America's Top Player

Chapter 4 Gangster Producer

T-Ray pushed aside the human wall in front of him like a greedy shark that smelled blood.

Li Ang stood in the middle of the crowd, holding a broken acoustic guitar.

The whole performance, just sung a cappella, is enough to move people, and the brainwashing chorus makes the audience sing along softly after just one listen.

The rebellious lyrics of "Take Me to Church" are full of pagan colors like "anti-Christians", and every word is like a sharp knife piercing the hearts of these low-level cattle and horses.

Although this was a country founded by Puritans and promised to build a paradise of equality and freedom for all at the founding of the country, life in Brownsville is like a purgatory with no end in sight.

This place is abandoned by God.

After Li Ang finished singing, the entire subway station was filled with applause.

clap clap-

T-Ray clapped his hands and dragged his fat body towards Li Ang. "White boy, whose song are you singing? Why haven't I heard of it?"

"I wrote it myself."

"You wrote it yourself?!"

Not to mention professionals like T-Ray who didn't believe it, even the onlookers burst into exclamations of "wow".

Li Ang spread his hands helplessly, "You heard me right, this is an idea that suddenly came to me when I was sitting on the toilet. New York is like a giant toilet."

After hearing this, T-Ray still had doubts but had to believe it.

Although he came from a gang, he is still half an insider of the entertainment industry and knows everything about the goings on in the industry.

If there really was a singer who released such a masterpiece, there was no way he wouldn't know about it.

He held a cigar in his mouth and looked up and down at the young man in front of him. He had greasy long hair and messy stubble, and the jeans on his legs were almost starched.

Maybe there really are some weirdos like this. After all, Li Ang's appearance is almost exactly the same as that of old Coconut Su.

T-Ray patted Li Ang's shoulder and said, "I'm very interested in you. I wonder if you'd be free to have a good chat with me tomorrow?"

"WTF?"

Davis could no longer sit still, as such a precious opportunity originally belonged to him!

He quickly tugged at the corner of Li Ang's clothes, pouting and hinting with his eyes, "Bro, don't do this!"

Leon brushed Davis' hand aside and said to T-Ray calmly, "I refuse."

"Don't want to? You have to think carefully. Not everyone can get such an opportunity."

Davis on the side breathed a sigh of relief, secretly sighing that he had not misjudged the person.

Even in an impoverished area like Brownsville, signing a singer requires a significant investment of resources.

Even if a single CD is poorly made, the production cost plus the promotion and marketing costs will cost at least tens of thousands of dollars.

There is no telling how many young men in Brownsville are desperately trying to get such an opportunity. It's truly a situation where thousands of people are trying to cross a single-plank bridge.

As long as Leon chooses to refuse, it means that Davis still has a glimmer of hope.

Davis was still thinking about how he would thank this good brother if he was really signed, but he was slapped in the face the next second.

Leon extended his right hand towards T-Ray. "I mean, why wait until tomorrow? I'm free right now."

Davis couldn't hold it in any longer, pointing at Leon's nose and yelling, "You damned viper, liar! This is my chance!" "Bro, I treat you like a brother, and you treat me like this? Have you forgotten who helped you out when a bunch of guys were harassing you on the street?"

Davis wanted to continue to output, but T-Ray's henchman, Martin, who was 1.9 meters tall, walked up to him.

"Shh you need to calm down Nico."

The tall and strong Martin was like a huge black wall, and he shut Davis up with just one sentence.

Li Ang sighed helplessly, too lazy to explain anything.

He knew very well that even if he rejected T-Ray, this opportunity would never come to Davis.

Besides, he simply couldn't choose to refuse. The way of class transition in America is to step on each other.
This is even more true at the grassroots level.

"Of course, no problem. It's just that it's almost ten o'clock now, and my office is on Chester Street, where gangs hang out. Aren't you afraid, a white boy?"

afraid?
Is there anything more terrible than poverty in the world?

Li Ang scoffed at such childish talk, and said, suppressing a smile, "Let's get on the road."

Having said that, T-Ray didn't say anything more and asked Leon to get into the Cadillac Escalade parked outside the subway station.

The crowd in the T-Ray subway station quickly dispersed, leaving Davis sitting next to the speaker, holding his head and regretting it.

Chester Street is not far from the subway station, but because of the rampant gangs here, even Leon, a native of Brownsville, rarely comes here.

Brownsville is a black neighborhood known as the most dangerous area in New York City, plagued by assaults, drugs, and shootings.
And Chister Street is the heart of this slum.

It was on this street that the famous rapper "Mr. Notorious" made his name and broke into the gangsta rap scene.

The first thing that caught Leon's eye when he entered T-Ray's office was two black girls in mini bikinis.

It is obvious that they have been carefully selected. Each one has shiny and domineering taillights and is comparable to an inline eight-cylinder engine.

As soon as T-Ray led Leon into the office, they tactfully poured two glasses of whiskey and put the cut cigars into T-Ray's mouth.

"Bitch." T-Ray slapped the girl's buttocks hard and smiled contentedly. "To make a long story short, everyone knows I've been scouting for promising musicians in Brownsville."

"But frankly, it's hard to find gold in a trash can. And you are the gold I've been looking for."

Li Ang grabbed the glass and took a big gulp of whiskey. "Thank you for the compliment."

T-Ray pointed to the wall behind him covered with photos of rappers and said, "Do you see these Nicos? They all used to sit in this office. NAS was sitting right where you are now when he was negotiating my debut contract. Now he's a legend."

At this point, T-Ray paused and cursed softly: "You ungrateful bastard!"

"You want to sign me, Mr. T-Ray?"

T-Ray was startled by Leon's bluntness, then exhaled a large puff of cigar smoke, "I like straightforward guys. If you're willing, I can release an album for you right away!"

"Someday your picture will probably be on that great wall behind me, and you'll be the only white person there."

To Li Ang, these empty promises were no different from bullshit. The only thing he cared about was money.

"I'm very interested in what you said, buddy. The question is, how much share can you give me?"

"How about a 10% share of record sales, plus another 10% of copyright revenue?" T-Ray knocked on the table. "If I weren't impressed by your talent, I wouldn't have given you such a contract. Ask around. Many Nicos wouldn't even ask for a share, just for the chance to release an album."

(End of this chapter)