Hollywood films are highly industrialized and capitalized.
Even for an Oscar-winning superstar, after starring in a few consecutive box office and critical flops, they will be immediately abandoned by capital.
Riding the halo of a rap superstar, Ice Cube crossed over to play around in movies, and for a long time afterward, he was constantly offered film roles.
But the flop of XXX: State of the Union directly sentenced his acting career to death. Now he could only accept some second-rate resources, and was forced to shift his career focus back to music.
However, under the impact of the new generation of rappers, it was difficult for this veteran rap superstar to return to the peak of his music career.
The album I Am the West released last year failed to gain market favor because the style was too old-school.
Music critics ridiculed it as "as old as a pharaoh's shroud" and said, "This album should be put in a museum."
"When do we start working?"
Cube looked full of energy. He knew very well that the significance behind Not Like Us was not as simple as an ordinary rap single.
This concerned the future battle between Kendrick and Drake;
Leon led the West Coast to confront the alliance of Lil Wayne and Jay-Z head-on...
After this work was released, it would likely set off the second wave of climaxes in the hip-hop circle this year. The only insurmountable mountain was that man—Diddy.
Considering various factors, he asked for $120,000 for the beat production, which was considered a very high price for a rap music beat.
Beat production mainly relies on drum machines and audio synthesizers. Usually, without overly complex arrangements, it doesn't require too much knowledge of music theory.
On websites selling original beats, beats priced under $200 are everywhere.
Besides the high asking price, he also requested that his name be placed at the very front of the producer list.
Leon had no objection to this; Cube's name was originally one of the selling points of this song.
"Wait a bit longer. Although that ngga K-Dot is always unpunctual, he definitely won't be late today." Leon looked down at his watch.
Half an hour later, Kendrick rushed open the office door.
As soon as they met, he hugged Leon and bumped fists to greet him. "Brother, let me see the hard stuff you talked about! You made me lose sleep for a whole week! Even when I was in bed with a woman, your face was in my mind!"
After the excitement passed, he noticed Cube beside him and quickly went up to bump fists with him. "Boss Cube, you're here too?"
Although he still looked bewildered, he gradually realized that the mysterious producer Leon mentioned was actually Ice Cube.
"Look at you, kid. It's like Biggie's soul possessed you. No wonder even the Saint appreciates you so much." Cube sneered twice. "But your taste in choosing a boss needs improvement. Choosing Dre to lead you into the industry, sooner or later you'll be eaten alive by him."
"Let's not talk about other things; let's get to work quickly."
Leon patted both of them on the shoulder, avoiding Cube getting too carried away and digging up old scores.
The group walked into the Sol (Sun) recording studio. Cube took out the beat tape from the briefcase carried by his bodyguard and inserted it into the playback equipment.
"Listen to what real hard stuff is!"
The beat opened with a sample of the 1968 version of I Believe to My Soul, covered by the late soul music pioneer Ray Charles.
Violin, piano, and brass timbres intertwined. Cube sped it up, and the tense atmosphere was immediately highlighted.
Then, embellished with bass, screaming applause, and military drums, the rhythm was immediately enhanced, and the rough West Coast style became more obvious.
"This is the style I like..." Kendrick couldn't help shaking his head to the rhythm.
The shock Cube's beat gave him was just the beginning. When he saw the lyrics Leon wrote, he truly couldn't hold it in anymore.
"Bro, how did you write these lyrics?"
Kendrick was confused. He had never told anyone about many of the dark secrets about Drake in the lyrics.
He had the illusion that Leon had lifted his skull to peek inside.
"Incredible. You're like a boss in some strategy game I played when I was a kid!" Kendrick said. "Yuri? Do you have the superpower to peek into minds?"
Leon quickly changed the subject. "Stop talking nonsense, ngga. I don't understand what you're saying. Hurry up and memorize the lyrics; we have work to do. Didn't you say you couldn't wait to slap Drake's face hard?"
"Let's do this!" Kendrick nodded heavily, holding the lyric book and memorizing silently.
These lyrics felt very familiar to him in both narrative and language style. He reached the level of reciting half of it without the script in less than half an hour.
During this period, he slightly modified the original lyrics and put his personal label on them to avoid being labeled a "Fake MC." After doing all this, he came to the microphone, put on headphones, and made an OK gesture to Leon and Cube.
"I'm ready, guys!"
After the sampling of I Believe to My Soul ended, it officially entered the verse part. The thick 808 bass line was paired with fast hi-hats and side-chain synthesizers.
Forming a strong contrast with the orchestral music in the sampling part, the emotion was maxed out immediately.
Wop wop wop wop wop Dot fck 'em up
Wop wop wop wop wop I'ma do my stuff
Why you trollin' like a btch? Ain't you tired?
Tryna strike a chord and it's probably A-Minor
They not like us, they not like us, they not like us
Kendrick, who was singing high, completely entered a state of selflessness, outputting fiercely while doing the C-Walk.
"Fck, if I were dissed by such a song, I would grab a Glock and kill the guy who wrote it." Cube held a cigar in his mouth, shaking his head constantly to the drumbeat. "This is the rap era I experienced, fundamentally different from that mumble rap sht on the market!"
"Only idiots think that sissy stuff is rap!"
Leon high-fived Cube, quite satisfied with the effect presented by the first recording.
The Trap style promoted by Lil Wayne and Kanye had dominated the rap music market for nearly five years, and the melodic rap promoted by Diddy was also prevalent.
In comparison, the decline of the West Coast G-funk style, which once suppressed the East Coast in the 90s, has become an indisputable fact.
Not Like Us carries pure West Coast blood. Its significance is not limited to ending the beef between Kendrick and Drake; maybe it really has the potential to sound the horn for the revival of the West Coast style.
"That felt fking awesome, Bro!" Kendrick took off his headphones immediately. The high-frequency lyric output and dancing made him sweat all over. "I can't wait to see Drake's expression when he hears this song!"
"Don't be too happy too early, young man. Your performance was good, but there were many places where the drum beats didn't land accurately." Cube poured cold water on him. "We have to do it a few more times."
"No problem. To polish this song to perfection, I can do it as many times as needed!"
Cube and Kendrick showed a fanatical working state, and the recording continued until 9 PM.
Under the influence of cigars and whiskey, they gradually got buzzed. In this situation, they couldn't continue working without women.
With just one phone call from Cube, the recording studio was filled with a group of street girls.
"Leon, look at this~" Amidst the cigar smoke, Cube narrowed his eyes and showed off a girl's impressive rear end. "You should try black girls; you'll absolutely love it."
160 pounds in weight, visually estimated that one-third of it was in the butt.
The way the girl shook her body made Leon shake his head repeatedly. "I'm a little tired, guys. Remember not to get too high. I hope to see the recording completed tomorrow."
Smack, smack, smack—Cube slapped the girl's rear heavily a few times. "Don't worry, Bro. Have you ever seen a better 'drum machine' than this?"
On the first day of December, Thursday, Billboard released the weekly singles chart.
Blinding Lights debuted at number two on the chart with first-week sales of 560,000 copies, second only to Rihanna's We Found Love, which topped the chart for the fourth time.
In the New York area, as long as you turned on the car radio, you could hear this song no matter which frequency you tuned to.
The same was true for local radio stations in other cities. DJs took Columbia Records' money and praised it brainlessly in various ways.
Malls, restaurants, barbershops, and even windows selling weed in the slums included it in their background playlists.
Besides the factor of throwing money, the quality of the work itself could not be ignored.
Even in a highly developed capitalist society, there were still a few tough music critics.
They were usually not short of money and were keen to publish evaluations contrary to the mainstream to highlight their unique tastes.
But most picky music critics still gave this work a high score; the style of this work was just too new.
Since Lady Gaga burst onto the scene, the electronic dance music style began to formally capture the mainstream market.
But Leon played this style with new tricks in Blinding Lights. The avant-garde arrangement refreshed all listeners.
In the CEO's office, Phil, Ariana, and Frankie were discussing the release date of 7 Rings.
Due to some minor episodes in the MV shooting, the first promotional song originally scheduled to be released at the end of November had been shelved until now.
"How about setting it for release in two weeks? This way we can maximize the use of the Christmas holiday traffic." Phil suggested.
Ariana bit her lip and didn't speak, but her expectant eyes betrayed her thoughts—she was eager to push this work to the market immediately to prove herself.
Leon saw through her thoughts at a glance and smiled, the corners of his mouth curling up. "Little A doesn't seem to want to wait that long. I think we should set it for release the day after tomorrow."
"The day after tomorrow? You're kidding, right?" Phil pricked up his ears, looking surprised. "Don't you think this is too early?"
In the past November, besides Leon's third promotional song Blinding Lights going on sale, King Von's Panda also officially entered the record market.
Currently, the performance of both songs on the Billboard was very strong. In the TOP 5, Leon's works occupied three seats, and Panda also had hope of breaking into the top ten next week.
Looking at it this way, the top ten of the Billboard in December might be half-occupied by him alone, showing absolute dominance.
"Not early. It's time for the market to see the ability of our genius girl."
Leon walked to Ariana with a coffee cup and patted her head.
Little A, who had been emotional recently, didn't resist. Her eyes shone like a well-behaved puppy.
"Alright, you're the boss, but I'm considering your interests." Phil spread his hands. "Little A's new song will definitely affect the data of Panda. Don't you think it's a bit stupid to have internal competition?"
"Not at all."
If a record company has three singers appearing in the Billboard Top 10 in the same period, this isn't called meaningless internal competition, but a display of dominance.
The competition for record sales in December will enter a white-hot stage. during the Christmas holiday, the public's desire to consume explodes, and records are an indispensable part of many American families' Christmas gift lists.
Def Jam and Roc Nation exerted their strength, continuing to throw heavy money for Rihanna's new album Talk That Talk.
Not only did the title track We Found Love reoccupy the first place on the weekly chart, but it also climbed to third place on the album sales chart.
Besides Rihanna, Katy Perry and Adele were also exerting strength during the Christmas holiday. After staying on the chart for more than half a year, the data of multiple works rebounded strongly.
LMFAO's hit new song Sexy and I Know It and Black Eyed Peas' The Time also entered the TOP 15 one after another.
To show dominance in such a fiercely competitive market, heavy punches must be thrown.
Leon regarded Blinding Lights as the first arrow shot at Christmas;
Panda was the second one.
"Little A is my third arrow."
Hearing Leon's explanation of the "Three Arrows" plan, Phil didn't express any more objections.
"My sister will prove it to you. Her creative ability is not inferior to Taylor's!" Frankie crossed his arms and rolled his eyes, speaking in a bitchy manner, "Except for height, my sister doesn't lose to her in any aspect."
"Frankie!" Even knowing that her brother was speaking up for her, Ariana couldn't help blushing.
Deliberately comparing herself with Taylor would only make others think she was jealous.
"I look forward to it~"
After the brief meeting, everyone left one after another. Soon after, the computer screens on the desks went dark one by one.
Back in Tribeca, bored out of his mind, Leon put on boxing gloves and punched the sandbag in his private gym.
Since the second half of 2011, his increasingly busy schedule left him almost no time for body management, and his habit of occasional fitness had long been thrown to the back of his mind.
Compared to when he just debuted last year, he was a full 10 pounds heavier.
Jumping from a the bottom tier straight to Rome, considering the huge improvement in quality of life, gaining 10 pounds wasn't too much.
But as a public figure, body management is a required course.
Fans will observe with a magnifying glass; even an extra pound of flesh can't escape their eyes.
For this reason, Leon chose to do occasional boxing training, which is the second most efficient way to burn fat, second only to exercise in bed.
Judging from the experiences of boxing champions like Tyson and Mayweather, boxing can also significantly improve performance in bed.
Pushing off the ground, turning the hips, sending the shoulders, striking...
Smack, smack—although the movements were still clumsy and the force wasn't smooth, after the guidance of a boxing coach, the movements were fairly standard.
After ten minutes of high-intensity combo practice, Leon collapsed on the floor, gasping for breath.
Taking off his T-shirt, his bare upper body was soaked in sweat.
Ring, ring, ring—the phone rang. The caller was Megan.
He quickly adjusted his breathing and picked up the phone. "Hello, Miss Megan."
"Your tone doesn't seem right." The experienced Megan immediately heard the clue from his panting. "You didn't just trick another girl into bed, did you?"
"It's not what you think. I was just exercising."
"Exercising? You are already excellent enough, honey." Megan laughed coquettishly.
Leon shook his head while laughing at her teasing. "I think I still have room for improvement..."
" hearing you say that makes me look forward to it..." Megan was pinching her voice, then suddenly raised the volume. "My agency agreed! They are willing to support me taking the Evil Angel endorsement! Provided that those revealing styles are blocked..."
"That's great. I have a feeling this will be a great cooperation."
"My agency will formally connect with your clothing company this week. When do we officially start work?"
"Might have to wait until after the Christmas holiday. I'm very busy during this time."
"Alright~ I understand. you are simply red-hot right now. I have friends around me already touting you as the second MJ." Megan said, "Are you in New York? Want to meet?"
"Now?"
"That's right. I want to do a rehearsal for the commercial shoot. How about I be your private model tonight?"