.
Ring ring ring—Just a few minutes into their intimacy, Leon's phone rang.
"Sean has confirmed the specific time for the Wicked Angel fashion show; it's set in June. Miami's biggest lingerie fashion show ever..." Bonnie reported on the phone. "There are many things you need to confirm personally."
"I'll be right there."
Beep—Taylor heard the content of the call clearly just now.
At such close face-to-face distance, the sound from the phone receiver couldn't escape her ears.
She narrowed her eyes and questioned, "I didn't hear wrong just now... you are going to hold a lingerie fashion show?"
"That's right." Leon behaved quite frankly. "This is also part of my business... Don't worry, I'm very busy and don't have time to contact those models personally."
Although he said so, Taylor still felt uncomfortable in her heart.
Victoria's Secret has always been known for flaunting female power—sexiness is a powerful force innate to women.
But the ratings survey results won't lie; more than eighty percent of the audience for the VS show are men.
No man can refuse a screen full of fair skin, beautiful faces, and long legs.
Taylor narrowed her eyes, staring at Leon like a fox. "Of course I understand this is business, honey... I mean if the show lacks models, I can help. I have many model friends; they are the most dazzling angels in this industry."
"You are so sweet, honey, but I can't afford so many big-name models." The proposal was tempting, but facing a question with obvious correct answers, Leon would absolutely not fail.
The supermodel circle is smaller than the music industry; counting back and forth, it's just those people, many of whom are Taylor's best friends.
Karolina Kurkova, Miranda Kerr, Karlie Kloss are all dream angels pursued by thousands without exception.
Taking a step back, these models signed with VS couldn't switch to a lingerie brand.
After a brief "meeting" with Taylor, Leon took a car to Apocalypse Music.
As soon as he stepped into the office door, Sean, who had been waiting for a long time, immediately stood up, straightening his back like a soldier waiting for the boss's lecture.
After Leon's beating on the phone a few days ago, his attitude had obviously corrected a lot.
Repositioning himself as a wage earner, he never disappeared from the office without reason again. Even his voice had a bit more masculinity.
"You look much more spirited; your mother will be happy for your change." Leon pulled out the swivel chair and sat down, casually flipping through the documents all over the table.
"For this fashion show, we decided to cooperate with Sports Illustrated. They have rich experience in holding swimsuit fashion shows! The show is set at North Beach, Miami, an absolute prime location!"
"We bought pages in top fashion magazines like Vogue and ELLE, inviting more than 100 fashion media outlets globally!"
"In addition, many lingerie distributors from all over the world were invited..."
Sean introduced the event arrangements endlessly. From a promotional perspective, this might be a lingerie fashion show second only to Victoria's Secret.
"Stop for a moment..." Leon interrupted the generous speech, pointing to the dazzling number on the document. "Are my eyes deceiving me? This fashion show costs 3 million dollars?"
"It does sound like not a small amount. In fact, this doesn't count the expenses of inviting models and live performances. Big-name models have little interest in our event."
"Sht..." Leon slapped his head, adding worry to worry.
The profit of the Wicked Angel brand since its establishment hasn't reached 3 million dollars. It is extremely likely to pay it all back because of a fashion show.
At the end of last year, Apocalypse Apparel re-signed a contract with Cardi B. According to the current investment situation, it was obviously impossible to give half of the profit to the other party.
In the new contract, Cardi only enjoys 20% equity and must unconditionally stand for the brand and bear certain legal risks.
"Don't worry too much, Boss. We are already in contact with multiple TV stations. NBC is very interested in buying our broadcasting rights." Sean quickly explained.
Selling broadcasting rights couldn't guarantee the program would break even. CBS spends more than $15 million annually to buy the broadcasting rights of the VS show and broadcasts it in more than 190 countries.
More than 100 million people worldwide watch it through internet channels such as Facebook and YouTube.
Even so, the VS fashion show still loses money from time to time.
Leon still believed that public figures launching personal brands was a good way to make money, but this time was the last gamble.
If Wicked Angel still couldn't prove its brand value, packaging it and sending it away would be the best choice.
"Go ahead and do it. What do you think about models?" Leon stared at the ceiling. The path of signing big-name models like VS was definitely blocked. To stand out, they could only rely on hype.
Stars walking on the runway with models is a good idea. No one can refuse the scene of goddesses on the big screen wearing swimsuits.
There weren't many stars who could accept this job; only Cardi was confirmed to attend undoubtedly.
"Miss Bonnie's suggestion is very good. We can invite some adult stars to guest star."
"Fk..." Leon didn't know what to say for a moment. This wasn't the first time he heard this crazy idea.
"A bit crazy, but interesting, isn't it?" Sean shrugged. "Newspapers and news media emphasize the concept of female power every day. Now no one thinks being an adult actress is a shameful job. These girls are hailed as brave freedom fighters."
"My body, my choice—you must have heard this slogan!"
Leon wanted to complain but didn't know where to start.
Sean didn't exaggerate at all; reality was even more magical than he described.
Awakening movements around the world continued, the scale getting larger and larger, and the form more extreme each time.
Australia established a political group called the Sex Party. This organization, which sounds like a joke, has even begun to meddle in general elections.
The party's platform includes implementing sex education courses nationwide, reducing interference with teenagers, abolishing internet filtering, supporting all forms of marriage and love, etc...
"I hand this job completely over to you." Leon held his forehead and covered his face, finally deciding to let go and delegate power.
"Don't worry, Boss! You know I never let you down!"
At 2 PM, FOX News Channel released a big piece of news.
On the TV screen, the Pentagon press spokesperson held a media briefing, announcing that the "Occupy Wall Street" movement, which lasted for more than three months, had completely ended.
He used very little space to apologize to the poor, and more often he was quibbling.
"The public always fails to see the truth of the event. We have done a lot of work on wealth distribution..."
"In 2011, the median household income in New York was $60,000. Who exactly is complaining with such data?"
"Of course, what we have done is far from enough... but we firmly believe that under the leadership of President Barack, the remaining problems will be properly resolved."
After a long string of nutritionally void official speeches ended, reporters who should adhere to the principle of neutrality actually applauded him.
"Hmph, a bunch of pathetic sycophants." Phil scolded painfully. "They claim to have reached a reconciliation with the organizers of the movement, but who has seen those people? Those people seem to have vanished into thin air after Christmas."
Leon walked to the floor-to-ceiling window to admire the traffic flow. After a mighty movement, the city was as usual.
Just like those people had never been here.
"Maybe they were thrown into the Hudson River Bay to feed sharks? Or maybe thrown by Homeland Security to the ice and snow of Alaska."
"Are you kidding? After all, we are still a democratic country." Phil looked like he heard a ghost story, his red face visibly paling.
"Nothing is impossible. Reality is always more magical than movies..." Leon turned around, touched the ring on his hand, and said, "How is the thing I asked you to do?"
"Easy peasy. The Houser brothers agreed to cooperate with us after only considering for a minute."
"Awesome. Your name will appear in the thank-you list at the end of Ready Player One."
This morning, Phil represented Leon to go to the Rockstar Games headquarters in Lower Manhattan for negotiations.
The content of the negotiation mainly involved whether easter eggs paying tribute to the company's classic game characters could appear in the Ready Player One movie.
Vice President Dan Houser believed this would have a very good promotional effect for the new work GTA V (Grand Theft Auto V) released by Rockstar next year, and agreed on the spot.
SLW Apocalypse didn't have to pay any fees; the price was allowing easter eggs of Ready Player One to appear in the GTA V game.
A win-win situation was achieved through the exchange of easter eggs.
Phil once expressed ridicule for James Wan's obsession with video games. "He already owns so many Warner IPs. I don't understand why he is still obsessed with stupid video games..."
"Express fewer opinions on things you don't understand. You are already half in the coffin," Leon mocked.
Rockstar Games might not be as wealthy as giants like Activision Blizzard and EA, but it enjoys extremely high prestige in the hearts of gamers worldwide.
GTA: Vice City launched in 2002 was considered an epoch-making classic, redefining the standard of open-world games.
Two years later, the new work GTA: San Andreas pushed this series to a new height—sweeping five highest honors in the game industry, the "Golden Joystick Awards."
Global sales exceeded 25 million copies, rated as the ultimate game of the year by IGN.
Compared to those outdated Atari game IPs in Spielberg's version, CJ lawlessly roaming Grove Street obviously resonated more with the audience.