The very next day after Leon returned to Los Angeles, Chris told fans about the end of the beef on a Los Angeles music radio show.
Now there was no conflict between him and Leon, only peace and love.
He appreciated Leon's music from the bottom of his heart and sincerely admired Leon's great character.
At the same time, he retracted all his previous insults and smears, claiming he only said those stupid things in the heat of the moment.
While watching this podcast show, Leon clearly noticed that Chris's eyes were much clearer.
"The only thing they can understand is the sound of the whip."
With the release of his debut album imminent, Leon spent almost every day at Roc Nation recently.
The expressions on the faces of the company's executives, especially Lenny, were not good when they saw him.
The record store negotiation incident was already well-known, and the aftermath of this incident had spread to Roc Nation.
As the boss of Roc Nation, Jay-Z was very happy to see the rapid growth of his singers, but it couldn't be too rapid.
Daring to confront his old buddy P. Diddy head-on with a crew just half a year after debut made Jay-Z feel faintly uneasy.
Will this kid dare to flip the table in my face one day?
However, Leon didn't care what Jay-Z thought anymore. He only had one thing in his mind now: make the album well and smash open the door to the A-list in one fell swoop.
As long as his status was big enough, as big as Madonna and MJ...
He could even show attitude to the President; would he still be afraid of Jay-Z?
Inside the recording studio, Old Mike and Max Martin had been waiting for a long time.
Given Martin's status as a gold-standard producer, he generally wouldn't tolerate newcomers being late.
But after getting along for more than two months, Martin had been completely won over by Leon's waterfall of inspiration, which flowed like a bladder burst, firmly believing that he would be the next phenomenal superstar.
Producers of this level generally participate in record profit-sharing.
According to the contract between Roc Nation and Martin, he could take 3% of record sales revenue.
Streaming platforms were no exception.
Therefore, the quality of this record directly affected his income.
"Is the post-production tuning work all done?" Leon sat down on the sofa and lit a cigarette as usual.
"Of course it's done. Every beat is in its best state..." Martin frowned and continued, "Didn't I remind you not to smoke so much? Doing this will ruin your voice!"
Although Martin himself was a chain smoker, he was exceptionally strict with his cash cow.
Leon spread his hands and said, "The era of powerhouse vocalists has passed... Mariah Carey, Celine Dion... they are already half-buried, almost cold."
"I don't make a living on singing skills."
Martin thought for a moment and stopped nagging.
Compared to other newcomers who did drugs and were promiscuous after getting rich, quickly hollowing out their bodies, Leon was already outstanding in terms of self-discipline.
"Give me one too." Old Mike smiled and took a cigarette from Leon's pack. "What brand is this? How come I haven't seen it?"
"Huazi (Chunghwa), imported high-end goods. You can only buy authentic Huazi from cigarette dealers in Chinatown."
Old Mike lit the cigarette, and the rich flue-cured tobacco flavor hit him instantly: "I like Huazi..."
"Seriously, Martin's work is all done. I want to know how the MV progress is now."
Facing the question, Old Mike didn't dare to neglect. Ever since the record store incident spread, he had been careful even when joking.
In his eyes, Leon was a ruthless character who truly crawled out of the street mud, just like Biggie and Tupac.
"Except for Demons, the editing and post-production work for all other works have been completed."
"As for the reason... you know..."
Leon curled his lips helplessly.
There was no other reason except Beyoncé's interference.
She strove to achieve her best state in the MV, so she modified Old Mike's editing and post-production plans again and again.
She never thought about one problem: a $200,000 MV would be hard to achieve a million-dollar effect no matter what. The diva was used to big scenes and big productions.
Every detail must be perfect.
Since it was because of Sister-in-law, Leon naturally couldn't make things difficult for Old Mike. He continued to ask, "How soon can it be done?"
"That depends on Miss Beyoncé." Old Mike spread his hands, looking helpless.
"I mean can it be done before Christmas?"
"That's definitely no problem, man!"
"Very good..." Leon turned to Martin and said, "Then let's launch Demons on streaming media as a pre-release single now."
"Streaming first before the album moves" has become a routine operation nowadays.
At first, musicians were worried that doing so would weaken fans' desire to buy records, but the fact is just the opposite.
An excellent pre-release song can warm up the album and have a very good promotional effect.
Martin smiled and said, "Can't it be other works? Releasing the best work at the beginning? Are you in such a hurry to make money?"
To this, Leon's explanation was "I'm really too short of money."
Hearing this, both Martin and Old Mike laughed.
"Your label is so successful, signing so many excellent girls to make money for you... and you still lack money?"
"Although I earn a lot, I spend a lot too..."
"Fxxk, you are really a miser! Originally I had a plan to jump ship to your company, now I'd better forget it."
Although knowing it was a joke, thinking of Martin's talent, Leon still said without hesitation: "If you can come, you can name your conditions."
"Isn't it rumored outside that Apocalypse Music only accepts women?"
"There aren't so many rules... I think you look quite delicate and pretty now too."
"Fxxk, you guy!"
Bursts of laughter erupted in the recording studio, full of cheerful atmosphere.
Martin laughed until he held his stomach, taking a while to recover.
"You are the Boss. Since you insist on doing this, I think Lenny will agree."
Suddenly Martin paused, then continued, "If you launch on streaming media now, you will encounter a monster."
"Monster?"
Leon scratched his head, not understanding what he meant.
"Yes, you should listen to this."
Saying this, Martin took out his phone and opened the Apple Music Store.
Strong drum beats and a thick, husky female voice spread instantly.
There's a fire starting in my heart
Reaching a fever pitch and it's bringing me out the dark
Finally I can see you crystal clear
Go ahead and sell me out and I'll lay your ship bare
Originally, everyone in the recording studio thought Demons was an unrivaled work.
After the heat of Mars and Rihanna's works passed, launching on streaming media now could definitely compete for the throne of sales champion.
But after listening to this Rolling in the Deep, everyone fell silent.
"WTF..." Even Leon himself didn't have confidence to beat this song; this was an undisputed masterpiece.
Martin smiled and pulled up a photo of the original singer Adele from his phone. "Who among you dares to believe this British chubby girl wrote such a mature work? She is only two years older than you."
Leon looked carefully at the photo on the phone.
This woman looked plain. In America, the streets are full of this body type fed by fried food.
If this girl came to Apocalypse Music for an audition, Leon wouldn't give her a chance no matter how well she sang.
Two years ago, the 20-year-old Adele being signed by a record company was itself an extremely low-probability event.
Martin continued, "Not only that, this girl handled the lyrics, composition... and even the arrangement all by herself."
"Her current work is much more mature than that 19 album two years ago."
Leon nodded silently upon hearing this. This was indeed a powerful opponent.
In the chorus part of this song, dense harmonies appeared in the background music, quite reminiscent of Queen's immortal divine song Bohemian Rhapsody.
This was a genius arrangement.
Thinking of this, he couldn't help sighing. The music world never lacks real monsters; not using cheats is better than using cheats.
"It doesn't matter. Adele's work is essentially a love song. Our audience is different, so it shouldn't affect our sales."
Martin spread his hands. "The initiative is yours; I'm just giving you a reminder."
After making up his mind, Leon went to Lenny's office. It only took two minutes for both parties to confirm the decision to launch Demons on streaming media in a day.
"Leon~"
Just as he walked out of Lenny's office, a familiar voice came from behind.
Leon looked back; it was the direction of Jay-Z's office.
The luxurious double doors of the office were half-open. Beyoncé and her pet jaguar, one person and one leopard, poked their heads out from the gap.
"Hello, Miss Beyoncé..."
"Come here quickly, we haven't seen each other for a while..." Beyoncé extended her arm and waved, every nail painted with bright red nail polish.
"This..."
Leon wanted to refuse, but under the diva's repeated calls of "Baby," he was eventually bewitched.
After confirming there was no one in the corridor, he quickly slipped into Jay-Z's office.
After closing the door like a thief, the scene in front of him shocked him greatly.
Beyoncé was wearing almost nothing. Most of her slender and plump body was exposed to the air, with muscle outlines faintly visible.
That was the result of long-term martial arts training. Beyoncé looked more like a female leopard than the big cat beside her.
Actually, she wasn't really wearing nothing.
Her upper body was draped with a lace bra, and her lower body was a crotch-less thong.
Leon recognized the "Evil Angel" logo at a glance.
He froze in place, unable to move his gaze away from Beyoncé: Didn't expect the diva to wear this too...
"Does it look good? I knew it was the brand you founded and went to buy it specially." Speaking of this, two blushes appeared on Beyoncé's face. "What is in your head... how did you come up with these designs..."
"Later I'm going to attend a charity dinner... As the owner of a clothing company, you must be good at outfit matching."
"My husband happens to be away. Can you help me with some advice?"
Only then did Leon come back to his senses, noticing that the carpet of the entire office was piled with clothes.
Those Louis Vuitton, Celine, Dior that fascinate the middle class... Chanel, Hermès that rich people flock to were casually piled on the floor like garbage.
Even as the jaguar's sharp claws constantly stepped over them, the diva didn't care at all.
"I think you look radiant no matter what you wear."
"Do you really think so? I don't believe it at all."
"I'm serious. You are the embodiment of beauty itself; you look just as good even without wearing anything."
Leon's few words made the diva laugh tremblingly.
Then he really gestured Beyoncé's measurements properly and picked clothes for her.
Soon, under Leon's suggestion, Beyoncé picked a black high-slit tight dress and twirled in front of him.
"You will definitely stun the audience, Miss Beyoncé."
Leon originally thought his task ended here, but he didn't expect picking clothes was just the first step of a woman's date.
Next, Beyoncé had to pick accessories from her vast jewelry collection.
Leon glanced at the time on his phone. Just as he wanted to find an excuse to slip away, he was called over by Beyoncé.
The diva used a key to open a locked drawer on Jay-Z's bookcase. Inside were hundreds of famous watches from various luxury brands, many of which were out-of-print antiques.
"WTF..." Leon was like a country bumpkin who had never seen the world, shocked speechless by the dazzling jewelry.
"Most of my jewelry is at home. It's too late to go back and get it now... I can only make do with this." Beyoncé sighed, picking up the few women's watches in the drawer and trying them on one after another.
This made Leon beside her swallow hard.
Old Mike was just showing off his newly bought Rolex watch in the recording studio, mocking Leon for earning so much money but not knowing how to enjoy it.
The diva seemed to see through his thoughts and said with a smile in her eyes: "See if there's anything you like here."
"What? These are all Jay-Z's things, I can't do this..."
"Why not? I have the right to dispose of anything of his... Besides, I bought many of these things."
The ordinary series of Patek Philippe, Audemars Piguet, and Vacheron Constantin didn't even rank in this drawer; the truly precious ones were those limited editions.
Among them was even a Patek Philippe Ref. 2523 launched in 1953, the prototype ancestor of its current World Time watches.
This watch would cause a scrambling rush no matter which auction it appeared at.
In the end, reason conquered greed. Even if he accepted such a gift, it would be meaningless.
When Jay-Z saw him wearing his treasured limited edition watch, the scene would be very awkward.
He said to Beyoncé with a serious face, "You have to know I'm not that kind of man. I can't accept gifts for no reason!"
Seeing that there was still some anger on Leon's face, Beyoncé said hurriedly, "I know you are not that kind of man... just treat it as a present, as my gratitude to you."
"Gratitude?"
"Of course. You let me appear in your MV and achieved such a great effect, of course I have to thank you..." Beyoncé revealed a sweet smile. "If it wins an MTV award, I have more mysterious rewards..."
After some explanation, Leon felt it made some sense.
This should be considered an exchange of interests, not a gift.
He chose a gold watch that looked the most unpretentious. He took this watch with peace of mind.
Although this Vacheron Constantin Overseas didn't look flashy, it has an extremely resounding translated name in the East—"Roaming the World" (Zongheng Sihai).
After putting on the watch, even Leon himself felt his temperament rose by three points.
After an hour of tossing around, Beyoncé finally completed her outfit.
Leon originally thought his task was over, but Beyoncé asked him to sit in Jay-Z's luxurious swivel chair, with a mysterious smile on her face.
"Miss Beyoncé..."
Watching the diva slowly bend down, Leon immediately understood what she was going to do.
This watch wasn't a complete gift; the diva needed him to pay with a special currency.
Click—
Just then, the jaguar lying on the ground pricked up its ears, and the office door was pushed open.
"Baby, are you still there?"
It was Jay-Z!
Leon's heart instantly jumped into his throat. Fortunately, he and Beyoncé hadn't started messing around yet.
After seeing Leon, Jay-Z was so shocked he almost dropped the rose in his hand, looking puzzled.
"WTF... what are you doing in my office, kid?"