America's Top Player

Chapter 183 Blank Space

"Wait! My performance isn't over yet!" Jordan pointed to the timer, with more than 30 seconds left.

"Get out of here!" The judges couldn't tolerate him staying on the stage for even one more second.

Five security guards rushed in from backstage, carried Jordan away and threw him into a garbage truck.

The contestants backstage started talking after seeing this scene.

"WTF? Are these guys serious?"

"If these bastards dare to do this to me, I will kill them!"

"Bro, do you have a gun?"

"They took my gun! But I've trained in mixed martial arts, boxing, and Kung Fu!"

Due to the large number of contestants, the mentors raised the selection criteria according to the instructions of producer Li Ang.

The elimination rate is as high as 80%, and only those who sing exceptionally well or have a special performance effect have a chance of advancing.

After five hours of recording, only six contestants advanced to the next round.

"Bro, are you free now? I want to talk to you?" When everyone was getting ready to finish work, Kanye came closer to Li Ang.

"Of course, do you have any interesting ideas for the show?" Leon asked.

In today's recording, Kanye's performance was the worst among the three mentors.

His attention was never on the contestants, his eyes were fixed on Kardashian as if they were equipped with infrared trackers.

The swaying of her hips back and forth was like a pendulum, completely hypnotizing him.

"It's not about the show. How about we go have a couple of drinks? It's my treat!"

"No problem." Li Ang agreed immediately. He just wanted to get some information from Kan Ye.

Both JAY-Z and Braun, the boss of SB Entertainment, have deep connections with Kanye.

And this guy has a looser mouth than a Manhattan Beach streetwalker, so it's easy to get valuable information out of him.

At nine o'clock in the evening, the two came to the Clover Club near Enlam Park.

"Sir, what would you like to drink?" asked the waiter.

He was very excited to see two celebrities coming, but he quickly calmed down.

The Shamrock Club has been a Brooklyn icon for over a century, with countless celebrities and wealthy businessmen visiting to spend their money.

The previous boss here often boasted to his employees after drinking that he had personally served President Kennedy and Marilyn Monroe.

"Genting 30-year-old whiskey, double, on the rocks." Kanye flipped through the menu. "How about you, Bro?"

"Same."

"Very good, I think we must have an open heart chat, and we won't go home until we are drunk tonight~"

"It looks like you're trying to drown your sorrows in alcohol?"

"Man, I feel like my life has hit rock bottom. I've never been so lost." As soon as the waiter brought the whiskey, Kanye took the glass and took a big gulp. "You have to help me!"

Li Ang spread his hands, then grabbed the wine glass and took a sip. "Of course, no problem. How can I help you?"

Kanye lowered his head and pondered for a moment, as if mentally preparing for his question, "How can I get Kardashian?"

"Didn't you already get it?" Leon asked.

During Kanye's relationship with Apollos, gossips about him and Kardashian were flying all over the place, and photos of the two of them going in and out of hotels and spending the night together often appeared in the headlines of entertainment sections.

Abloh also has a curvy figure and is often put on the cover of gossip magazines and compared with Kardashian.

"Nono~" Kanye shook his finger, "I mean completely! I want to marry her! And be with her forever!"

"Are you serious?"

Li Ang was silent for a long time. He originally thought that Kan Ye simply wanted to sleep with the other person all the time.

Kardashian has a complicated love history and was involved in a celebrity video incident that shocked the world.

Why do so many people want to use this well-known bus for private purposes?
With Kanye's fame and wealth, as long as he wants, those models and young female singers who are keen on mixing in the circle will rush to throw themselves into his arms.

There are many girls with better figures than Kardashian.

Kanye is keen on avant-garde laboratory music and prefers tech warriors when choosing women. This is the only reasonable explanation Li Ang can think of.

"But she and Humphries are already engaged, maybe they will get married next month," said Leon.

Kanye snapped his fingers, his eyes shining. "This is why I have to ask you for advice! I know you're an expert in dealing with women, but what should I do in this situation? How about beating that guy up?"

Li Ang smiled and shook his head.

Beat Humphries?
With his height of over two meters and weight of over 240 pounds, Kanye might be beaten like a basketball.

"Listen, man, when you pursue a woman, you must first figure out what she wants." Leon spun the glass in his hand. "You must understand her true needs!"

Kanye was stunned for a moment, looking confused. "She wants a good man who takes care of the family? She wants a man who can give her a sense of security? I get it! You mean she likes big dicks?! Bro, I'm no less than Humphries. Those idiots who play basketball are just all show."

Li Ang shook his head repeatedly.

Except for Big Dick, Kanye completely missed all the correct answers.

"Maybe you should try to attract her career, invite her to your fashion show, let her star in your music video."

"So you're asking me to help her with her career?" Kanye rolled his eyes. "I don't think she'd buy into that."

"Why do you think so?"

"She is not a material woman. I can feel her burning soul!"

"."

Li Ang fell silent. It was obvious that Kanye had mistaken the temperature of the tunnel for the temperature of his soul.

"Listen, man, every woman in this industry, no matter who she is, wants to make great strides in her career. Every one of them dreams of becoming Marilyn Monroe. You're much more famous than Humphries. If you can achieve Kardashian's career, I think she'll definitely be attracted to you."

"She did mention to me the idea of participating in the Yeezy fashion show before." Kan Ye muttered to himself with his head down, as if he had figured out some problems.

Li Ang sighed, leaned back in his chair, and half-closed his eyes: "That's right, if you want to invite her, you don't have to tell her directly, you should talk to her mother."

Kanye blinked, obviously not having thought this through before doing this, "His mother? Why?"

"Because her mother is the one who truly controls everything." Leon took a sip of his wine, his eyes reflecting. "If you want her to break up her engagement with Humphries, get Kris Jenner first. That would be even more effective than writing an album for her."

Kanye fell into a brief moment of contemplation. After a few seconds, he smiled and said, "I knew you wouldn't let me down. This idea is perfect!"

Li Ang put out his cigarette and jokingly said, "If you sleep with Chris first, it will be much easier to marry her daughter later."

"Fxxk" Kanye was so amused that he broke his laughter and quickly rolled his eyes to cover it up.

The two of them kept toasting each other, and after three glasses of whiskey in a row, Kan Ye became completely dizzy and started talking to himself and spitting out trash.

Awakened people, environmental groups, extreme vegetarians.
He named and criticized several of the fastest-growing cancers in society one by one.

Li Ang had never imagined that the rapper with weird ideas in front of him would be a conservative.

Kanye even vowed to run for president.

"I'm very optimistic that you can become the first black president of the United States," Li Ang joked.

"Bro, isn't Barack the leader of the black people?" Kanye said.

Li Ang shook his head and complained, "That guy is just a black man. He's even more elitist than the white elite politicians. I'd believe him if he said he got a tan."

"I thought so too!" Kanye shook Li Ang's hand as if he had found a kindred spirit. "When he was campaigning, it sounded like if you didn't vote for him, you'd be expelled from your Black origins. He's using race to morally blackmail!" Seeing that the other party was almost drunk, Li Ang steered the conversation towards SB Entertainment. "How's your agent, Braun, doing lately? We met in Miami. How's your collaboration going?"

"Braun? He's an excellent manager and a reliable friend." The drunk Kanye was completely unsuspecting. "The new album I collaborated on with JAY-Z was made possible by him."

"He does have a good business sense, and SB Brokerage is expanding very quickly."

"Yes, he did give me a lot of business advice, including entering the fashion industry. Oh, and did you know he also invested in movies?"

"Of course, I talked to him about it."

Braun once boasted to Leon about investing in "Captain America", but it seems that the performance of this movie is not very good so far.

It topped the box office with $6400 million in its first weekend, which was just average considering the $1.4 million investment.

He once made a bold promise to surpass "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2", but failed to do so.

In the competition for this year's summer blockbuster, Warner Bros. achieved a complete victory against Paramount's siege.

However, this box office failure is nothing to Braun's financial resources. His documentary "Never Say Die" for Justin Bieber was a huge success.

With a budget of $1300 million, it grossed over $1 million worldwide, making it the highest-grossing documentary to date.

Bieber, the lead actor, made almost no profit from the film, with most of the proceeds going into Braun's pocket alone.

Kanye suddenly looked around and smiled obscenely, "Bro, are the rumors about you and Taylor Swift true?"

"I do not understand what you are saying."

Both Leon and Taylor are very ambiguous about officially announcing their relationship, and no one has any plans to bring it up actively.

"Hey, the tabloids are all over your news. I guess you bought a house in Tribeca just to be closer to Taylor." Kanye said, "I have to admit that you are really generous when it comes to chasing women. You actually spent tens of millions of dollars to buy a house just to get close to that woman~"

"This is all your imagination."

"Don't lie to me, Bro. Everyone knows that you have a special liking for blonde Barbie dolls. First it was Robbie and now Taylor. Maybe you should change your taste and try black girls~" Kanye pouted his thick lips and showed a lewd smile.

"How do you know I haven't tried it?"

"I knew it!"

The two of them laughed together, and taking advantage of this atmosphere, Kanye came over and said mysteriously, "Maybe we will be a family soon."

"Aren't we always tired of logging?" said Li Ang.

"No, no, you don't understand what I mean." Kanye shook his finger. "I mean, Braun is very close to getting a full contract with Taylor's agent."

As soon as he finished speaking, Li Ang's smile froze.

Taylor's management contract is very complicated. Big Machine Records boss Scott has formed a large management team for him, and Braun is among them.

The purpose of doing this is also very clear, to prevent any agent from having the opportunity to completely control Taylor.

"Braun is really generous." Leon remained calm on the surface. For this deal, Braun had to pay Scott at least tens of millions of dollars.

"That's not all. Braun is in contact with Maggie. You know that stubborn old woman, right?" Kanye said. "Soon Braun will save Robbie from that vicious woman."

Hearing this, Li Ang completely lost his composure.

First it was Ariana, now it's Robbie.
Combined with Taylor's words, it was clear that Braun wanted to take away all the women around him.

In the past, Li Ang treated the dispute between him and the other party as a simple business friction, which is very common in the entertainment industry.

Now it looks like an all-out war.

"It's getting late. I have to go." Li Ang glanced at his watch. "Thank you for your hospitality."

"I have to thank you Bro, you will be invited to Kardashian and I's wedding~" Kanye was completely drunk, leaning back in his chair with a dazed look in his eyes, browsing Kardashian's social media.

Li Ang got into the business car, took out his cell phone and called Taylor.

"Let me guess, you're still on the plane?"

"Honey! I was just about to call you. I've already walked out of the airport." Taylor realized that his tone seemed a little overly enthusiastic and immediately switched to a tsundere attitude. "Why didn't you come to pick me up again?"

“You didn’t tell me in advance.”

"You should have noted down my schedule in advance. It would be meaningless if I told you in advance~"

"Okay, wanna come to my house?"

"No, I want to borrow your recording studio for a bit."

"Now?"

"Yes, right now~ Do you remember the song I wrote last time? The first version of the accompaniment is already made." Taylor's tone was cheerful and excited. "I want you to listen to it and see if there are any changes that need to be made."

"Okay, I'll wait for you at the company."

Li Ang quickly asked Jorge to turn the car around and drive towards Apocalypse Music.

At 11 o'clock in the evening, there was no sign of any lights on in the company.

However, the lights in the one-time love exchange next door were overflowing, and wailing sounds were heard one after another.

Half an hour later, waves of sleepiness came over me.

Just when Leon was feeling a little impatient, Taylor's voice came from downstairs, slowly approaching.

"Honey~" Taylor threw the bag on the ground and jumped directly into his arms.

The nearly 130-pound impact nearly caused Leon to stumble and fall. After a gentle kiss, he let go of Taylor. "Are you alone? Where's your assistant?"

"I asked them to go back. Now it's our private space." Taylor stared at him with her signature fox eyes, her slender fingers sliding down her chest.

"You want to do something private here?" Li Ang immediately became alert, no longer feeling sleepy, and made a gesture to take off his clothes.

"What are you doing!" Taylor pretended to be surprised. "Didn't we agree to record a song?"

"Is this the private matter you mentioned?" Li Ang tilted his head, realizing that he was being teased.

Noticing his lost look, Taylor hooked his chin with his finger and said, "Don't be impatient. We still have a lot of time. Listen to my song first."

Li Ang's expression was full of helplessness. The other party had just flown back from the West Coast and was full of energy, but he had no jet lag to adjust to.

Taylor put the recorded accompaniment into the device, and as soon as the first note came out, his eyes lit up.

The melody is simple yet infectious, the arrangement is layered and the rhythm is strong;
The mood and structure are perfectly coordinated, and there is a strong sense of drama.

"Did you write this song?" Li Ang asked.

"Of course!" Taylor raised his chin. "But Max gave me a lot of help with the arrangement."

It is very normal for celebrities to hire ghostwriters to create works in the entertainment industry.

During this process, the singer can put his or her name on the list of creators even if he or she changes a word or a note.

This leads to an interesting phenomenon: almost all singers in America are singer-songwriters.

It is easy to give the audience the illusion that "all the singing and songwriting talents in the world are in America."

In fact, most of them are just pretending to stand behind the professional team.

But Taylor is definitely not among them. The melody of this song is distinctive and you can tell it is Taylor Swift's work as soon as you hear it.

"I didn't even have time to get to Nashville, so this is the first recording session." Taylor looked straight at Leon, his eyes shining. "You are the inspiration for this song, so you must be the first audience."

"I'm honored. This song will definitely be even stronger on Billboard than Adele's 'Rolling in the Deep.'" Leon curled his lips. "So, what's the name of this masterpiece? Have you decided?"

"Blank space, the blank space in my heart." Taylor's eyes sparkled. "I'll write your name there."

(End of this chapter)