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On August 1st, the auditions for The Rap of America concluded, and the recording of the first main competition unit began.
This show was officially confirmed only in July, so both the promotional and recording schedules were extremely tight. As the producer, Leon also had to make time to participate in promotional activities.
At least he had to attend the promotional activities in New York; this was his base.
The reputation of "Street Jesus" was the best promotion.
Just after filming the promotional video for the show in the morning, he had to attend a rally held by the Democratic Party in Queens.
Returning to the office, Leon was exhausted and listless.
Seeing his wretched appearance, Phil teased: "You look like a fully wound toy; this is the best state for a singer!"
Leon was too tired to respond to the old geezer. He took a glass and poured himself a whisky, drinking in broad daylight, which was rare for him.
"There are two professions in this country that make money most easily~" Phil clinked glasses with him. "Do you know what they are?"
Leon rolled his eyes. "I don't know, but I guess the President must be one of them."
"No, no, no~" Phil wagged his finger. "The President is a high-risk profession, with the risk of assassination at any time. The easiest money-makers are streetwalkers and singers; they both just need to open their mouths to make money!"
Leon was amused by the old geezer's trash talk and shook his head while laughing: As if being a singer in America isn't a high-risk profession.
Phil stood up and walked to Leon. "Cheer up, in 13 days you can completely cut ties with JAY-Z. Columbia's regard for you is no joke; your resources are on the same level as Beyoncé and Adele... You might soon leave JAY-Z behind!"
In less than two weeks, his contract with Roc Nation would officially expire.
This should have been a great thing, but he was worried.
JAY-Z's reaction was too calm, as if the person leaving the company was a nobody.
"I don't think JAY-Z will give up my contract so easily," Leon said.
"What else can he do? Diddy is finished!" Phil said, "Your worries are superfluous~ He is a shrewd businessman, no longer the drug dealer with a gun on his waist all day. You are just changing jobs, not really sleeping with his wife like the media hyped!"
Speaking of this, the old geezer showed a meaningful smile.
The scandal between Leon and Beyoncé caused quite a stir, but most people treated it as a joke.
The little brother turning over to ride the big sister-in-law is something melon-eating masses all over the world love to see.
Without substantial evidence, no one took it seriously. Even Taylor always treated this matter as hype by unscrupulous media.
"Even if it's revenge, I hope he can have some new tricks, instead of playing some street smarts like Diddy." Leon took a sip of whiskey. "I have no energy to waste on this ngga."
"He does think so! Didn't Roc Nation announce the release date of JAY-Z's new album recently?" Phil said.
JAY-Z, whose mind had not been on music in recent years, suddenly exerted force. After announcing Rihanna's new album Talk That Talk in September, he released another heavy news.
JAY-Z suddenly announced that the release date of the album Watch the Throne, originally scheduled for November, was advanced to the 8th of this month.
This was only five days away from the day Leon's contract expired.
This new album is not a solo album but a studio album collaborated by Jay-Z and Kanye.
The issuers are Roc Nation and Def Jam.
"Kanye collaborates with JAY-Z on a new album on one hand, and announces joining your show on the other... I'm really curious how he did it," Phil said.
But Leon was not surprised at all.
Although Kanye occasionally acted tough in his works, in reality, he had nothing to do with the word "street."
He was completely a fence-sitter who played both sides.
Even if Ray J and Kardashian recreated the classic scenes from the sex tape at the recording site of The Rap of America.
Witnessing this scene, Kanye might not jump out to teach the other party a lesson.
After resting for an hour, Leon stretched and left his favorite swivel chair.
Downstairs, the business convoy led by Jorge had been waiting for a long time, only waiting for his order to drive to the recording site.
The recording location was an abandoned factory in the Bronx. After a magical modification by Sean's team, this place had been completely transformed.
The passage leading to the studio was surrounded by barbed wire, hung with fake diamond necklaces.
Colorful graffiti of rap superstars such as Tupac, Biggie, and Diddy were painted on the walls of the passage.
Their common point is that they all profoundly influenced the pattern of hip-hop music, and they are all "dead people" now (Diddy being metaphorically dead/incarcerated).
At the end of the passage was a three-forked passage with the slogan "RAP OR CRAP" written in colorful spray paint.
One end led to the studio, and the other end had a large garbage truck about to be scrapped.
The body of the garbage truck was also printed with "You have been abandoned by Hip-hop."
A group of black actors temporarily hired from the streets of the Bronx guarded here.
Sean pointed to the garbage truck and introduced excitedly: "If any contestant performs poorly, these nggas will throw them into the garbage truck~ I think doing this will be very show-effective."
Leon nodded, satisfied with all of Sean's arrangements.
Abandoned factories like this are everywhere in the Bronx, and the rent is negligible relative to the production cost of this show.
Renovation didn't take much effort, mainly creating an atmosphere with various graffiti and decorative paintings.
What really needed heavy investment was the temporary studio.
Although many equipment adopted the form of rental, temporarily building such a fully functional large stage inevitably burned money.
But overall, Sean completed the task brilliantly with the lowest budget.
"Everyone back to your positions, recording is about to start!" Mike, serving as the chief cinematographer, shouted at the top of his lungs. "Why is that kid over there still doing drugs? Hurry up and roll over here with the camera; I really want to throw you into the garbage truck right now!"
At the same time, the lighting team began to debug the lights, and the sound team made a final check on all equipment.
Kim Kardashian lifted her skirt and walked quickly through the backstage passage, just meeting Leon face to face.
"How do I look, Mr. Leon?" Kardashian winked and spun around on the spot to display her figure from all angles.
It was obvious that her waist was another circle thinner, and her hips had grown a few inches in circumference.
Obviously, new technology (plastic surgery/fillers) was added again.
The tight long dress was particularly eye-catching, fitting tightly with the skin seamlessly.
The butt position ingeniously adopted transparent lace material, which was not only transparent but also reflective under the lights.
This outfit completely highlighted the most selling point on her body.
"You look great~" Leon said in a teasing tone: "If any contestant forgets the lyrics, it's very likely that you distracted them."
Kardashian covered her mouth and laughed non-stop, the fat on her buttocks trembling lively.
"It's time to go on stage, Miss Kardashian!" The assistant reminded in her ear, and the makeup artist rubbed the powder puff on her face twice more.
After hugging Leon to greet him, Kardashian lifted her skirt and walked towards the stage.
"Who designed this dress?" Leon asked.
"I proposed the idea, Mike completed the design..." Sean said, "I think such clothing can extend the average viewing time of the audience. When the camera sweeps over Miss Kardashian's buttocks, there will definitely be viewers who rewind the progress bar to watch frame by frame. I call such guys [Screen Sherlocks]."
The data of average viewing duration has little impact on Leon as the producer, but it is of great significance to Netflix.
When streaming platforms sign cooperation agreements with advertisers, average viewing duration is an important evaluation data second only to the number of views.
Sean had thoroughly understood the psychology of the audience. Leon couldn't help shaking his shoulders hard. "You and Mike are a pair of fxxking geniuses!"
Kardashian slowly stepped onto the stage in 12-centimeter sky-high heels.
Simply adjusting her breathing a few times, she curved her jelly-like lips and showed a perfect smile to the main camera.
"Welcome to The Rap of America—the most explosive, most street show in America, and the only talent show that allows me to dress like this to host!"
Saying that, she intentionally shook her butt slightly, and the camera captured this picture precisely from a side angle.
"Tonight, get ready to witness history, because we have an unprecedented luxurious mentor lineup!"
"Don't blink; if you miss the next performance, you might have to wait until the Super Bowl~"
As soon as the voice fell, the lights in the venue dimmed.
Taking advantage of this gap of less than ten seconds, the prop team quickly completed the stage set, and more than a dozen figures walked through the stage.
When the lights came on again, a black throne covered with thorns appeared on the stage.
Cardi B wore a loose bathrobe and a fluffy pink hat on her head.
Chewing bubble gum in her mouth, blowing bubbles while laughing back and forth.
After the accompaniment sounded, she pinched the microphone and performed her famous song Bodak Yellow:
"Said little btch, you can't fxxk with me if you wanted to~"
"These expensive, these is red bottoms, these is bloody shoes~"
Singing to the chorus part, Cardi took off the white bathrobe.
Wearing a high-cut black swimsuit, with no bottoms.
Kardashian also shook with the rhythm, and their bodies collided and rubbed together from time to time.
"They look very harmonious." Leon watched everything from the side of the stage.
"Originally, Miss Cardi wanted a more revealing performance outfit... but we couldn't meet her request." Sean spread his hands. "You know, we are a talent show broadcast to the public after all; we can't let her look like she's wearing nothing."
Leon nodded in agreement; in his opinion, this opening show was successful.
Starting with a large-scale performance by the combination of Cardi and Kardashian will definitely arouse the audience's desire to continue watching.
When seeing edgy content, every viewer will hold a sense of expectation, expecting to see larger-scale content next.
Cardi's singing entered the final stage, and 50 Cent emerged from below the stage on a lift.
He crossed his hands at his crotch, lowering his head as if reciting something silently.
Dancers wearing red and blue bandanas appeared from both sides of the stage respectively, pointing at each other creating a posture of about to start a fight.
Then the accompaniment sounded, and both sides stopped their movements, staring at 50 Cent.
The violent prelude of Billy pierced the cochlea, and the dancers who were at daggers drawn just now rolled together in disorder.
"Send you to eat bullets, bullets, bullets, bullets, bullets... everyone will be fxxked by us one by one!"
The stage instantly turned into a gang carnival scene. At the climax of the song, 50 Cent suddenly shouted stop: "Hold on... let me see where that gay guy who likes to shoot black guns (sniping/backstabbing) is... What? He is in prison?"
"Then let me see where the winner is?"
50 Cent covered his eyebrows with his left hand, pretending to look into the distance, pointing at Leon and saying loudly: "He is right here! Shout out to Leon!"
At the same time, the camera captured Leon's smiling expression by the stage.
Unsurprisingly, the program team consumed P. Diddy again.
Just then, the lights suddenly dimmed again, and the violent accompaniment quickly switched to blues music.
The biggest mentor, Kanye West, appeared and brought his famous work Gold Digger.
Unlike the performances of the first two mentors, the song chosen by Kanye completely overturned the street atmosphere provoked by the previous performances.
This song has admonitory significance; the whole song is Kanye reflecting on his greed and warning women not to be gold diggers.
Sean sighed repeatedly watching it. "Kanye insisted on choosing this song; I couldn't change his mind."
Obviously, he was not satisfied with this song selection, which was incompatible with the tone set by the program.
"Don't worry, maybe this has more show effect..." Leon watched the performance on stage with a smile.
He had long guessed that Kanye joined this show with a mission, wanting to take this opportunity to conquer Kardashian.
Sure enough, just singing to the chorus, Kanye suddenly approached Kardashian, staring straight at her with blurred eyes.
There was no such design in the script originally.
Facing the obsessive Kanye, Kardashian, who has rich experience in reality shows, was not affected at all and kept smiling.
This made Kanye's move escalate further. He suddenly stopped performing and pressed his thick lips close to Kardashian's neck.
"Shxt... what does he want to do?" Sean subconsciously thought there was something wrong with Kanye's state.
Before going on stage, a staff member reported to him that he saw Kanye drinking a lot of whiskey backstage.
Just when Sean was about to call a stop to re-record, he was stopped by Leon. "Don't rush to stop."
"I'm worried Kanye is drunk and doing irrational things... will Miss Kardashian be frightened?" Sean looked worried.
"Frightened?" Leon shook his head. "Don't worry, that's impossible."
Kardashian is a veteran actress; what "big" scenes hasn't she seen?
Leon would rather Kanye's actions be a bit more excessive, so the program team could use this to hype the topic of Kardashian and her fiancé Humphries.
However, Kanye didn't do so. He let go of the other party's waist and returned to the normal performance state.
Even with the blessing of alcohol, he still chickened out.
Thus, the opening shows of the three mentors all ended, and they took their seats at the mentor table one after another.
Cardi B sat in the middle, with 50 Cent and Kanye on both sides.
Next was the contestant appearance segment. Each contestant had 60 seconds of performance time.
After the performance, the mentors would choose whether to let the contestant join their team.
If no one chooses, they will be lifted by staff and thrown into the garbage truck.
Thump thump thump—
The first contestant walked onto the stage while dribbling a basketball. "Hey yo, my nickname is Lil Jordan, from the Windy City Chicago. Basketball, rap, and street dance are my beliefs!"
Saying that, this contestant intentionally leaned the basketball towards Kardashian's crotch, as if measuring the size.
The three mentors stared at him expressionlessly. 50 Cent picked up the microphone first. "This is a rap show; no one wants to see your terrible basketball skills. Also, why did you think of designing such a disgusting hairstyle for yourself?"
His hair was parted to both sides along a line, a hairstyle not common in the United States.
"I think this hairstyle is cool~ Don't you think so?"
50 Cent patted his forehead. "Bro, why did your mom allow you to go out with such a hairstyle? If you walk on the streets of Chicago, never say you are black; quickly say you are tanned..."
After the trash talk was sprayed, Lil Jordan's expression was still full of confidence, and he officially started the performance.
Just like his previous self-introduction, he integrated the three hobbies of rap, basketball, and street dance.
Singing while playing with the basketball, constantly shaking his shoulders and dancing a funny dance.
The judges covered their mouths and laughed non-stop. Cardi mocked: "If there was only this one man left in the world, I would not hesitate to marry my middle finger."
"Quickly throw this clown into the garbage truck!"