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After discussing the recording issues for the diss track, Leon decided not to waste a single moment and fly to Los Angeles immediately.
His schedule for the coming days was as follows:
Complete all work on the diss track, from recording to the music video, within three days.
Leverage the heat of the March "Beef War" to build momentum for his Coachella performance in April and the wrapping of the Straight Outta Compton movie.
Around the time a movie wraps, promotion is the most crucial thing.
Just like supply lines in war, promotional activities must launch first to gain an advantage.
Utilizing the buzz from this Beef, the promotional effect could be worth millions of dollars in advertising spend.
Although Aftermath Records' involvement in recording and distributing the diss track received Dr. Dre's approval, the West Coast godfather didn't seem too interested in the matter.
"Recording a diss track aimed at half the rap industry with a white kid from the East Coast—a traitor—is a very foolish move," Dre commented on the matter.
He compared the "Street Jesus" to a "Street Judas," mocking Leon's betrayal of the East Coast.
But in Leon's eyes, as long as it made money, the reputation he carried didn't matter at all.
He couldn't care less about the West Coast godfather's opinion.
Ultimately, through a small meeting hosted by 50 Cent, it was decided that Billy would be jointly released by Aftermath Records and Apocalypse Music.
As the songwriter, Leon owned 80% of the copyright and would take 5% of record sales as the producer.
50 Cent received a symbolic 20% of the copyright and was allowed to add some original content based on the existing lyrics.
As the co-distributor, Aftermath Records would provide recording services, MV shooting, and other support.
They would take a 40% cut of the record sales.
As the performer, 50 Cent would take a 20% cut of the sales.
The master recording rights and all remaining sales revenue would belong to the copyright holder, Apocalypse Music.
This agreement wasn't bad or good for Leon; he only provided the work and had to do almost nothing else.
Aftermath Music took on all the most expensive aspects of producing a record.
Overall, the result was satisfactory.
"Alright, we need to get our heads in the game and get to work, homies!" 50 Cent put away his copy of the agreement, looking extremely hyped.
"The beat production and MV shooting can happen simultaneously," Leon suggested. "Time is heat, and heat is money—we can't wait any longer!"
"I totally agree," 50 Cent said. "For the final MV effect, I also invited a special guest..."
"Who?" Leon immediately perked up his ears.
"Joseph Kahn! The best MV director in the world!"
"I know that name..." Joseph Kahn wasn't unfamiliar to Leon.
Calling him the world's best MV director was undoubtedly an exaggeration.
David Fincher, Madonna's former go-to MV director who later transitioned to film and left behind masterpieces like Se7en and Fight Club, was widely considered the genius of the industry.
But Joseph's ability was generally top-tier as well.
His collaboration with Eminem on Not Afraid won the MTV Video Music Awards for Best Male Video and Best Hip-Hop Video last year.
Leon was at the awards ceremony at the time.
The surprises 50 Cent brought didn't stop there.
After dropping the news about Joseph directing, he quickly threw out an even more explosive bombshell: "Eminem is willing to provide recording guidance as a co-producer!"
"What?" Leon was a bit dazed by the barrage of surprises. "Will Dre agree to this?"
Eminem was Dre's number one disciple, having just returned to his commercial peak with the godly album Recovery.
He was currently the highest-earning rapper in the world.
Although Eminem had shown a strong interest in joining the fight since the beginning of this Beef, he hadn't taken any actual action due to his big brother Dre's obstruction.
Dre didn't want to see the rift between the East and West Coasts, which had taken years to heal, crack open again.
"Bro, Eminem has been pissed at Diddy's crew for a long time." 50 Cent lit a cigar and said, "That long period of silence was completely caused by Diddy and his lot. It was a fxxked-up time!"
In 2004, after releasing his fifth studio album Encore, Eminem went silent for five years.
Media reports cited substance abuse leading to intermittent mental breakdowns as the main reason.
But Eminem had privately mentioned to 50 Cent many times that the rise of Lil Wayne and Kanye West had made him depressed.
For a long time, he harbored a lot of hatred toward those two.
And both of them were closely tied to Diddy.
---
Aftermath Records' efficiency fully demonstrated what a top-tier record company should look like.
After the meeting, everyone went to their respective posts.
The arranging team recreated the beat with perverse precision according to Leon's requirements, not missing a single drum hit or synth effect.
The MV shooting proceeded simultaneously.
Three large vans carrying a fully equipped film crew headed to Compton.
They were going to produce an epic gangsta rap MV there.
Also in Compton was James Wan, the director of the Straight Outta Compton movie.
When he saw the massive MV production team Leon brought, he couldn't help but swallow.
"It's just an MV..." James Wan said. "If you gave me this much budget, maybe the filming cycle for this movie could be cut in half."
Leon could only spread his hands helplessly. "I'm not the one paying for it. I don't have that kind of cash."
"True. I'd sooner believe the laundry detergent found in Saddam's house was a bioweapon than believe a miser like you would spend this much on an MV." James Wan curled his lip.
After unanimous discussion, the final shooting location was chosen at the Creek Park in Compton, where the most street loiterers gathered.
Only this place could accommodate the incoming crowd of up to a hundred gang members.
Upon entering, the first thing they saw was countless black street loiterers and homeless people.
Some were sleeping on benches;
Some were lying on the ground like stray dogs;
Some were muttering incessantly to the air.
They were either high out of their minds on weed or had ingested cheap "bath salts" and were in a zombie-like state, half-dead.
Leon signaled Jorge with his eyes to clear all the trash out of there.
"Get out of here!" Jorge's massive hand picked up a scrawny ngga from the bench like a chick. "Scram, you dirty bxxches!"
Under the "cleaning" of more than ten Mexican toughs, the park soon became much cleaner and tidier.
Seeing these Mexicans looking unapproachable, 50 Cent reminded from the side, "Bro, I'm worried these Mexican guys will clash with the Saints later."
"Relax." Leon revealed a mysterious smile. "They will respect and love each other like family. They'll get along very well."
Director Joseph spent nearly an hour setting up camera positions and completing simple set decorations on site.
After this work was done, a huge commotion came from the street south of the park.
A sea of blue Crip bandanas stretched as far as the eye could see; a rough estimate put them at least 50 strong.
Only the black man walking at the very front wore a decent suit, looking out of place.
That was Robinson, leading the most hardcore core Crips in all of Compton.
They marched majestically toward the film crew.
The crew led by Joseph had never seen such a formation; they couldn't help swallowing, their legs trembling slightly.
"Bro, you really are something..." 50 Cent patted Leon on the shoulder and hurriedly went up to hug and shake hands with Robinson.
Although 50 Cent, hailing from the East Coast, wasn't familiar with Robinson, he had long heard of this fierce reputation from street legends.
Between tough guys, it was either a fight to the death or mutual respect.
Before the shooting officially began, 50 Cent and Leon discussed the final details.
"Bro, you know I want to make some changes to the lyrics," 50 Cent said. "So we need to shoot close-up shots of a few gang members."
According to 50 Cent's idea, repeating the second verse directly after the first verse of the original song was a bit boring.
He wanted to fill it with some original parts.
This idea coincided with Leon's. The biggest weakness of the song before was that it only had vicious shouting and sexual descriptions.
The content was very empty.
50 Cent's suggestion was to pick a few of the most ruthless gang members from the MV cast and write their criminal histories directly into the song.
When the MV cut to their close-ups, the song would also naturally sing about their criminal experiences.
"Genius idea!" Leon agreed without hesitation.
Next, Robinson and Jorge selected a few underlings with the strongest "professional capabilities" to recount their criminal histories one by one.
"I started selling crack in fifth grade to subsidize the household."
"I never spent money on anything. Furniture, appliances, baby products, weed, cars, apartments... I robbed whatever I needed."
"I killed my cousin, shot him 9 times because he forced himself on my sister... oh right, I didn't even spare his dog."
These selected gang members had criminal histories more complex than the last.
The shouting in the original work was hard to convince listeners.
But now, with such realistic lyrics—so realistic they were almost naked—the lethality of the entire work would undoubtedly rise to another level!
"Curtis!" (50 Cent's real name) Joseph waved his hand. "Is everyone in position? We can start working!"
"Wait a minute!" Leon looked down at his watch. "There are still actors not in position."
"Still more people?" 50 Cent looked confused. "Who else, man?"
"You'll know in a moment." The corners of Leon's mouth rose, and the next second he cursed Cardi B in a low voice, "This black girl is always so unpunctual!"
About ten minutes later, two business vans drove into the shooting site.
A group of black people wearing red bandanas got out of the car.
Red was the main color of the Bloods.
"Fxxk!" The Crips on the scene instantly tensed up, unconsciously reaching for their waists.
The people who got out of the car were scared back by this formation, and the scene was extremely tense.
"Easy bro," Leon walked to the front of the business van. "These lovely nggas are my friends."
As soon as the words fell, Cardi B jumped out of the van and threw herself into his arms.
"Leon!" Having not seen him for two weeks, Cardi B was so excited she started twerking against Leon right there.
"Enough, Cardi, enough~" Leon struggled to get free from Cardi's entanglement. "These are my Bloods friends from New York. They will complete this great MV with us!"
This operation left the street figures, including 50 Cent and Robinson, dumbfounded.
Crips, Bloods, Latin Kings...
These gang members, who were still staging street shootouts across the US from time to time, actually appeared in the same MV.
The key was that these people weren't actors cosplaying as gangsters.
They were genuine street gang members.
"WTF..." 50 Cent was completely shocked by Leon's operation, freezing in place and doubting if everything in front of him was real.
Bringing such a group of people together sounded like reconciling the three major Abrahamic religions.
Leon achieved the feat of the Great American Gang Truce.
At least in this one MV, he did it.
Director Joseph gave everyone some time to calm down and accept what was happening.
"Action!"
With the start command, five fixed cameras plus three mobile cameras aimed at 50 Cent simultaneously.
He was submerged in an indigo ocean made up of dozens of Crips.
Waving bandanas;
Throwing cash;
Throwing up gang signs;
Doing the funny yet eerie C-walk dance;
It looked like everyone in the lens was doing their own thing to show off their gangster aura, and the scene was chaotic.
But the more chaotic it was, the more satisfactory the effect.
What Drill music wanted to display was the disordered, lawless thug life of bottom-tier black hoodlums.
Around the end of the first verse, the image froze on 50 Cent holding more than ten pit bulls, making a shooting gesture at the camera.
To get this shot, they borrowed almost all the dogs from the nggas present.
"Cut!"
After the transition, close-up shots were given to the three selected gang members.
They either made throat-slitting gestures;
Or revealed the guns at their waists;
Or thrust their hips at the lens, hard-humping the camera...
In short, everyone had to try their best to show their vicious side through a short 3-second shot.
After the second verse, the screen first went to Robinson.
He stood in front of a group of underlings wearing blue bandanas, revealing only a profile.
A shot of less than 3 seconds.
Even this three-second shot was giving Leon enough face.
Robinson had committed multiple felonies and was very sensitive about showing his face on camera.
But a few seconds was enough. Die-hard fans in the online community who studied gang culture deeply would easily dig up Robinson's identity.
The camera cut again, and the protagonist became Leon.
According to the script, he wore a decent suit like Robinson.
The difference was that his style was much flashier.
He sat on a luxurious prop sofa with his legs crossed, wearing sunglasses.
In his hand, he held three leashes, leading three pit bulls.
If one observed carefully enough, they would find that each pit bull had a name tag on its chest.
They were: "Diddy," "Pitbull"...
The name tag on the last dog was engraved only with a question mark, leaving room for the audience's imagination.
To Leon's left, Jorge led a group of Mexican toughs standing like statues.
They uniformly wore white sleeveless undershirts, revealing dense gang tattoos, with twisted bullet holes faintly visible.
Their Mexican-style handle-bar mustaches were groomed meticulously, and they had no expression, like they had facial paralysis.
And to Leon's right were the Bloods members from the Bronx.
They held their chins up, staring at the camera with vicious eyes.
Cardi B, wearing a leopard-print bodysuit, crawled at Leon's feet and shook her taillights.
That was the twerking she was best at.
The mobile camera lens slowly pulled back.
The Crip members led by 50 Cent and Leon's group appeared in the same frame.
The image froze there.