After Phil left, the company remained as busy as ever.
Employees in the three major departments barely had a chance to rest. For a small company of a dozen people, having one Billboard Top 10 level singer would normally be incredible.
But Apocalypse Music had three, and sometimes they had to provide extra services for Leon, this black-hearted boss.
This led to the unlucky ones who joined this company having to work overtime like beasts of burden.
Leon locked his office door from the inside and played Adele's new album 21 on the vinyl player to seek new inspiration.
Thinking about having a cheat code but still needing to use his brain to find inspiration, he wanted to slap himself twice.
The "Inspiration Refresh" mechanism was very unstable.
Rap, rock, jazz, electronic music—anything could be refreshed.
Sometimes what came out wasn't music, but a movie.
Leon had witnessed an even more ridiculous operation on February 11th. That day, his inspiration produced a song with an even more exotic style than Señorita.
He couldn't understand the lyrics at all. After asking around the whole company, he finally learned from the Mexican-American Aisha that it was a Spanish song.
This inspiration refresh was hopelessly useless. The best way out was to sell the song to a Latin singer like Shakira in the future and sit back to collect copyright royalties.
Leon combed through his mind for a long time. Ever since the "Shameless" trait refreshed, the most useful trait had been "Traitor."
His first album was almost entirely completed by exploiting Big Dan's inspiration.
"Is there a way to actively refresh traits?" He stared at the ceiling and pondered hard for a long time, but still came up with nothing.
Logically speaking, he had never done a good deed. Exploiting employees, cheating, street violence, etc.—these behaviors never stopped.
His loyalty to the Roc Nation kingdom couldn't stand any test either; he was walking on the path of betraying the kingdom.
Even so, there was still no sign of any new trait refreshing.
"Damn it... Do I have to rob a bank or become a terrorist for this damn trait to refresh?" Leon rubbed his head, unable to get a moment of peace.
There were only about six months left until his contract with Roc Nation expired in August. He had to accumulate strength as soon as possible during this window period.
To prepare for the coming storm.
Knock knock—
"Who? Fxxk, don't you know it's break time?" The knock on the door pulled Leon out of his thoughts. He rubbed his eyes and cursed.
In fact, no one in this company except him had a lunch break.
"Fxxk! Leon! You bastard!"
Leon immediately recognized Robbie's voice.
Bang bang—
She kicked and beat the wooden door while cursing, "Why lock the door in broad daylight? Which bxxch are you hanging out with again!"
Leon didn't dare to delay and rushed over to open the door.
Some bloodshot veins were faintly visible in Robbie's eyes. Against the backdrop of her blonde hair, she looked like a lion with its fur standing on end.
She pushed Leon hard on the chest and started searching everywhere in the office.
Like a police dog, she didn't let go of any corner.
"Bxxch, where are you!"
"Get out here quick! I'll step on you, beat you until you crawl on the ground like a female dog!"
Watching Robbie's aggressive manner, Leon could only curl his lips helplessly.
He didn't doubt Robbie's athletic ability at all; she had participated in more than a dozen group fights on the hockey rink.
"Hey, no need to check the drawer, right? Your butt wouldn't even fit in there."
"Shut up!" Robbie turned back and glared fiercely. "That bxxch didn't jump out the window, did she?"
"You'd better stop now!" Leon rubbed his temples, not knowing what else to say. "Stand by the window and look down. Which maniac would dare to jump from there?"
Apocalypse Music's headquarters was only two stories high, and Leon's office was on the second floor.
Although the floor count wasn't high, the ceiling height of this building was close to four meters. Including the window height, it was over 5 meters.
Jumping down from here would cost at least an arm or a leg.
After a fruitless search, Robbie's emotions finally calmed down.
She crossed her arms, her chest heaving rhythmically. "You really didn't do anything bad behind my back? Then why did you lock the door?"
"I'm the owner of this label. When I don't want to be disturbed, I can choose not to be disturbed by anyone." Leon was no longer sleepy. He walked to the coffee machine and poured a cup of coffee. "I mean anyone!"
Robbie was startled by Leon's sudden shout. She stood there, putting away her unreasonable attitude just now.
Leon took a sip of coffee and lowered his voice. "I need some space... My career is facing a series of challenges."
Not long after the words fell, Robbie's expression switched seamlessly.
She batted her big, watery eyes and threw herself into Leon's arms like a Barbie doll.
The contrast was so strong that Leon had to sigh: Shxt, this woman was born to be an actress.
"I'm so sorry, honey... I was too sensitive. You know there are many bxxches coveting you..." Robbie buried her face in Leon's chest, her voice as soft as a mother cat.
"You're exaggerating. I'm not a superstar like Leonardo DiCaprio who is rich and charming."
"No! You're much better than that guy!" Robbie looked up, her gaze firm. "Miranda, Taylor... they always ask me about you!"
"A woman's intuition tells me their intentions are not pure!"
Leon felt both annoyed and amused by this. These two goddesses were not whxxes like Kardashian who would offer themselves anytime there was profit to be made.
One was a red-hot supermodel, the other was the hottest little diva in the music scene.
Saying they appreciated him was possible, but adoration or throwing themselves at him was completely delusional.
"Alright, it's almost one o'clock. Let's go out and eat something. I know a pretty good Chinese restaurant."
"Mm-hmm!"
Twenty minutes later, two people armed to the teeth with scarves and sunglasses appeared in a high-end Chinese restaurant in Brooklyn Heights.
The chefs in this restaurant had all received training in China, and the food was quite authentic.
Since Leon discovered this place, he had made it his regular spot to improve his diet.
"Spicy! Spicy! Spicy!" Robbie used chopsticks clumsily. Just as she put a slice of meat into her mouth, a burning cloud rose on her face, and she kept fanning her hand trying to cool her mouth down.
Looking at Robbie's clumsy and cute appearance, Leon found it hard to suppress the smile at the corner of his mouth.
Used to Americanized Chinese food, it was Robbie's first time seeing a menu as thick as a book and hundreds of dishes.
She unhesitatingly ordered some dishes not commonly seen in the US.
Although she kept drinking water, it still couldn't subside the burning sensation in her mouth. In desperation, she cast her eyes on the glass pitcher filled with milky white liquid on the table.
"Give me milk!"
"That's not milk!" Before Leon could finish, Robbie had already picked up the glass pitcher and chugged it down.
The glass pitcher contained a mysterious drink that even he found hard to accept...
As expected, three seconds later, Robbie came to her senses, a strange taste spreading in her mouth.
"WTF!! What is this terrible taste!!"
"It's a soy product drink (Douzhi)." Seeing her wretched appearance, Leon spread his hands with a smirk.
"Really hard to describe the taste..."
At 2:30 PM, just after Leon finished lunch with Robbie, he received a call from Lenny.
The other party's attitude was tough, claiming the situation was urgent and demanding he rush to Roc Nation immediately.
Leon wanted to refuse. The storm of the Grammys had only passed for a few days; even if he wanted to ease the relationship with Jay-Z through the art of language, it obviously wasn't the time.
People can't listen to reason when they are angry, and Roc Nation was full of crisis now.
"Listen... if you can't appear within an hour, your previous plan to release a new song with Robbie might have to be shelved."
A burst of anger instantly surged up. This was a disguised threat.
As long as the Roc Nation kingdom still held Leon's contract, whether to release records and with whom was completely up to Jay-Z.
Although his previous single Señorita with Ariana was completely produced and released by Apocalypse Music, the Roc Nation kingdom still took a 15% sales share from it.
After the Grammy Awards ceremony, his relationship with Jay-Z was exceptionally tense, which could no longer be mediated by conceding a few percentage points of sales.
Without thinking too long, Leon replied, "I'll be there right away."
"How long?"
"Twenty minutes."
"You'd better be quick. Jay-Z doesn't want to wait for you too long."
Beep beep beep—
After hanging up, Leon picked up his trench coat and stood up. "Something urgent came up, I have to go."
"You won't be in any danger, right?" From the content of the call just now, Robbie roughly understood what happened.
"How could there be danger? Just going back to the company."
Although Leon's answer was understated, Robbie still felt very uneasy.
She frowned, her tone mixed with some anger: "It's all your fault for behaving so frivolously with Beyoncé at the Grammy Awards ceremony!"
Leon smiled and said nothing; obviously, she didn't know the inside story.
"Alright, I have to go now." Leon put on his trench coat, leaving Robbie a view of his back. "Don't forget to attend the vocal training this afternoon~"
Robbie looked infatuatedly at the distant figure, light in her eyes.
Until she was pulled back to reality by the waiter's broken English: "Is the lady paying the bill?"
---
Roc Nation Headquarters
Near the Roc Nation headquarters, Leon instructed his bodyguard Jorge to stand by downstairs.
Inside the conference room, as soon as Leon entered, he felt a serious atmosphere inconsistent with an entertainment company.
Not only were Vice President Lenny and PR Manager Pena present, but even the company president Michael Yormark, who rarely showed his face, made a rare appearance.
He was Jay-Z's partner on the entrepreneurial road, with a history tracing back to the 80s when Jay-Z was still dealing drugs.
Coming from a genuine street background, he was considered a ruthless character of few words.
Recently, he was appointed by Jay-Z to be responsible for opening up the sports agent market, and currently had some contact with several big NBA stars and famous boxers.
At the end of the six-meter-long white conference table, Jay-Z sat in a luxurious swivel chair with his back to everyone.
Above his head hung a huge golden lion head wall decoration, with a crown suspended over it.
This was his unique personal symbol.
As soon as Leon entered, he was stared at by more than ten pairs of eyes. He shrugged, pulled out a chair, and sat down next to Lenny.
"Fxxk, what meeting requires such seriousness?"
The tense atmosphere didn't ease. No one took the initiative to speak until Jay-Z lit a cigar with his back turned.
Seeing the cigar smoke drifting out, Lenny broke the silence first as if receiving a signal. "There have been some rumors about you outside recently. I think you'd better explain in front of everyone."
"Nothing to explain. Because some people are playing dirty tricks behind the scenes, I'm always entangled in scandals." Leon spread his hands, his face written with innocence.
As for who "some people" referred to, everyone present understood.
P. Diddy was Jay-Z's homie, and Kanye was Jay-Z's little brother.
Lenny kept rotating the pen in his hand due to uneasiness. "Not about those scandals... It's Warner Music's Leonard. We warned you to stay away from that greedy vampire."
"And you don't seem to have done so... Your agent Phil has been in contact with Warner Music and Sony."
Hearing this, Leon breathed a sigh of relief in his heart.
The progress of the matter was just as he thought. Although neither Warner nor Roc Nation had a good relationship with him now, essentially these two were in a competitive relationship!
And with him caught in the middle, as long as the contract didn't expire, no matter how much he acted up, no one would directly flip the table.
The newcomers Jay-Z was most optimistic about were Leon and the producer-turned-rapper J. Cole. Both were seen as the company's future cash cows.
However, the latter had not officially released his debut album so far.
Roc Nation had only started for two years. For Leon, who was blessed with a Grammy Award, they wouldn't let go easily no matter what.
Bang—
Leon slammed the table hard. Even Jay-Z, who had his back turned, was visibly startled for a few seconds.
"Is everyone in this company an idiot?!" Leon raised his volume. "Don't you know that Leonard and I don't get along at all?"
"As for who Phil contacts, I can't control it at all. He is his own boss!"
"Fxxk! If these rumors are everywhere now, shouldn't that be the PR team's responsibility?"
As soon as the words fell, PR Manager Pena bit her lip, looking restless.
Leon cleared himself completely. In short, whoever Jay-Z wanted to hold responsible for this matter was fine, as long as it had nothing to do with him.
Lenny remained silent because he couldn't find a single loophole in the other party's rhetoric.
According to information from multiple sources, Leon's relationship with Leonard was indeed unfriendly.
Just then, Jay-Z finally moved his swivel chair, revealing his face for the first time today.
Holding a cigar, legs crossed, wearing a haute couture suit worth tens of thousands of dollars, and with a huge golden lion above his head, his boss aura was maxed out.
But Leon felt nothing inside. Since Jay-Z turned around now, it meant the main conflict between the two had been resolved.
Jay-Z blew cigar smoke from his nostrils and deliberately lowered his voice. "I fully believe in your loyalty. Traitors usually don't end well."
"In this circle, some people can stay popular forever, but some newcomers, even if talented, gradually disappear..."
"Maybe one day it won't be surprising to see them begging near Times Square."
These words went in Leon's left ear and out the right.
He was used to but very disgusted with Jay-Z's gang-style threats and beating around the bush.
Jay-Z leaned forward, knocked on the table, and said, "But those loyal soldiers will definitely be rewarded. You won't get more from Warner than from Roc Nation."
"Although this company has just started, it will become an empire in the future! An empire spanning entertainment, sports, and media."
Leon didn't say a word, nodding perfunctorily no matter what the other party said.
In the end, it was still Jay-Z using the same old "carrot and stick" strategy worn out by American politicians—nothing new at all.
This meeting, similar to a "trial," went on for an hour, most of which was Jay-Z painting various big pictures ("drawing big cakes").
Just when Leon thought it was about to end, Jay-Z changed the subject and mentioned P. Diddy.
"Listen kid, no one has dared to provoke Diddy like this in the last ten years. If not for me, you would have been shot dead at your apartment door."
"Based on my understanding of Diddy, you would eat at least 17 bullets until the clip was empty."
"So if you don't renew your contract with Roc Nation, this protection might not continue."