America's Top Player

Chapter 141 Rooftop Sanbi Pond

Such conditions immediately dispelled all of George's concerns.

Although a late-night club in the slums was nothing to Leon, it would cost at least $100,000 to buy such a place.

Such temptation was enough to make George take the risk.

This is also the best option for Li Ang, it’s just a change of payment method.

Hiring a killer?

What is hiring a killer?
It was just for the prosperity of the community and the spiritual civilization construction and to give a late-night club to a friend.

There is only sacred friendship here, without any trace of money.

After watching George and his gang leave, Leon narrowed his eyes and stared at the ceiling.

Judging from the current situation, the traffic dividend of the "Second East-West Gang War" has not only not been exhausted, but is continuing to rise.

As long as these street chaps carry the banner of their idols and create bloody conflicts everywhere, every drop of blood they shed can be converted into traffic.

The only regret is that -

Li Ang hasn't released his own work for a long time, which has caused him a significant loss in revenue.

Lenny's calls have been coming one after another these days, and the core question is just one - when will you release new music?

In response to this, Li Ang always made excuses by saying that he had no inspiration.

He never misses the tours and promotional plans arranged by the company, and follows them step by step like a robot.

In short, it's just a bad game.

All of this was seen by JAY-Z. In order to renew the contract, he has offered a sky-high signing fee of 1000 million US dollars, seeking a long-term contract with Li Ang.

Not only that, the new contract increases the share of record sales to 35%, but also puts forward certain requirements for the copyright of the works.

The number looks tempting, but Leon scoffs, "JAY-Z is dreaming."

Copyright is life for a singer. Both Taylor and Michael Jackson have been troubled by copyright issues.

With so many precedents, no matter how tempting the number offered by the other party is, Li Ang will not give in on this issue.

It is an industry consensus that the master rights belong to the record company. If the copyright of the work is handed over, the singer will completely become a slave to the record company.

What's more, Warner Records had already offered him a $2000 million signing bonus.
Leonard, who has been frequently slapped in the face, has been left aside by Li Ang.

Fortunately, the contract with ROC Kingdom will expire in more than three months.

By then, he will be able to surf the huge traffic without any worries.

Two days later, Li Ang met with David Fincher's team for the first time.

The two parties have already reached an agreement, and David Fincher will direct the shooting of the "Bang Bang" MV for a salary of 110 million US dollars.

When Li Ang nodded in agreement with the number, he couldn't help but curse the other party's greed.

The MV is more than three minutes long and the pay is $110.

Looking at the entire music industry, this is an incredibly high price.

Although the revenue from record sales provided a steady stream of blood to his wallet, the series of large investments also quickly emptied his wallet.

He invested $350 million in his second investment in the movie "Straight Outta Compton".

The expansion of the publicity plan resulted in a budget increase of another $300 million, of which he would have to pay $210 million.

In order to support the filming of this movie, he invested a total of an astonishing $910 million.
In addition to investing in the film, it also invested $250 million to acquire Vibe magazine.

Now, Li Ang's liquid funds no longer exceed 1000 million US dollars.

He fell from the throne of a multi-millionaire before he could even warm up to it.

At 9 a.m., David Fincher and his assistant arrived at Apocalypse Music.

Old Mike, David's good friend, accompanied him throughout the trip.

The topic of this meeting was the MV shooting plan.

As a producer and investor, any of Li Ang's ideas are crucial to the director.

He described to David the MV scenes he saw when he was inspired.

Beyoncé is the first performer in the first section and the first to appear in the MV.

She is an avant-garde girl with avant-garde style and revealing clothes, and she has a group of followers behind her.

She walked on the street, twisting her hips widely, showing her perfect "S-shaped curve" to passers-by without reservation.

Every movement and every look reveals lust.

Desire flooded the streets like a tide.

Taylor Swift's character is a somewhat rebellious campus girl.

The scale of this paragraph should be slightly smaller than the first paragraph.

But sexiness remains the unshakable theme, showing a girl's transformation from "innocent and cute" to "sexy and bold".

In the third section, Cardi B lands on the rooftop of a building in a helicopter.

Her role is like a female agent in a movie, a whip-wielding queen in a dangerous game.

Twerking and hot dancing.
with full force.

Finally, the three of them appeared on the rooftop together and performed a lively song and dance.

"I call this idea the 'Three Whores on the Rooftop'." Li Ang said with a smile.

"You're a genius!" Old Mike's eyes lit up, and he wished he could have shot this music video himself. "You've fulfilled a dream for fans all over the world!"

Everyone seemed very happy with the idea, except for the most crucial director, David Fincher.

He took a sip of coffee and said expressionlessly, "This is too ordinary. Any new director can handle this script."

Li Ang immediately perked up and leaned forward, "I want to hear your thoughts."

"I tend to add more reflections on the increasingly open social atmosphere today," David said. "As a person born in the 60s, I couldn't imagine that society would be so open that people would even have sex on the streets of Miami at midnight like animals without paying attention to others."

As soon as he finished speaking, Li Ang's face darkened instantly.

Is this bastard hallucinating from filming an art film?
A pure party-style dance song that also incorporates deep thinking?
This behavior is tantamount to playing the Funeral March at a wedding.

"I don't think this is a good idea." Leon frowned.

"Your ideas cannot affect the final effect of the film. Since you have chosen me, you have to listen to me." David still had no expression on his face.

The atmosphere instantly cooled down.

Mike was so shocked that he didn't know what to say, and David's assistant was even more fidgety because of fear.

The person sitting in front of them is a street tough guy who is often on the hot search due to negative news;
In the infamous MV of "Billy", he firmly sat at the center of the core character;

A highly influential idol among American street teenagers.

He almost single-handedly stirred up half of the beef in the music industry.

Li Ang also fell into deep self-doubt and couldn't help but slap his forehead.

So I spent $110 million to hire a father?

After a moment of silence, he said in a deep voice: "Fxxk, listen David, making a music video is not making a movie. I know you are a talented director with ideas."

"I'm also a fan of yours, but you have to respect my opinion this time. I spent a lot of money to make this MV."

For an MV, the director's salary alone reaches $110 million, so other resources must match the director's worth.

All in all, the cost of this MV is over $150 million, which is absolutely sky-high.

However, this heartfelt speech did not seem to move David. He said indifferently, "It's not much money."

"What did you say?!" "I mean, it's not that big of a deal." David shook his head. "You should have heard of 'Express Yourself', the song I shot for Madonna in 1989."

Li Ang shook his head silently.

David explained: "'Express Yourself' won three awards at the MTV Video Music Awards that year: Best Art Direction, Best Director, and Best Cinematography."

Hearing this, Li Ang's brows relaxed.

That's why he insisted on choosing the other party as the director.

Although David has not won an Oscar since he switched to film.

But his film reputation has always been online.

"Fight Club" in 1999 cost $6300 million and ultimately grossed only $1 million.

It was a complete failure.

The distributor, 20th Century Fox, never dreamed that this absurd drama would eventually earn back its investment through word of mouth among fans and DVD sales alone.
You can even make a small profit in the end.

David, who is very personal, has achieved everything a director can get in terms of his achievements in MV awards.

"I hope this MV can also achieve such brilliant results." Li Ang said with his feet crossed.

The other party's next sentence almost made him spit out the coffee in his mouth.

"The 'Express Yourself' music video cost $500 million."

"are you crazy?"

"I'm not crazy. The actual cost is even higher than the published figure," David said. "Exquisite works of art are carved with money. I won't let your money go to waste."

At this point in the conversation, Li Ang knew that there was no point in continuing the argument.

This weird guy is really paranoid.

Either respect his ideas or tell him to get out.

After a struggle between his left and right brains, Li Ang finally chose the former.

Now that the ice-breaking collaboration between the two biggest Divas in the music industry has been reached, they might as well take a big gamble.

"I just have one personal request," Li Ang said.

"No problem, you are an investor, I will consider your idea." David responded.

"Don't delete the explicit scenes. I know what the audience wants to see!" Li Ang said this in an imperative tone.

There are countless scenes of Beyoncé performing large-scale passionate dances in her music videos.

Taylor occasionally shows off her sexy dance moves during her concerts.

But the two Divas appearing in the same picture and shaking their bodies is something that has never happened before and is also the biggest selling point of this MV.

It is something that fans all over the world are eagerly waiting for.

"Of course." David straightened his collar. "I mean, why should I delete it? I'll expand on your idea."

"What?" Li Ang's eyes widened. "Didn't you just say you wanted to add some Bullshxt (bullshit) deep thinking?"

"It's the scale that's needed to shock people, right?" David laughed and shook his head. "Those anti-war war films often portray the bloody horror of the battlefield most realistically."

After hearing these words, Li Ang suddenly understood.

This greedy bastard is really something!
David continued, "I will use the greatest possible extent to show the unabashed bitch attitudes of young women nurtured by materialism and hedonism."

"An undisguised bitch." Li Ang muttered to himself several times, even visualizing it in his head. "Interesting! I can't wait."

He can't wait to see the finished product.

“I already have a feeling this will be a great collaboration.”

Both parties have agreed that the MV will officially begin filming in New York tomorrow.

The entire shooting plan was completed within two weeks.

Beyoncé will make time for it, and Taylor will fly to New York in two days.

As soon as David Fincher left, Phil walked into the office.

"How was your chat with David?" Phil lit a cigarette as soon as he sat down. "I just said hello to him when I went upstairs."

"We had a good chat," Leon said. "Do you know David?"

"I don't know him." Phil shook his head. "He's been a jerk ever since he got into this business in the 80s. He rarely interacts with others."

"But I am a fan of his movies. His Fight Club is my favorite movie. Sometimes I want to be like the protagonist of that movie and blow up the city."

"Okay." Leon turned his head away from Phil and focused on browsing social media.

The official channel of "Vibe" has rapidly gained followers under Bonnie's management and currently has more than 20,000 followers.

This channel hardly publishes anything related to the magazine.

The core is the promotion of hip-hop culture.

Including music, street dance, street wear, and community culture.
This was also Li Ang’s original vision, to liberate Vibe from the magazine’s carrier.
Become the core community of hip-hop culture in the United States and even the world.

"Why don't you pay attention to me, kid?" Phil snorted twice, looking very unhappy.

"I'm very busy. If you don't have anything important to do, you can leave." Li Ang looked up at the other person.

"Fuck, am I annoying you so much?!" Phil said in a high-pitched voice, "I've given you everything, and look how you treat me!"

"You damn bastard, you're drunk again," Li Ang said in a deep voice, "Calm down immediately, or get out of my office!"

From the moment Phil walked in, he could tell that the other person was almost drunk.

Even among street drunks, those who start drinking in the morning are the most hopeless.

Phil's skin was stiff and he looked ten years older than his actual age.

These are all external manifestations of liver disease.

There is a high probability that he will be taken away by God within a few years, or maybe even a few months.

Frightened by Leon's tone, Phil sobered up a bit. "I don't understand why you always treat me so badly, but I have a gift for you."

"what gift?"

"Have you heard of UFC (Ultimate Fighting League)?"

"Of course." Li Ang responded without hesitation. He really liked this fighting event.

Two fighters were locked in an octagonal cage, and only one could leave standing.

Muay Thai, Jiu-Jitsu, Boxing, Sambo.
Players can use any style of fighting techniques in the world, as long as they can pin their opponent to the ground and beat him until he loses consciousness.

Senator John McCain once declared the competition "human cockfighting" and strongly advocated for a ban on the sport.

With the improvement of rules and technology, it has now become the largest fighting event with the highest PPV sales in North America.

"The UFC has officially invited you to attend the fight at the Rogers Centre in Toronto in two days," Phil said with a grin. "To be more precise, UFC President Dyna White has personally invited you to present the championship belt to the winner that night."

After hearing the first half, Li Ang originally wanted to refuse.

Although he was a fan of the event, there was no need to fly to Toronto just to save a front-row ticket.

But the meaning of awarding a gold belt to a player is different.

Leon easily guessed Dyna White's thoughts and used his traffic from the Beef War to build momentum for this rough, brutal, and masculine event.

It's a win-win situation.

Right now, he just needs to take advantage of the momentum of a hardcore fighting competition to further consolidate his reputation as "Street Coconut Crisp".

(End of this chapter)