Doing whatever it takes to maximize profit was Leon's consistent code of conduct.
Although the first day of the DISS release was as lively as Christmas on the internet, it was still too quiet for him.
Faced with such a cutting-edge and lethal DISS, his opponents chose silence.
The silence was boring him.
This forced Leon to take the initiative and pour another ladle of oil onto the fire.
The Joe Rogan Experience was the hottest talk show in America, and podcasts were now fully encroaching on the market share of traditional talk shows.
Leon had just appeared on the show two months ago.
However, the core figure of that episode was Ariana, not him.
During that recording, he and Joe Rogan struck up a friendship.
When he received Leon's call, Rogan agreed to the recording without hesitation, even delaying his scheduled recording plans.
The "Second East Coast vs. West Coast Gang War" was the biggest hot topic in the music industry recently.
In fact, you could drop the "music industry" qualifier entirely.
It was the most buzz-worthy news event in America.
Such a monstrous wave of traffic had long made Joe Rogan drool with envy.
Major news channels like CNN, NBC, and Fox dedicated significant coverage to discussing Billy.
Their focus wasn't on the rapper beef involved in the song, but rather pointing the spear directly at the lyrics and the MV's harmful influence on teenagers.
The middle class and the elite could build fortresses with wealthy communities and private schools to isolate their children from the dirty, despicable street culture.
But music couldn't be isolated.
Even if parents strongly opposed it, teenagers would still join the lines at record stores.
Playing CDs when their parents weren't home, letting the violent gangsta rap trigger every gene in their bodies that spelled "rebellion."
Just like the hippie music of the "Beat Generation" and the hard rock of the 80s.
Just an hour ago, right after ending the call with Joe Rogan, Leon received urgent news.
Organized by the Baptist Church, many parents took to the streets to protest.
They demanded record stores ban the sale of the Billy album and called for its total removal from streaming platforms.
The scale of the rally wasn't large, but its influence couldn't be ignored.
Protests erupting to boycott a single song were rare in music history.
Leon felt he had to make a public statement.
Both to quell the public opinion dispute and to stabilize his base to the greatest extent.
Using Joe Rogan's in-depth interview program, he would nail his image as "Street Jesus" into everyone's heart.
---
At 8 AM the next day, Leon adjusted his outfit and headed to the recording location surrounded by seven Mexican toughs.
Jorge yawned incessantly on the way, his cheeks puffy and eye sockets sunken.
"I can tell you didn't rest well last night," Leon asked. "You didn't go AWOL to fool around with hookers last night, did you?"
Since the release of the Diss, Jorge and his underlings had been on high alert almost 24 hours a day.
Leon's residence on Henry Street was guarded by dedicated personnel from the intersection to the elevator entrance.
To prevent any drive-by shootings that could happen at any time.
"Fxxk, do you take me for those unprofessional nggas?" Jorge retorted. "I didn't have time to sleep at all last night. Since midnight, there have been people sneaking around..."
"Is it that exaggerated?" Leon smiled bitterly.
"What do you think, man? Who knows how many people want you to disappear from the world right now." Jorge laughed. "Maybe compared to Diddy's crew, those elites wearing luxury brands, living in garden villas, and driving Mercedes want you to go to hell even more."
Leon could only wave his hand helplessly. Saying his current situation was "Public Enemy No. 1" might be an exaggeration, but he was definitely "Public Enemy No. 1 of American Moms."
"I think you should move, man," Jorge said. "Apartments have too many security holes. Doing security work in a place like this is torture... Speaking of which, you've already made so much money, you should change to a residence that matches your status."
"If I were you, I wouldn't run around the country for a damn job. I'd buy a yacht and be a debauched king surrounded by a bunch of curvy girls!"
Leon nodded. Robbie had strongly suggested he buy a house before.
Now it seemed this matter had to be put on the agenda.
Given the current situation, even a luxury apartment had a high risk factor.
This was determined by the nature of apartments—too many people lived in one building.
If a group of gunmen raided his home from the hallway, he wouldn't even be able to run.
The first batch of 300,000 physical copies of Billy sold out within a day.
Streaming platform data exceeded the terrifying figure of 800,000 units in a single day.
If this level of craze could be maintained for about a week, plus the sales revenue from the Demons album and other Apocalypse Music records...
Maybe it wouldn't take long to pay for a big house in full.
The business van stopped near Joe Rogan's studio.
"Welcome, Leon!" Joe Rogan rushed up and extended his right hand.
After two months, the atmosphere of their reunion was clearly different.
Whether out of fear of the street aura Leon displayed in the MV or out of respect for the traffic...
Joe Rogan's attitude was exceptionally respectful.
Considering the other party's background, Leon was more inclined to believe the latter.
This guy was a fanatical combat sports enthusiast and a master of karate and jiu-jitsu himself.
This was also why he chose to join the UFC as a commentator when it was still struggling.
Although his personal political leanings were left-leaning, his fan base was surprisingly right-leaning conservatives.
This sounded ridiculous, but actually, it wasn't strange.
This was a country full of contradictions.
After the recording started, Joe Rogan took out the Billy vinyl record in his hand and joked, "Man, although this work has been out for a while, forgive me for just buying this record now."
As an old-school tough-guy commentator, he wasn't interested in any type of rap music.
"Did you listen to it?" Leon asked with a smile.
"Of course."
"How does it feel?"
"Do you want the truth?"
"Go ahead."
"Ahem." Joe straightened his lapels and continued, "This song is full of violence, erotica, chaos... even a bit grotesque."
"I didn't intend to convey such a message." Leon spread his hands. "I was just using a realistic style to write about real street life."
"You mean the murder and crime written in this song are real?"
Leon had expected the other party to ask this. This question was a big trap from the start.
Answering yes would inevitably cause an uproar.
The sensational public opinion would place him in a very unfavorable position.
And directly denying it was even more impossible; that was a retarded answer that would damage his heat.
Fortunately, while browsing YouTube a few days ago, he accidentally stumbled upon a video—"Highlights of Presidential Election Debates Over the Years."
He realized a truth from it—never be led by the nose by other people's questions!
"Answering irrelevantly" and "being vague" were the best strategies for debates and interviews.
"That's not important," Leon said. "What's important is, how was the current situation of the Black community caused? Why is the crime rate among Black people so high?"
"This..." Joe, who was always sharp-tongued, didn't dare to follow up. This topic touched red lines if handled slightly carelessly.
Leon continued, "They have long suffered unfair treatment, and most Black people grow up without fathers!"
Next, he stood on the "White Left stance" and critiqued current affairs, listing all the injustices in the Black community.
Applying "Great, Glorious, and Correct" to him wasn't an exaggeration at all.
He was radiating the light of justice.
Towards the end, he revealed his fangs, promoting the Straight Outta Compton movie and mentioning Vibe magazine in passing.
"Old Mr. Quincy Jones and I have been good friends for many years."
"You're kidding, right man? Jones is almost eighty years old." Joe's eyes widened.
"Our friendship transcends age." Leon lied effortlessly. "The old gentleman has fought for charity all his life. Recently, he joined the crew of Straight Outta Compton as the artistic director. This movie will influence many Black people."
"Oh right, he also intends to transfer the suspended Vibe magazine to me at a touching friendship price, so I can continue to contribute to the Black community..."
Joe Rogan naturally didn't know Leon's true intention behind these words and could only nod repeatedly in agreement.
Promoting the movie and flattering Jones was just the first layer of intention.
The deeper intention was that this public shout-out was equivalent to putting Jones on a roasting rack.
It dressed the acquisition of Vibe in a sacred "charity" cloak instead of a purely commercial act.
And what Old Jones cared about most was this vain reputation.
Joe felt they had strayed a bit far, knocked on the table, and said, "Let's talk about the song Billy. We all want to hear your opinion on the title 'Street Judas'."
"Street Judas? What does that mean? I don't understand." Leon played dumb.
"Obviously, you and 50 Cent made the song Billy, standing on the West Coast side in this Beef."
"Fxxk, I never betrayed the East Coast!" Leon raised his volume by three degrees. "Miss Beyoncé is the person I respect most. I wouldn't betray her. I only attacked that group of villains."
"You Dissed so many people, have you never worried about retaliation?" Joe Rogan continued to lead.
"I'm not Tupac." Leon pointed to his head, as if warning opponents he wasn't that stupid.
And this inadvertent answer was immediately caught by Joe.
He asked with a serious face, "Are you saying the truth about Tupac's death is related to the people 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 the words were ambiguous, the implication still pointed directly at P. Diddy.
Even though this was the consensus within the circle.
This was still a rare occasion since Tupac's death in 1997 where a celebrity publicly pinned Tupac's death on Diddy.
Joe nodded repeatedly on the surface without showing emotion, but inside he was already celebrating like he was at Disneyland—the views for this episode were going to skyrocket to heaven.
After this controversial conversation ended, Joe immediately segued to an even sharper topic.
Women's issues were a major reason Billy caused an uproar in the market.
This was the core problem for those middle-class elite mothers boycotting this record.
Rap music filled with street and violence content had long ceased to be a novelty in the market.
Billy was just more explicit and bottomless.
What truly made those white mothers unable to accept it was the large chunks of vulgar sexual descriptions in the song.
Lyrics objectifying women weren't rare; the "money worship" promoted by rap music had a clear theme of objectifying women.
But Billy obviously went a bit extreme. The content in the lyrics was something even the most hardcore themes from Brazzers wouldn't dare to act out.
Leon seemed to have expected this question long ago and responded with a smile, "Joe, I thought we were friends."
Joe Rogan was stunned by this question and immediately responded, "Why do you say that? Of course we are friends."
"If we are friends, why don't you understand me at all?" Leon shook his head. "I am the person who respects women the most in this world. Just look at the artists I signed, a group of lively and cute girls."
Joe laughed out loud. "That doesn't prove anything. My friend, UFC President Dana White, always can't walk when he sees strong young guys, but that doesn't mean he likes men."
"That's not the same thing~" Leon wagged his finger. "You can see on social media, besides those West Coast rappers and the girls I signed, who else stood by my side in this Beef?"
"Taylor, Miranda... they are all girls!"
"I respect girls, so girls like me too~"
This answer was both sharp and respectful of facts. Even a seasoned interviewer like Joe Rogan couldn't find fault with it.
The recording of the show soon entered the final stage. Leon used these nearly three hours to do everything he could.
"Wait..." Leon had Jorge hand over a briefcase. "Look what these are."
He took out three sets of women's lingerie from the briefcase and displayed them to the camera.
Some styles were coyly revealing, some were bold and open, some left nothing to the imagination...
They all had the conspicuous label of EA (Wicked Angel).
Joe Rogan was messy for a moment, not knowing what to say.
"If I didn't respect women, I wouldn't invest in Cardi B's lingerie brand." Leon paused to build emotion. "Let alone spend a huge price to hire the top designer team to meticulously design these products, while the selling price is less than half of the Victoria's Secret series."
"I do this all for American women, to let them enjoy better products for less money!"
"Soon, we will bring a runway feast that won't lose to Victoria's Secret."
Joe Rogan was stunned. Leon easily defused the sensitive topic of "insulting women" while actually sneaking in a wave of advertising.
Guests on his podcast were prohibited from other commercial promotions except for promoting their own movies, songs, or books.
But Leon's advertisement left him with no temper.
After the recording ended, when the two hugged, Joe Rogan couldn't help but praise, "You really are something..."
As soon as he got into the business van and before he had time to rest, Leon's phone rang.
The caller was Lenny from the Roc Nation Kingdom.
This call should have come long ago. Bearing the name of Judas and causing such a big Beef, the day of reckoning would come sooner or later.
"Long time no see, Leon~" Lenny's tone on the other end was excited. "Congratulations on creating another hit. From Manhattan to Queens, the streets are talking about your name..."
Lenny's friendliness surprised Leon. He lowered his voice and replied, "Thank you, man."
"Are you free to come to the company now?"
"Now?"
Leon looked unhappy. The "trial meeting" hosted by Jay-Z at Roc Nation last month was still vivid in his mind.
"Yes, the company has prepared a surprise for you," Lenny said with a smile.
"Surprise? Just tell me on the phone, man. I'm very busy right now," Leon quickly replied.
"Better to say it in person," Lenny said. "By the way, Miss Beyoncé just said she wants to see you."