Leon pointed at the models on the runway, interacting with them while picking up the microphone to sing gently, "Land in Miami... The air was hot from summer rain, sweat dripping off me..."
At this time, Ariana became more proactive, gazing infatuatedly at Leon while lightly biting her lower lip.
Then, she pressed against Leon's body and swayed, dancing a Caribbean-style dance.
"Before I called on your name, your name..."
"I love it when you call me señorita..."
The scene was reversed. Leon, rich in combat experience, looked like a raw recruit in front of the 17-year-old Ariana.
Sitting below the stage, Phil applauded vigorously while constantly nudging Leonard with his elbow. "Look at his current popularity and live performance... Trying to sign such a future superstar with 5 million dollars is simply robbery!"
"I think he should get the same signing fee as Adele. Look at how Sony does things!"
Leonard smiled and didn't respond directly, instead having other thoughts. "Actually, I'm more interested in that girl right now."
"Old man, what you think is your business, but I must tell you, if you want to poach people from that kid, I advise you to save your energy." Phil sneered.
"Leon indeed managed this label very well, but he relies on vision rather than means... he's just a 20-year-old fledgling..."
Phil rolled his eyes at Leonard.
Means, huh?
This kid PUA'd him, an old fox with more than twenty years of industry experience, spinning him around in circles, almost costing him his life several times.
Sitting in the first row, Jennifer Lopez applauded non-stop while praising to Pitbull beside her, "Their performance was amazing. I remember Leon's girlfriend is Robbie, right?"
"The day they officially announced it, they occupied the headlines of the entertainment section..."
"Why do I feel Ariana is his girlfriend? It feels like they are not just performing so simply."
Pitbull sneered twice without speaking, looking at Leon with disdain.
Since his debut, he had been taken care of by the famous musician Pharrell Williams, and Pharrell was also Diddy's little brother.
This name ranked among the top in attendance frequency at crazy parties.
Rounding up, Pitbull could be considered Diddy's "little brother's little brother."
In fact, as soon as Leon appeared on stage, Pitbull sent a message to Diddy asking if he should teach this kid a lesson.
But Diddy stopped him immediately.
Otherwise, Leon might have been surrounded by a group of Cuban gang members as soon as he walked out of the show venue today.
As the performance approached its end, Ariana hugged Leon from behind, the two pressing tightly together.
The audience at the scene stood up and applauded, especially the Hispanic audience.
It was foreseeable that after this performance, the streaming sales of Señorita would reach another level.
"How do you feel?"
"I feel very good, but I was a little nervous just now... after all, it's such an important occasion..." Ariana buried her face in Leon's arms, switching to a shy posture in a second.
"Really? I didn't see you being nervous..."
Just now during the performance, Leon felt Ariana's intense gaze looked like she wanted to pounce on him.
"Come here quick, Leon, let me introduce you to an important friend!"
As soon as Leon walked off the stage, Phil took his hand and walked to Leonard. "This is Mr. Leonard, Vice President of Warner Music North America."
This stupid behavior made Leon somewhat annoyed.
He couldn't help cursing in his heart: Did this old geezer leave his brain in a woman's tunnel?
Pitbull and Jennifer were both present. Such open contact with a Warner executive would sooner or later reach Jay-Z's ears.
Then his situation would be very bad.
After Phil's introduction, he didn't respond at all until Leonard took the initiative to shake hands.
After that, there was no communication between the two. Leonard turned to talk to Ariana beside him non-stop.
At first, the topics they chatted about were normal, until later Leonard asked more and more outrageous questions.
Such as how many boyfriends she had dated, when was her first time...
Leon frowned tightly, showing a disgusted expression.
This refined scum had no interest in the venue full of big boobs and big butts, but his eyes lit up only for Ariana.
Judging from his wrinkled wretched smile, this guy Leonard might have special fetishes.
His appearance indeed perfectly fit the stereotype of that group.
Rumor has it that besides the deep-level parties in Diddy's crazy parties, there is an even more hidden party.
It is said that the hidden party hides Diddy's biggest secret.
Leon once witnessed Diddy leading a group of people into a mysterious room at a party.
They were generally older, dignified in appearance, and highly educated, looking no different from Leonard.
"Hehe... a girl as excellent as you should have a more excellent platform. Warner Music is the best choice."
"Apocalypse Music is too small in scale... Warner Music has more than a dozen labels like this under its umbrella."
As Leonard spoke, he actually tried to hold Ariana's hand.
At first, Ariana was immersed in the other party's PUA. After reacting, she quickly withdrew her hand, looking at a loss.
Leon hurriedly took action, pulling Ariana to his side, away from this wretched idiot.
Although Leonard's face was full of displeasure, he didn't say much.
Because offending a strongly rising new generation star over such a small matter was not a worthwhile deal.
When the fashion show came to an end, Leon got up and was about to leave.
He just received a message from Cardi B. This crazy girl had just finished her performance in Orlando and had arrived in Miami.
In the text message, she said—"I have a huge surprise for you!"
This made Leon nervous instantly. The surprises this crazy girl talked about usually meant big trouble.
Just as he was about to leave, Jennifer walked straight over.
"Hi~ Leon~"
"Hello, Miss Jennifer." Actually, Leon had long noticed that since he returned to the audience seat after the performance, Jennifer's gaze would glance here from time to time.
If it were anyone else, Leon might go over to say hello, but that was Jennifer, Diddy's former woman.
Better keep some distance.
"I've listened to all your works. Frankly speaking, I appreciate you most among this batch of new generation singers." Jennifer fiddled with her hair from time to time while speaking.
This was a gesture full of suggestion.
A question flashed through Leon's mind: What does this woman want?
According to Phil's previous description, Jennifer was promiscuous by nature. Her emotional history was complex, and black material was exposed many times due to divorce lawsuits.
Being able to get along with Diddy for more than two years showed that she completely accepted or even enjoyed Diddy's perverted ways of playing.
"Thank you for your praise, Miss Jennifer. There are many excellent newcomers..."
Jennifer smiled, the corners of her mouth curling up, her eyes full of mature woman aura. "Don't be modest. I often see rumors about you on social media. Sounds like you are not that kind of modest man."
Leon dealt with her perfunctorily, glancing down at his watch from time to time.
He just wanted to leave here quickly.
At this time, Pitbull walked over. "We have to go, Jennifer. The MV shooting team is in place."
From the moment he appeared, he had been sizing up Leon with malicious eyes.
He even showed provocative smiles many times.
"Alright~ Looking forward to our next meeting, Leon. Maybe we also have a chance to cooperate?" Jennifer shrugged helplessly, her eyes full of reluctance.
Before leaving, Pitbull intentionally turned around and imitated the sound of gunfire "bang bang" with his mouth.
Leon couldn't be bothered with him. The group got into the business van and went to the South Miami Playa Beach mentioned by Cardi B.
As soon as they got off the car, they fully felt the hot atmosphere of Miami.
The streets were full of girls in bikinis, and these girls really shopped in convenience stores wearing string bikinis.
Girls didn't shy away at all, even enjoying men's burning gazes.
Since 150,000 people poured in from the Caribbean in the 80s, the number of sex workers in Miami has skyrocketed exponentially.
Because among these 150,000 people, there were only criminals and sex workers.
The unrestrained Caribbean style subtly influenced this city; its sexual openness reached a staggering level.
Most of the scantily clad girls on the street were practitioners of special industries.
Only the difference between part-time and full-time.
Learning knowledge during the day to build America, doing part-time jobs at night to repay student loans is a routine operation here.
These are veritable "good girls."
Leon wandered around the street but couldn't find Cardi B. Just as he was about to take out his phone to call, he heard familiar demonic laughter.
"Ha~ Boss, I'm here!"
Looking towards the sound, Cardi B was standing with a group of women dressed improperly.
She was wearing an eye-searing minimalist string bikini and sunglasses.
Swinging her tail lights at passing vehicles from time to time.
Leon noticed that a line of text was written on her tail light with a marker pen—"Slutty bxxch."
Among a group of special workers, she turned out to be the most special one!
Ariana was too shy to look directly, and even Leon couldn't help exclaiming.
"WTF... what are you doing?"
Cardi spun around to show her outfit, saying with a face full of pride: "Of course, promoting our brand! Look, I'm wearing Evil Angel products!"
"Ha~ they are indeed very popular. Many girls around here are asking me where they can buy such clothes."
Leon was speechless for a moment. After more than ten seconds of silence, he asked in a deep voice: "So, this is how you promote products?"
"Of course! I'm trying to integrate into their group so I can know their consumption needs."
"Do you know, Boss? If you came a little later, I probably would have made the first deal! I like this way of making money!"
Cardi B jumped excitedly. It could be seen that she said these words from the bottom of her heart.
"Alright, so is this the surprise you wanted to give me?"
"Yes!" Cardi grabbed Leon's arm and pointed at the girls on the street. "Look here, how strong the demand for Evil Angel is here!"
"If we open a store here, supply won't meet demand for our products!"
Leon observed around in the direction Cardi pointed and found that it was indeed true.
No city's girls have ever been as unrestrained as Miami.
Phil also offered an assist at this time. "This time you should trust Cardi's vision..."
He pointed to a shop sign twenty meters away and continued, "Look there, a Durex specialty store."
"Fxxk, I never thought such things could also open specialty stores. How hot must the demand be here?"
Not only Durex specialty stores, but there were also various toy specialty stores on this street. The number of swimwear shops exceeded grocery stores.
It didn't take long for Leon to make the decision to open a store.
Isn't South Miami Beach exactly his ideal promised land?
There is no competition from Victoria's Secret here, and the consumer groups are mostly those special workers.
Evil Angel products are usually disposable items in the hands of these people; in most cases, they will be torn apart.
This way, the repurchase rate is also guaranteed.
If sales really met Leon's expectations, then the fashion show benchmarking Victoria's Secret would follow naturally.
Miami holds hundreds of swimwear shows, big and small, a year. No place is more suitable than here.
"Very good, Miami is indeed a good place."
Not only do it, but make it a flagship store.
Benchmarking the scale of Victoria's Secret flagship store on Fifth Avenue in New York.
There are nearly two million sex workers in the United States earning easy money. The value of this market is immeasurable.
Leon gave this task to Cardi.
As a personal brand bearing Cardi B's name, she could take away half of the profits without paying a cent. She should be responsible for this matter.
Maybe before long, this place would become a new calling card for Miami. Those swarming special workers would treat this place as a holy land for pilgrimage.
After returning to New York, Leon didn't rest for a moment. The matter of contacting film companies via email he asked Bonnie to do before had progress.
Black protagonist, singer investment...
The theme is rap music, and it's also a biopic with a high box office flop rate.
Even if a sucker paid for it and the film company just lay back and earned money, there were still only a few companies interested in this project.
Big factories like Universal and Warner didn't even reply to the email.
Paramount also expressed polite refusal in the email.
After tasting the sweetness of superhero movies, this company was fighting fiercely with Disney over the issue of character copyrights.
Inside a coffee shop on Henry Street, Brooklyn, Leon was meeting with Miles, the production executive of Lionsgate Films today.
This company is famous in the industry for small costs and high returns. James Wan's famous work was also distributed by Lionsgate.
But every time after tasting the sweetness of low-budget horror films, the CEO of this company would always have a brain cramp and conceive the idea of shooting big productions.
The result was losing all the money earned from horror films and even having to pay extra.
"Mr. Leon, I have read your script carefully. The company unanimously agrees that this is a very charming and mature work, only..."
"Only what?" Leon blew the heat off the coffee and asked.
Miles stammered: "This type of movie appears too rarely in the market. We have no reference objects... Shooting such a movie is too risky."
"Isn't Eminem's 8 Mile one? You should know the box office performance of that movie," Leon said with a smile.
"That's different... The lead actor you designated is a rapper who has never acted before."
"Wasn't Eminem the same?"
Miles gritted his teeth and whispered after more than ten seconds of silence: "Eminem is not Black."
As an insider, saying these words required courage. With a little carelessness, one would be labeled as "racist."
Those leftists in the film association advocating political correctness would make a big fuss about this point. Even already released films might face the risk of being censored again.
Everyone knows that as long as the protagonist is Black, the probability of box office flop increases at least double.
The reason why superstars like Will Smith became phenomenal is that Hollywood needs such a Black actor, and the market also needs one.
But one such character is enough to satisfy market demand. Precisely because of this, it is difficult for another Black actor to reach his height.
Leon leaned forward, knocked on the table, and said, "This is not your concern. Even if it loses money, it's my money."
"It's wrong to say that... As a distributor, we certainly don't want you to lose money. Precisely because of this, we must consider all factors before project approval."
Although Miles said so, he thought something else in his heart: Want Lionsgate to spend money to accompany you on a cross-border whim?
Not even a cent is possible!