America's Top Player

Chapter 122 Top Marketing Master
Li Ang's consistent principle is to do whatever it takes to maximize profits.

Although the Internet was as lively as Christmas on the first day of DISS's release, it was still too quiet for him.

His opponents chose to remain silent in the face of such an advanced and lethal DISS.

The silence bored him.

This left Li Ang with no choice but to take the initiative and add another spoonful of oil to the fire.

"The Joe Rogan Experience" is the most popular talk show in the United States. Now, the format of podcasts has completely occupied the market of traditional talk shows.

Li Ang just appeared on this show two months ago.

The only difference is that the core character of that episode was Ariana, not himself.

He formed a friendship with Joe Rogan during that recording.

When Li Ang received the call, he agreed to the recording without hesitation and was willing to postpone the scheduled recording plan.

The Second East-West Gang War is the biggest hot topic in the music scene recently.

You can even just remove the prefix qualifier from the music scene.

It is the hottest news event in the United States.

Such a huge wave of traffic has long made Joe Rogan envious.

Major news channels such as CNN, NBC, and Fox have all devoted extensive coverage to discussing "Billy."

Their focus is not on the feud between the rappers involved in the song, but on the negative impact the lyrics and MV have on teenagers.

The middle class and the elite can use wealthy communities and private schools to build barriers to isolate their children from the dirty and despicable street culture.

But music cannot be isolated.

Even with their parents' strong objections, teenagers will still join the long lines at video stores.

Playing CDs when the parents aren't home, letting the violent gangsta rap unleash every rebellious gene in your body.

It is exactly the same as the hippie music of the "Degenerate Generation" and the hard rock of the 80s.

Just an hour ago, Leon received an urgent message right after he finished talking to Joe Rogan.

Under the organization of the Baptist Church, many parents took to the streets to protest.

They demanded that music stores ban the sale of the "Billy" album and remove it from all streaming platforms.

The scale of the rally was small, but its impact could not be ignored.

It is rare in music history for a protest to break out to boycott a song.

Li Ang felt that he had to make a public statement.

This is to quell public opinion disputes and to stabilize one's own base to the greatest extent possible.

Through Joe Rogan's in-depth interview program, he nailed his image of "Street Coconut Crisp" in everyone's mind.

At eight o'clock the next morning, Li Ang got dressed and went to the recording location surrounded by seven Mexican men.

Jorge kept yawning all the way, his cheeks were swollen and his eye sockets were sunken.

"I can see you didn't get enough rest last night." Li Ang asked, "You didn't leave your post without permission to go out and fool around with that bitch last night, did you?"

Since the diss was released, Jorge and his men have been on high alert almost 24 hours a day.

Li Ang's residence on Henry Street was guarded by special personnel from the apartment entrance to the elevator entrance.

To prevent possible black gun incidents from happening at any time.

"Fuck, you think I'm one of those unprofessional guys?" Jorge yelled. "I didn't even get any sleep last night. Someone was sneaking around since midnight."

"Is it that exaggerated?" Li Ang smiled bitterly.

"What do you think, man? I don't know how many people want you to disappear from the world right now." Jorge said with a smile, "Maybe those elite people who wear luxury goods, live in garden houses, and drive Mercedes want you to go to hell more than Didier and his gang."

Li Ang could only wave his hands helplessly. It was a bit of an exaggeration to say that he was the "public enemy of America" now, but he was indeed the "public enemy of all American mothers."

"I think you should move, man," Jorge said. "There are so many security holes in places like apartments. Working as a security guard in such places is torture. Besides, you've made so much money, it's time to move to a place that matches your status."

"If I were you, I wouldn't be traveling all over the United States for a damn job. I would buy a yacht and be a licentious king surrounded by a bunch of plump girls!"

Leon nodded. Robbie had strongly suggested that he buy a house before.

Now it seems that this matter has to be put on the agenda.

Judging from the current situation, even the most luxurious apartments have a high risk factor.

This is due to the nature of the apartment building; there are too many people living in one building.

If a group of gunmen raided your house from the corridor, you wouldn't even be able to escape.

The first batch of 30 physical albums of "Billy" were sold out within one day of release.

The data from streaming media platforms even exceeded the terrifying figure of 80 copies per day.

If this level of enthusiasm can last for about a week, combined with the sales revenue of the Demons album and other records of Apocalypse Music,
Maybe it won’t be long before I can buy the big house in full.

The business car stopped near Joe Rogan's studio.

"Welcome, Leon!" Joe Rogan rushed up and stretched out his right hand.

Two months later, the atmosphere when the two met again was obviously different.

I don’t know if it’s out of fear of the street aura that Li Ang showed in the MV, or out of respect for traffic.

Joe Rogan was exceptionally respectful.

Considering the other party's background, Li Ang is more willing to believe the latter.

This guy is an avid fighting enthusiast and is also a master of karate and jiu-jitsu.

This is also the reason why he chose to join as a commentator when UFC was still in its downturn.

Although his political leanings are to the left, his fan base is surprisingly composed of right-leaning conservatives.

This sounds ridiculous, but it's actually not surprising.

This is a country full of contradictions.

After the recording started, Joe Rogan took out the vinyl record of "Billy" in his hand and joked: "Man, although this work has been released for a while, please forgive me for just buying this record."

As an old-school tough guy commentator, he is not interested in all types of rap music.

"Did you hear it?" Li Ang asked with a smile.

"of course."

"how do you feel?"

"Do you want to hear the truth?"

"Just say it."

"Ahem." Joe straightened his shirt and continued, "This song is full of violence, eroticism, chaos, and even a bit of bizarreness."

"I didn't mean to convey that kind of message," Li Ang said, spreading his hands. "I was just using a simple, unadorned style to describe real street life."

"Are you saying that the murders and crimes described in this song are real?"

Li Ang had long expected the other party to ask this question. This question was a big trap from the beginning.

If the answer is yes, then it will inevitably cause an uproar.

The sensational public opinion will put him in a very unfavorable position.

A direct denial was even more impossible, as it would be a foolish response that would only damage his reputation. Fortunately, he stumbled upon a video while browsing YouTube a few days ago: "Highlights of Presidential Election Debates Over the Years."

He learned a lesson from this - never be led by other people's questions!
"Answering questions irrelevantly" and "being vague" are the best strategies for debates and interviews.

"That's not important," Li Ang said. "What's important is how the current situation in the black community came about? Why is the crime rate among black people so high?"

"This..." Qiao, who was always sharp-tongued, didn't dare to continue. This topic would cross the red line if he was not careful.

Li Ang went on to say: "They have suffered unfair treatment for a long time, and most black people grew up without fathers!"

Next, he took a "white leftist stance" to criticize current social ills and talked about all the injustices in the black community.

It is no exaggeration to describe him as "great, glorious, and correct."

He exudes the light of justice.

Later in the talk, he bared his fangs and started promoting the movie "Straight Outta Compton" and mentioned "Vibe" magazine in passing.

"Mr. Quincy Jones and I have been good friends for many years."

"You're not mistaken, man. Jones is almost eighty years old." Joe's eyes widened.

"Our friendship transcends age," Li Ang said. "The old man has devoted his life to charity. He recently joined the crew of 'Straight Outta Compton' as an artistic director. This movie will have an impact on many black people."

"By the way, he also intends to transfer the discontinued Vibe magazine to me at a touching friendship price so that I can continue to contribute to the black community."

Of course, Joe Rogan didn't know the real intention of Leon's words, so he could only nod in agreement.

Promoting the film and praising Jones was only the first step.

The deeper meaning is that such a public call is equivalent to putting Jones on the grill.

The acquisition of "Vibe" was transformed from a purely commercial act into a sacred "public welfare" act.

What old Jones cares about most is these false reputations.

Joe felt like he was getting off topic, so he tapped the table and said, "Let's talk about the song 'Billy'. We all want to hear your opinions on the name 'Street Judas'."

"Street Judas? What does that mean? I don't understand." Li Ang pretended to be stupid.

"Obviously, you and 50 Cent did 'Billy' and took the West Coast side of this beef."

"Fuck, I never betrayed the East Coast!" Leon raised his voice three notches. "Ms. Beyoncé is the person I respect the most. I would never betray her. I only attacked that group of villains."

"You've dissed so many people, haven't you ever worried about retaliation?" Joe Rogan continued to induce.

"I'm not Tupac." Leon pointed to his head, as if warning his opponents that he was not that stupid.

And even such a casual answer was immediately caught by Joe.

He asked seriously, "Are you saying that the truth behind Tupac's death is related to the person you dissed?"

"I don't like the word truth." Leon said in a deep voice: "Listen, Joe, I'm not a judge. I can't decide who should be sent to the gallows."

Although his words were difficult to understand, the implication was still directed at Puff Daddy.

Although this is the consensus in the circle.

But this is still the rare case since Tupac's death in 1997 that a celebrity has directly blamed Diddy for Tupac's death in public.

Joe nodded repeatedly without showing any emotion, but in his heart he was already as happy as Disneyland - the number of clicks for this episode was likely to soar to heaven.

After this controversial conversation ended, Joe immediately moved on to a more pointed topic.

Women's issues are one of the main reasons why the song "Billy" caused a sensation in the market.

This is the core issue behind the boycott of the record by middle-class elite mothers.

Rap music filled with street and violence content is no longer new in the market.

"Billy" is just more explicit and has no bottom line.

What really made those white mothers unacceptable was the long and vulgar sexual descriptions in the song.

Lyrics that objectify women are not uncommon. The "materialism" promoted by rap music has a prominent theme of objectifying women.

But "Billy" is obviously a bit extreme. Even the most heavy-handed themes of the Buzzards studio dare not perform in this way.

Li Ang seemed to have anticipated this question and responded with a smile: "Qiao, I thought we were friends."

Joe Rogan was stunned by the question and immediately responded: "Why do you say that? Of course we are friends."

"We're friends, so why don't you know me at all?" Li Ang shook his head. "I'm the most respectful person in the world to women. Just look at the artists I've signed—a bunch of lively and lovely girls."

Joe laughed out loud. "That doesn't mean anything. My friend, UFC President Dyna White, always gets paralyzed by the sight of a muscular young man. That doesn't mean he likes men."

"That's not the same thing~" Li Ang shook his finger. "You can see on social media, besides those West Coast rappers and the girls I signed, who else is on my side in this beef?"

"Taylor, Miranda, and the others are all girls!"

"I respect girls, so girls like me too~"

It was a clever, fact-based answer that even seasoned interviewer Joe Rogan couldn't fault.

The recording of the program soon entered its final stage, and Li Ang used these nearly three hours to do everything he could.

"Wait." Leon asked Jorge to hand over a briefcase, "Look at what these are."

He pulled out three sets of women's underwear from his briefcase and showed them to the camera.

Some styles are meant to cover up, some are wide open, and some are completely revealing.
They all have the conspicuous label of EA (Evil Angel) on them.

Joe Rogan was confused for a moment and didn't know what to say.

"If I didn't respect women, I wouldn't invest in Cardi B's lingerie brand," Leon said, pausing to gather his emotions. "And I wouldn't spend a fortune hiring a top-tier team of designers to meticulously design these products, while selling them for less than half the price of Victoria's Secret."

"I do this for American women, so they can enjoy better products for less money!"

"Soon we will present a catwalk show that is no less spectacular than Victoria's Secret."

Joe Rogan was stunned that Leon could easily resolve the sensitive topic of "insulting women" while also running a wave of advertisements.

Guests on his podcast are prohibited from promoting any commercial activity other than their own films, songs or books.

But Li Ang's advertising campaign made him lose his temper.

After the recording, when the two hugged each other, Joe Rogan couldn't help but admire, "You are really something."

Li Ang's cell phone rang just after he got into the business car and had no time to rest.

The caller was Lenny from ROC Kingdom.

This phone call should have come a long time ago. He has been branded as a Judas and caused such a big mess that he will be held accountable sooner or later.

"Long time no see, Li Ang~" Lenny said excitedly on the other end of the phone, "Congratulations on creating another hit. From Manhattan to Queens, the streets are talking about your name."

Surprised by Lenny's friendliness, Leon lowered his voice and replied, "Thank you, man."

"Are you free to come to the company now?"

"Now?"

Li Ang looked unhappy. He still remembered clearly the "trial meeting" hosted by JAY-Z at Roc Company last month.

"Yes, the company has prepared a surprise for you." Lenny said with a smile.

"Surprise? Let's talk on the phone, buddy. I'm very busy now." Li Ang quickly recovered.

"Let's talk about it in person," Lenny said. "By the way, Miss Beyoncé just said she wanted to meet you."

(End of this chapter)