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Prince of Tennis: Ninja of Tennis
As the conversation deepened, Russell quickly finalized the film's release date.
March 21st.
This day happened to be the annual "Purge" in the movie, where anyone had the right to slaughter and murder at will for 12 hours without facing any legal consequences.
Leon casually posted a tweet—
—A movie poster featuring the terrifying purge mask.
The caption read: "March 21st, Purge Night. Unleash knives and bullets on your enemies."
Riding the recent heat wave caused by King Von's murder, the tweet was retweeted over ten thousand times in a short period.
A commercial tweet promoting a movie was forcibly pushed into the top three trending topics, proving that Street Jesus's influence was unstoppable.
Russell shook the document in his hand twice, looking satisfied. "This tweet is worth at least $500,000. Many people are speculating that you're connected to that appalling murder case in Mexico. Maybe you can steer public opinion in that direction."
Street Jesus being partners with El Chapo Guzman and orchestrating the torture and killing of Duane Davis became a meme in the fan community.
Memes were just memes; no one believed he actually had the ability to give orders to a group of vicious armed drug dealers.
Of course, Leon wouldn't make a fuss about this matter; provoking the FBI was no joke.
Regarding Russell's untimely joke, he displayed Oscar-level acting skills. "Haha, those idiots really believe I did it? Then let them think so."
"Your fans are always this crazy, aren't they?" Russell shrugged and left Apocalypse Music with the documents.
At three in the afternoon, Max Martin and Wiz Khalifa gathered at the Etch Studio with their production teams.
After careful consideration, Leon finally decided to include See You Again as the ninth song on the new album.
Dragging out another filler track from the Imagine Dragons inspiration pool, a ten-song album was finally scraped together.
Adhering to the principle of maximizing profit, the featured rap verse went to his own artist, Lil Durk.
Since signing this ngga over six months ago, the guy hadn't shown corresponding commercial value.
Every day, he only knew how to use the name of "Street Jesus" to brag and fool around with young models in Brooklyn bars.
The responsibility for flopping couldn't be entirely pushed onto Durk. From the beginning, the resources Apocalypse gave him and Von were extremely unequal.
The latter was handed a script destined for success, debuting with Panda, a hit personally crafted by Leon—top-tier resources unimaginable for any newcomer.
Competition and jealousy are unavoidable even between blood brothers. Durk had been depressed about this for a long time.
Now, only one signed artist was left on the Walking Dead label. If Durk still couldn't prove himself, the label would exist in name only.
"Boss, thank you for giving me this opportunity... I don't know what to say." Durk was incoherent with excitement.
For today's recording, he specially wore a T-shirt printed with his and Von's faces; only gay guys are this enthusiastic about doing this.
"Chin up, ngga. Continue Von's street legend." Leon patted him on the shoulder. "How are the lyrics coming along?"
"I can recite the whole text without missing a word!"
"Good. Go have a good chat with Wiz. We start recording in ten minutes."
Socializing for Asian people starts with a cigarette; for nggas, it starts with green plants.
Durk and Wiz hit it off immediately. Starting with the topic of ass, they chatted passionately amidst the smoke.
"Man... what's it like to roll in the sheets with Amber Rose?"
Leon was drinking water and almost choked on Durk's outrageous question.
After breaking up with Kanye, Amber Rose announced her engagement to Wiz. There was a high probability the two would walk down the aisle.
Asking someone to their face how their fiancée feels—what's the difference between this and being a cuckold?
"Absolutely wonderful. That's why I decided to be with this woman forever." Surprisingly, Wiz showed the broad-mindedness of a black man, as if they weren't talking about his fiancée.
"Damn, hope one day I get a chance too..."
"What stupid things are you saying? Rose is exclusive to me now." Wiz clutched his stomach and laughed, changing the subject at the right time. "I'm sorry about what happened to your brother. The killers have paid the price. Your boss is really a cold-blooded killer; he's more like a rock star than Al Capone."
"My only regret is not being able to feed Duane's head to my dog." Durk gritted his teeth, looking at Leon with eyes full of respect.
Clap clap—
Seeing the two straying further off-topic, Leon put down his water cup, stood up, and clapped. "Stop chatting, nggas. Let's get to work! Is the piano tuned?"
"Anytime." The session musician gave an 'OK' sign, and Max put on his monitor headphones, entering standby mode.
Leon got into the zone in a second, cutting into the piano accompaniment with skillful R&B techniques.
It's been a long day without you my friend
And I'll tell you all about it when I see you again
Durk took a deep breath. His rap verse played the role of "narrator" in the song.
Using a relatively gentle but rhythmic flow, he integrated the nostalgia for the deceased into the lyrics.
"How could we not talk about family when family's all that we got?"
"Von..."
Images of the past flashed through his mind like a lantern slide, and the recording had to be terminated because he choked up.
Max took off his headphones, walked up, patted his back, and comforted him: "I can understand your feelings, kid. Adjust your emotions. You might not know what a great work you are participating in..."
He had experience producing multiple hit songs; his keen intuition told him this song would definitely be a hit.
"It doesn't matter. Keep recording. Emotion is also a selling point," Leon said.
"What?"
"Von's death pulls at the heartstrings of many fans. Those trash songs by Migos mocking him getting shot can sell big." Leon unconsciously fiddled with his ring. "Durk's voice just now can provoke fans' emotions. I like anything that makes money."
That was why he chose Durk instead of the much more famous Kendrick for the collaboration.
Pushing his own artist was just one aspect. The more important point was that only Durk could best convert brotherhood into a money-making tool.
Von and Durk were so close they shared a pair of pants; every fan who knew them was aware of this.
"Alright, maybe you're right." Max waved his hand.
Those words just now sounded heartless, but from a businessman's perspective, no fault could be found.
Durk cried at least three times during the next two hours of recording. Although the final product differed somewhat from what Max envisioned, it won in emotional fullness.
Leaving the Etch Studio, Leon went straight to Columbia Records.
In the large conference room, Stringer had been waiting with executives from various departments for a long time, showing how much importance he attached to this album.
"No matter where I go, people ask me about you." Stringer shook his head and smiled bitterly. "Your slap at the Oscars shocked the world. Do you think I should be happy about this?"
"I'm too lazy to mention Will's name again. If that guy still bites onto me, I don't mind writing a diss track about him. I hope he hasn't forgotten his skills as a rapper."
Leon sat down nonchalantly at the end of the large conference table, facing Stringer.
He snapped his fingers at the female secretary in black silk stockings and high heels, as if in his own company.
Snap—"Sweetheart, don't you think something is missing here? Bring some cigars over. Mr. Stringer always keeps the good stuff at the bottom of the humidor."
"No problem~" The secretary winked and obediently did as told without even needing Stringer's approval.
Superstars can do whatever they want. During the peak of MJ's career, the entire Sony Music Group had to get his consent when making major decisions.
"The company will always stand behind you unconditionally. We've already had the PR department handle this matter."
Leon slapping Will Smith was the best outcome. If he had been slapped, the "Street Jesus" villain image would have been completely shattered.
This was a slap betting on both their reputations. Will would lose any credibility playing tough guy roles in the future.
"The eight songs currently in the new album are all masterpieces. I've rarely seen such a perfect album in my long career."
The executives nodded repeatedly. No one was dissatisfied because the album style was too motley.
The appearance of Rockstar solved this problem at the root.
"To be precise, there are nine songs now." Leon cut the cigar while saying, "I wrote a piece to commemorate Von, and just finished recording it in my studio."
"Very good..." Stringer's tone was excited with a hint of annoyance. "Why didn't you tell the company about the recording plan?"
Leon had nothing to hide and laid out his reasons. "At first, I didn't think about putting this work in the new album, worried it would delay the release plan, you know. But the recording process went smoother than I imagined."
"You always bring me surprises." Stringer's brows gradually relaxed. Working with a singer who grew by backstabbing his former label put a lot of pressure on him. Even more so since this singer owned his own record company.
Who knows when Columbia Records might become the next stepping stone.
After Michael Jackson, no record giant wanted to see such a superstar appear who could subvert the company order.
The focus of the subsequent meeting mainly revolved around pre-release promotional expenses. For the three pre-release singles already out, Columbia Records had invested more than 5 million dollars in promotional costs.
The effect of throwing money was immediate. All three works entered the Billboard Top 5 and had all tasted the flavor of the top spot.
When the album is officially released, this dominance will continue.
The marketing department had made predictions based on data: excluding Taylor Swift, Leon would dominate the entire year of 2012.