America's Top Player

Chapter 168 A new beginning

By the end of June, the adverse impact of Didi's arrest continued to ferment.

JAY-Z has already learned through his connections that the trigger of the whole incident was actually a poor drug addict and gigolo.

Henry had to be hospitalized for treatment due to severe mental trauma.

Having offended the leader of the Democratic Senate, JAY-Z knew that no matter what means he used, it would be impossible to completely resolve the situation caused by Diddy.

It would probably be difficult for him, himself included, to escape unscathed from this turmoil.

His friendship with Diddy began in the early 90s, and they experienced the brutal "Hunger Games" during the most competitive era of gangsta rap.

Gradually, a hip-hop empire led by JAY-Z and Diddy was formed on the East Coast.

The interests of the two are highly intertwined. Without JAY-Z leading the way, it would be difficult for Diddy to achieve more success in the investment field with his own brain.

Now he has no time to care about Li Ang's contract renewal and is busy smoothing over relationships in government departments to clean up his own mess.

Buying out the videotapes containing his own content was secondary; the most important thing at the moment was to distance himself from the Henry incident.

Diddy's girlfriend, Casey Ventura, was invited by Phil to appear on the "Rap on the Ground" podcast just three days after being investigated by the police.

Rather than a chat show, it was more like an out-of-court accusation of Didi's crimes.

She revealed that she was often abused after she started dating Diddy.

This included physical abuse, verbal abuse, and forced drug ingestion.

Sometimes, Dee Dee would force her to choose some young men for him;
He even forced Cathy to have sex with his friend.

T-ray was always interested in the fun, so on the night Dee Dee was arrested he went under the Brooklyn Bridge and set off fireworks.

"Ms. Cathy, are you saying that as Didi's girlfriend, he would actually give you away as a gift?" T-ray asked.

"Yes, Didi has never respected women. He only treats women as playthings." Cathy said while crying.

"You mean any woman?"

"Yes."

T-ray grinned at the camera and said, "Look at what I said earlier, everyone. I slept with Dee Dee's mom, and there's still people who don't believe it? That bastard would pack up and send all the women around him away."

Later, Casey revealed more details of the party.

A series of star-studded names such as Jennifer Lopez, JAY-Z, and Bieber were mentioned vaguely.

The number of clicks on this episode skyrocketed on the same day.

Many media outlets wanted to interview Casey, but after the show, Casey did something surprising.

She decided to sue Didi and called on more victims to come forward.

"Are you going too far? This will offend a lot of people." Phil said worriedly in the office.

This is not the way to get traffic.

Everyone in the entertainment industry knows that T-ray’s podcast program is under Lion’s Nest Media.

The broadcast of this episode has made the already turbulent entertainment industry even more panic-stricken.

"Is this too much? Their troubles have just begun." Leon held a cigarette in his mouth and pondered Charlie's thoughts.

The way these high-level politicians think is different from that of ordinary people.

Once people have extreme power, their thinking will be alienated by power.

Ordinary people would not kill their own flesh and blood no matter what the circumstances, but there are countless kings in history who have killed their own children.

At the level of thinking they have become another kind of creature.

In the case of Henry's sexual assault, Charles, as a father, should have been the victim, but in fact he was the biggest beneficiary.

Much greater income than Li Ang's.

Such a huge amount of dirty videos of celebrities has become Charlie's political bargaining chip.

With this threat, those in the entertainment industry who have a strong fan base can no longer jump back and forth between the donkey and the elephant.

The secret held by Charlie is the sword of Damocles hanging over everyone's head.

If the celebrities involved want to avoid being exposed, they must stand up for the Donald Trump Party and Chuck personally.

There is no option to refuse.

Even Li Ang, who did not leave a stain in Didi's party, had to contribute to the Donkey Party's rally.

Through this series of operations, Charlie turned a large number of celebrities in the entertainment industry into his own political resources.

"I originally thought I was on the third floor, but I didn't expect Charlie to be in the atmosphere." Leon sighed in his heart, the vicious tactics of the veteran politician.

Phil is still analyzing the pros and cons based on the current situation and imagining what JAY-Z will do next.

Li Ang interrupted her: "Okay, this world doesn't have a second to stop for losers. Bonnie, let's see how Straight Outta Compton is doing at the box office."

In the early days of the film's release, due to its explosive opening performance, the three major North American cinema chains, led by AMC, increased the number of theaters showing the film.

It increased from 1600 to 2300.

Starting from June 1st, the movie has now completed its one-month golden screening period.

The cumulative box office in four weeks reached 1.5 million US dollars.

Cinemas have reduced the number of screenings to make way for new films such as "Transformers 3" and "Cars 2."

But at the same time, the theatrical release time was also extended.

The film's release will continue for three more weeks, until mid-July.

But during this period, the majority of the profits went to the theater chains.

According to the tiered profit-sharing agreement, they will take 50% of the theater's share in the first week of July, and the proportion will be even higher at the end of the screening period.

Judging from the current trend, the final North American box office will be around US$1.9.

Taking into account the small amount of European box office revenue, it is certain that the final global total box office will exceed 2 million US dollars.

After the movie was released, it still generated a good income from streaming channels.

Netflix film and television head Schoop called and was willing to buy the streaming rights to "Straight Outta Compton" for $500 million a year.

The first three weeks of theatrical revenue have already been deposited into the accounts of the distributor Lionsgate.

$1.33 million, that's an amazing result.

Lionsgate neither provided any filming support nor invested any money, and even made nearly $700 million without spending any money on publicity.

If the top management at that time had been less short-sighted and injected some funds into the cash-strapped Li Ang, they would definitely have made more money.

Lionsgate executives are rueing this poor decision.

Miles, who was directly responsible for this matter, called Li Ang more than once, and his words conveyed the same meaning:
"Dad! Let's make another one! We'll do anything!"

Li Ang's share of the 1.33 million yuan box office has already been received, and the remaining portion can only be distributed after the audit work is completed after the movie is released.

US$4650 million is the largest amount of money Leon has ever received in one go.

At the same time, the physical album sales of "Bang Bang" exceeded 120 million copies in the first month, and streaming copies sold 160 million copies.

This includes the record revenue share of singers under Apocalypse Records, the revenue share of the "Demons" record and various commercial performance income.

Li Ang has US$5900 million in available liquidity on his books.

After learning a lesson during the New York tax season in April, Li Ang was unwilling to let the money stay in the account and become "dead money."

The question now is whether or not the Ready Player One movie should be made.

Judging from the original film given by Inspiration Refresh, this is a big-budget movie.

Even if we put aside the annoying issue of IP ownership, the production costs of CG special effects alone are a huge sum of money.

Whether the film will be successful is still unknown, but considering that the original film was created by Spielberg, the probability of making money is over 90 percent.

Once the film is decided to be launched, the $5900 million may not be enough even if all of it is thrown out.

After much thought, Li Ang decided to put the filming aside for the time being.

The fall of P. Diddy created a niche gap in the East Coast entertainment industry.

If you want to expand, it will cost a lot of money.

The establishment of a new card should also have a result.

"What do those two guys, Li Erduk and King Feng, think?" Li Ang asked.

"They flew to New York as soon as Didi was arrested," Phil said. "I've been hanging out with these two guys these days. You have no idea how crazy young people are these days, especially that guy named King Von. He's a complete wild man! This is the first time I've seen someone conquer a 220-pound black girl!"

Marco was the agent for Lil Duke and King Von, and after the new agency was established he became Phil's subordinate.

Therefore, after King Feng and his companions arrived in New York, they kept following Lao Deng.

Although Phil has some racist tendencies, the same hobbies can transcend skin color and prejudice.

Take playing with women for example. King Feng may not be able to compare with Phil in terms of experience, but he is not inferior in exploring the depth of gameplay.

A black man who grew up in the lower class of Chicago's South Side could still sleep with women even if he was extremely poor.

What we rely on is the gameplay that is extremely unique and innovative.

Their life motto can be summed up in one sentence: "Make more money, pick up more girls!"

"Take some time to have those two guys come meet me. I want to hear their opinions on the new label," Li Ang said. "Doesn't it look like our office space is a bit insufficient now?"

The employees nodded repeatedly.

After a series of expansions and the establishment of a newly established brokerage company, the office environment here has become overcrowded.

The original 1500 square feet rented by Phil plus the 2000 square feet rented by Leon later.

The total area of 3500 square feet has to accommodate 20 people working in the office, and half of the area has to be ceded to the recording studio.

The environment of the head office is even worse than that of Lion's Nest Media, which just moved out to work independently, which makes everyone in the company feel dissatisfied.

Among them, Aisha complained the most.

The finance department she leads has five employees, but the finance office is only 300 square feet.

This resulted in everyone's workstations being right next to each other, and from time to time, some sleazy subordinates would take advantage of this opportunity to take advantage of the tattooed Mariana Trench.

Aisha has complained more than once: "The conditions here are as bad as my grandfather's cowshed."

Li Ang had been researching new office locations for some time and finally settled on downtown Brooklyn.

Brooklyn Heights is not a traditional commercial area, but rather a high-end residential area.

Therefore, not only is the rent more expensive, but the convenience is also not as good as traditional commercial areas.

In comparison, downtown Brooklyn is much more cost-effective, as it is the real commercial and cultural center of Brooklyn.

Well-known companies such as Weiss Multimedia, JPMorgan Chase Brooklyn Branch, and the North American headquarters of the UK National Grid are located here.

Office buildings were once Li Ang's first choice.

The Wheeler Building, a ten-story glass office building, is located above the Macy's department store on Fulton Street.

The lighting is excellent and the interior structure is transparent.

Li Ang was once just one step away from signing a contract with a real estate agency, but now his mind has changed.

The American real estate market is still in a downturn. With $5900 million in hand, you can buy a property of your own on Fulton Street.

A small office building with an indoor area of 30000 square feet is listed at around $1300 million by the agent.

The actual transaction price is usually around $1200 million.

That works out to only $400 per square foot, a world of difference compared to the staggering housing prices in Lower Manhattan.

Once you buy it, you will have full rights to the property and avoid all kinds of unreasonable miscellaneous fees charged by the owner.

Li Ang said to Bonnie, "Contact the real estate agent and see how many eligible commercial properties there are near Fulton Street."

"Then boss, can I have my own independent office?" Aisha asked.

Before Leon could say anything, Phil took over and shouted, "Of course! From now on, you can close the door and have a party with those Mexican bastards in there!"

Immediately after the meeting, Li Ang drove to a restaurant in lower Manhattan.

Rushing to a date with Taylor.

This was the first time the two had met since their last date when they were arrested by the corrupt police officer Tompney.

Although Taylor is busy with his concert schedule, he keeps in touch with Leon every night to find out how he is doing.

The restaurant was filled with the murmur of jazz.

Taylor sat in a window seat, her slender fingers gently turning the goblet, making the red wine shimmer.

She raised her head, her eyes piercing her golden hair. "You're three minutes late. Have you thought about how to explain it?"

"I'm sorry I spent so much time trying to pick out a tie that would catch your attention." Leon smiled slightly, pulled out a chair and sat down, his black shirt slightly open.

"Then where's your tie? You never wear anything like that." Taylor raised his eyebrows and pouted, "You liar."

The waiter brought two plates of appetizers, put them down, and quietly left the private room.

Taylor reached out and used his fork to pick at the lettuce on the plate. "Anyway, it's good that you can still show up intact."

"Of course." Leon spread his hands. "Those who tried to discredit and attack me have all met with disaster."

Although he didn't say it explicitly, Taylor knew he was referring to P. Diddy.

Following Dee Dee's arrest, Casey reveals the truth on her podcast.

Taylor secretly thanked himself for not going to that party.

In fact, if it weren't for the public quarrel with Kanye, she would not have refused a grand celebrity party.

Now it seems like a blessing in disguise.

As long as you attended that party, even if you just ate a fruit plate and turned away, you will never be able to clear yourself from the public eye.

Taylor changed the subject and asked, "How's your latest album coming along?"

"It's still in the planning stages, and we may have to wait until the new contract is finalized before we can actually start production."

"What about the song written for me?"

"A song written for you?" Li Ang's head was full of question marks. Even though he often talked nonsense, he didn't remember such a thing.

"Our song." Taylor bit her lip. "A collaboration, like the 'We don't talk anymore' you wrote for Robbie. You promised me."

Only then did Li Ang remember that this was indeed the case.

When Taylor invited him to write a song via email, he finally gave him a three-woman duet song called "Bang Bang".

In order to deal with Taylor, he promised that they would have a solo collaboration in the future.

It was just a casual remark at the time, but I didn't expect Taylor to take it seriously.

Taylor curled his lips and said, "I've been feeling really inspired lately and I'm writing a new song."

"It will be there soon." Li Ang picked up the wine glass and shook it gently. "You are my source of inspiration."

"Me?" Taylor's expression revealed joy, but the words "You are my creative inspiration" snatched away her own subtext.

A blush quietly crept up her cheeks.

Taylor calmed herself down and switched to a tsundere attitude. "Don't lie to me, Robbie is your inspiration. She played me the demo of 'We don't talk anymore', and it's a masterpiece."

She then added, "It's still a little worse than the songs I wrote."

Li Ang could sense a strong hint of jealousy in the other person's words.

After experiencing the same incident of being arrested by Tenpenny, the relationship between the two quickly heated up.

The invisible boundary between men and women has been broken, leaving only a thin layer of window paper.

"Honestly, I'm not very good at writing those kind of sad songs." Leon stared at Taylor's cute appearance, his eyes full of smiles. "The work I write for you will be very different."

"What's the difference?" Taylor sat up straight, his face full of curiosity.

"It will be sweet." Li Ang deliberately blurred the pronunciation of sweetie to make it sound a bit like swiftie (a nickname for Taylor's fans).

"You guy." Taylor quickly took a sip of red wine, and the blush on his face became more obvious.

In romantic relationships, she usually appears as a hunter.

Whether it is in the early stages of establishing a relationship or kicking a scumbag away, she acts decisively and efficiently.

But when facing Li Ang, he was often at a disadvantage and turned from a hunter into a prey.

The psychological pressure of being Robbie's best friend played a big part in this.

After spending some time together, Li Ang had already seen through the other person's thoughts.

If you want to establish a relationship, now is the best time to do so.

If the most popular male singer in the entertainment industry and the most popular female idol singer could get together, it would be big news that would shock the entertainment industry.

In terms of popularity, it has even surpassed the news of JAY-Z and Beyoncé’s official announcement of their relationship.

Even if the two of them just hold hands while walking down the street, they can easily make headlines. Li Ang no longer has to work hard to create hot topics.

After drinking glass after glass of red wine, Taylor gradually became drunk and the topics of conversation quickly became sensitive.

"To be honest, I really don't understand what kind of damn charm you have that has captivated Robbie. Street Coconut Crisp, Al Capone, Street Judas—don't you have a normal nickname?"

Taylor expressed his thoughts through Robbie's voice.

The subtext is: "What kind of damn charm do you have that has mesmerized me?"

"You seem to have missed a nickname," Leon said.

"What nickname?"

"Bai Ni."

"Stop!" Taylor's eyes widened in shock, his face as red as a persimmon.

"Fxxk, is this woman serious?" Li Ang complained silently in his heart.

As a well-known female sea queen in the entertainment industry, how could she become shy like a girl who has not debuted when talking about this topic?

He was still thinking this a second ago, when he felt a warm touch on his mouth.

Taylor's long eyelashes fluttered up and down, his face flushed, and his eyes were drawn.

Li Ang was stunned for two seconds and had no reaction at all.

This was completely different from what Taylor had imagined. She fiddled with her hair in confusion and said, "Sorry. I..."

But the next second, Li Ang counterattacked.

The two were entangled tightly in the restaurant box.

Snapped--

click-

No one paid any attention to the sound of wine glasses and cutlery smashing to the ground.

Three minutes later, the two separated. Li Ang's face showed an expression of lingering desire. "Do you want to go back to my house?"

Taylor was silent for two seconds, his voice was as thin as a thread, "No"

Before she could finish her words, Li Ang grabbed her wrist and rushed out of the restaurant.

"Wait! Let me put on my sunglasses!"

On the way back, Taylor didn't know whether he was immersed in the scene just now or was drunk.

When chatting with Li Ang, his expression was always dull, and no one knew what he was thinking.

Suddenly, a different look flashed in her eyes.

Under Leon's bewildered gaze, he turned on the recording function on his phone and hummed softly:
Magic, madness, heaven, sin
Magic, Fantasy, Heaven, Sin

Saw you there and I thought
Seeing you there, I was thinking
Oh my God, look at that face You look like my next mistake
Oh my god, you look like my next mistake

"Great." Leon took his right hand off the steering wheel and tapped the beat for Taylor with his fingers.

Ain't it funny, rumors fly And I know you heard about me
Isn't gossip fun? I know you've heard rumors about me.

So hey, let's be friends I'm dying to see how this one ends
Let's get started, I wanna see how this ends
So it's gonna be forever
This feeling may last forever

Or it's gonna go down in flames
Or die together in ashes

You can tell me when it's over
When it's all over you can tell me
If the high was worth the pain
If the happiness we experience together is worth the pain
Got a long list of ex-lovers
The list of ex-boyfriends is very long
They'll tell you I'm insane
They'll tell you I'm crazy.
'Cause you know I love the players
Yes, I am the love expert.
And you love the game
And you just enjoy the process of the game!
(End of this chapter)