America's Top Player

Chapter 143: Fan behavior, idol pays the bill

"Very good, everyone, you cooperated very well." David Fincher snatched the camera from a photographer and started filming with his eyes squinted.

A photographer may not be able to do the work of a director, but a good director must be an excellent photographer.

David has a unique understanding of the expressive power of light and shadow; you can tell a movie is his work just by looking at the color tone.

"So that's it for today's filming?" Li Ang asked.

"Almost done. We'll be shooting two more shots later," David said. "I'll be directing the camera myself this time. We need an impeccable close-up of Beyoncé's perfect buttocks."

"Okay." Li Ang spread his hands. It seemed that every director had some special hobbies.

Old Mike also particularly likes close-ups of buttocks.

The genius director Quentin Tarantino has a special liking for the soles of women's feet.

David arranged the following for the next shoot:
In order to maximize the use of time and resources, after finishing Beyoncé's scenes, all the staff went straight to Manhattan.

The rooftop of the Trump Building.

Filming Cardi B descending from a helicopter.

Trump Tower is an iconic building in New York and an asset owned by the Trump family.

Fortunately, Li Ang had some friendship with Tang De's daughter Ivanka, so it didn't take much effort for the other party to agree to this matter.

The generous Ivanka said that this was a friendly sponsorship and no venue fees would be charged.

All the time tomorrow will be reserved for Taylor, who is the highlight of the entire shoot.

David advocated using Taylor's role to highlight the psychological transformation from a girl to a woman in the MV.

The scene is much more explicit than the original, and Taylor himself is unaware of it.

In David's rewritten script, Taylor will appear in the camera wearing JK clothing.

The background is a standard American girl's room.

Filled with gossip magazines, pink dolls, Barbie dolls and guitars.

Then the camera switched and the JK costume turned into a black tight latex suit.

It looks very similar to Catwoman's outfit in the Batman series.

The background of the room also changes to pink neon signs, exposed posters, and scattered lipstick and cosmetics.
It's a stark contrast to the previous room.

When he heard this, Li Ang's anticipation was already full.

Whether it was a JK costume or a black latex suit, American music fans had never seen Taylor wearing such clothes.

"You really are a genius," Li Ang quipped. "Maybe you shouldn't switch to filmmaking. Movies are too commercial. At least making music videos won't lose money."

"Only a small number of movies lose money. My movie The Social Network, which was released last year, performed very well at the box office," David immediately retorted.

David is an outlier in the film industry and is in a rather awkward position.

Commercially, he is far inferior to big directors like Spielberg and Cameron.

Even the Oscars didn't win anything.

Many times when everyone thought he would be abandoned by the film producers, he could always come up with a hit movie to extend his life.

"Well, how is the progress of filming this movie now?" Li Ang asked.

"The filming is more than halfway through and is expected to be released during this year's Christmas season," David responded.

"The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" is a mystery thriller adapted from a novel.

When he heard the words "mystery thriller", Li Ang knew that this was another flop.

Detective thriller is essentially a thrilling genre.

Audiences buy tickets to enter the cinema for sensory stimulation.

David always likes to strangle the audience in such exciting films and force their values on them.

"Shoot well, and remember to invite me to the premiere." Li Ang patted the other person's shoulder and quickly slipped away from the set.

Beyoncé's filming has ended, and if nothing unexpected happens, the next step will be to call Li Ang into the nanny car.

Although the nanny car is spacious, it is not a tank after all.

The intense vibrations caused by the cowboy showdown between the two men could hardly fail to attract the attention of others on the set.

Li Ang was riding in a business car, and T-ray's podcast "Rap on the Ground" was playing on the radio.

Literally: The best hip-hop show on the planet.

He fulfilled his promise and invested $100,000 in Chester Street Bad Boy Radio.

This small workshop now has a professional studio.

Facts have proved that this investment decision is extremely correct.

T-ray completed the first episode in less than a week.

The show became an instant hit once it was launched.

Different from DJ Marcus's program which is a systematic exploration of hip-hop music, this program focuses on freedom of movement.

He boasts of his corporate understanding of rap music and even used a blackboard on the show to discuss football tactics.

The names of many rap superstars are written on it.

JAY-Z, P. Diddy, Nicki Minaj, Lil Wayne.
None of these people were able to escape.

In short, he goes wherever there is more traffic.

T-ray pointed at the names while smoking a cigar.

Score their rapping techniques such as speaking speed, flow, intonation, etc., and draw a four-dimensional graph.

His expression was very serious, like that of a university professor giving a lecture.

As expected, these star-studded names turned into garbage in his mouth.

The more he tried to look serious, the funnier he ended up looking.

This show became popular in this strange way.

While listening to the program, Li Ang laughed out loud several times.

After the "Rap on the Ground" program was over, Li Ang signaled the driver to switch the channel to Z100 radio station.

Under his financial offensive, the music radio station with the largest audience plays "Billy" at least five times a day.

“The best diss song ever.”

“Man, I have to say I was actually terrified the first time I heard this song.”

"Did you see Leon's performance in the music video? Besides the president, is there any other white person in this country who can evoke such charisma on the streets of Compton?"

"Oh my god, all the girls in America want to sleep with him."

Li Ang squinted his eyes and listened to the radio DJ playing different songs without thinking.

Just when I was listening with great interest, the DJs' output suddenly stopped.

"what's the situation?"

It was as if the radio signal was suddenly cut off, and only the DJs could be vaguely heard whispering.

A minute later, DJ spoke:
"Hou Lixie listeners, we just received an urgent message."

"I'm so sorry, this matter is so important that we have to make an emergency interruption."

"Just now, P. Diddy, the East Coast's most famous rapper, investor, and philanthropist, was ambushed by a gunman outside his mansion on Long Island."

WTF? !
Li Ang straightened his body and pricked up his ears as if he had been electrocuted.

"There were two gunmen in total. They fired seven shots at Didi and quickly fled the scene after the bodyguards pulled out their guns to fight back."

"Fortunately, most of the bullets fired by the gunman were blocked by Didier's Cadillac, and only one bodyguard was slightly injured."

"At present, Didi refuses to accept any interviews and the police have intervened in the investigation."

The radio program then returned to normal.

The DJs began to discuss the truth behind the shooting, and the name "Le Ang" was on the tip of their tongues several times but was swallowed back.

The truth of this matter is not difficult to guess at all. You can guess who is behind it with just your toes.

Even Leon himself was confused and called George immediately: "What did you do?"

"Shxt!" George's tone was even more anxious than Leon's. "Stop pretending, you crazy and cunning bastard! You've been planning to make me a scapegoat for a long time!"

"Fuck, Duan's gunmen are looking for me!"

"I'm warning you, I'll send you, this cunning venomous snake, to hell before I die!"

Hearing this, Leon was completely stunned. George mistakenly believed that Leon's gunman had shot Didi, and that he had become the scapegoat for the incident.

If it wasn't George, who else could it be?
Li Ang suddenly felt a headache.

Social media was flooded with discussions about the shooting, pushing traffic to the Second East-Coast Gang War to its peak.

Since the deaths of Tupac and BIG, there hasn't been such bloodshed in the hip-hop world.

An endless cycle of revenge until one side is completely defeated.

Music fans were eager to watch the fun and left messages on Li Ang and Didi's social media accounts.

I hope both sides can make a big move.

One party goes to God, the other to the judge.

In ten minutes, Li Ang received more than a dozen calls.

Phil, Sean, 50 Cent, Kendrick, Beyoncé, Taylor, and Robbie.
"Well done, Bro~"

"Are you crazy, you bastard?"

"Tell me you didn't do this."

Li Ang answered "No" to all the questions, and then hung up the phone without bothering to explain.

When the whole world thinks you are guilty, then you are guilty.

Li Ang knocked his head and said, "I have to calm down."

First of all, who benefits from Dee Dee getting shot.

After much thought, the answer finally pointed to myself.

He decided to change his thinking and wondered if this was a trap set by other opponents.

The purpose is to completely break up with Didi and start an all-out war.

The ending is dead on the street or imprisoned

"Chris?" Leon shook his head, denying the idea.

That guy is a wimp who only knows how to beat up women, and he's Didi's little brother.

He has neither the ability nor the courage to do it.

"Leonard?"

As senior vice president of Warner Music North America, he does have the ability to do it.

But the reason is a bit too far-fetched.

In order to sign a popular singer, send someone to murder a superstar?
This sounds like a fantasy.

"Damn."

Li Ang leaned back in the back seat, his eyes dull.

As a master of shifting the blame, he inevitably became the scapegoat for others.

He couldn't find any ideas at all.

All I can do is check social media over and over again, trying to see if I can get any clues from online discussion groups.

The profile picture of a black man with dreadlocks caught his attention.

The user left a comment in a Blue Jays discussion group: "Actually, I did it! Worship the great Chicago O-block!"

The replies below mocked him.

"That's right, Bro. I'm telling you, it was me who ordered the gunman to assassinate Kennedy."

"Hahaha, the mustache guy didn't commit suicide in the end. My grandfather shot him with a bullet in the bunker."

"Stop arguing, I burned down Rome. This thread ends."

Although there were too many comments like this to count, Li Ang unexpectedly found that this dreadlock avatar looked a little familiar.

This seems to be the underground rapper from the South Side of Chicago who sends him private messages every day -

Lear Duke.

"Shxt"

Fans’ behavior, idols pay the price?
Although such speculation sounds outrageous, the more Li Ang thinks about it, the more he feels that
The whole thing is probably just that outrageous.

Beatles lead singer John Lennon was stabbed to death by a fan in 1980.

In 1981, the then President of the United States, Ronald Reagan, was assassinated. The murderer, John Hinckley, was a rich second-generation who was obsessed with chasing stars.

He assassinated Reagan in order to imitate the plot in the movie "Taxi Driver" and attract the attention of actress Jodie Foster.

When fans' worship of their idols reaches a certain level, it is almost like religion.

Thinking of this, Li Ang quickly clicked on Li Er Duke's social media homepage.

The other party just posted a picture - "The Twelve Disciples of Coconut Crisp".

These people established churches in various places according to Coconut Crisp's instructions, and most of them ended up being martyred.

Lear Duke compares himself to the Twelve Disciples, and the meaning of this is self-evident.

"This damn niger" Li Ang quickly sent a private message to Li Erduk.

The other party replied almost immediately, "Bro~OMG you actually replied to me, I knew this would definitely get your attention!"

"Boy, I don't understand what you mean." Li Ang pretended to be stupid and guided the other party to speak it out himself.

Facts have proven that those who can do such things are 100% uneducated young people.

Li Erduk immediately responded: "We shot Diddy seven times! One bullet grazed his scalp!"

"We almost actually took out that wimp!"

As he spoke, Lil Duke also sent a photo of Diddy’s mansion in Long Island.

Now, Leon was 100% sure that it was this group of little bastards from the South Side of Chicago who did it.

"So, why are you doing this?"

"Of course it's for you!" Li Er Duke replied: "Your fans are no pushovers. O-block always keeps their word! In fact, this was all King Von's idea. He's a genius. You should give us this opportunity!"

"Look what we did for you!"

After hearing these words, Li Ang could only shake his head and sigh.

On the streets of America, the hardest-to-touch gang members aren't the ones to mess with.

Not a Mexican covered in tattoos.

Rather, they are those young men who have been hanging out on the streets since they were in diapers and doing things without considering the consequences.

Li Ang thought clearly that this wave of shootings brought him a lot of traffic, but he absolutely could not take the blame.

"Can you issue a statement taking responsibility for this?" Leon asked. "I'll deal with the police, or I'll pay you a large sum of money to escape to Mexico."

Li Er Duke immediately responded: "Shxt! I have said it countless times online that I did this! But no one believes it!"

"I don't want your money. Money is of no use to me. I never spend money on things I like!"

"Me and my good friend, we need a chance Bro~"

Li Ang rarely smiled today.

It would be easy as long as Li Er Du Ke and King Von are not opposed to admitting this matter in public.

“I will give you a great platform to showcase your talents.”

"Do you know Vibe magazine? Do you know Lion's Den Radio?"

"Listen, I'm going to delete all those rap stars' names and replace them with yours!"

"I'll give you all this exposure! I'll make you a household name and a national celebrity!"

When he heard that he could become famous, Li Erduk agreed without thinking.

Li Ang was still scowling ten minutes ago, but now his mouth corners are almost stretched to his ears.

I didn't have to put in any effort and got a huge amount of traffic for free.

At absolutely no cost.

Even when refuting the rumors, they took advantage of the two young men, Lear Duke and King von.

Sales of the next issue of Vibe magazine are completely guaranteed.

(End of this chapter)