America's Top Player

Chapter 9 No Skills, All Emotions
“At certain moments, in the performance of certain pieces, emotion is more important than technique.”

"Eighty years ago, there was a painter with a mustache. He had never learned public speaking, but he relied on his powerful emotional appeal to create the largest war in human history."

T-ray nodded repeatedly after listening to it. Nico, who grew up in the slums, might not be able to understand Phil's quotations, but he could still understand what the other party meant.

Although "Take Me to Church" requires very high singing skills, it has little to do with singing skills to open up the market.

The key is how to stir up the emotions of marginalized groups such as the lower classes, homosexuals, and drug addicts!

Phil walked into the recording studio and whispered a few words to Leon.

Communication between smart people does not require extra nonsense, sometimes just a look is enough!
When Phil walked out of the recording studio, Leon was in full swing and his emotions were at their peak.

Just like in the 80s, the golden age of rock music, when Guns N' Roses sang immortal masterpieces such as "Knocking on Heaven's Door" and "Welcome to the Jungle".

There are no skills, it’s all about emotion!

We've a lot of starving faithful"

We are but victims of our faith.

That looks tasty
And you are the knife

That looks plenty
We became fish meat
This is hungry work
This is a hungry massacre
When the performance ended, T-ray and George didn't say anything more, while Phil kept clapping on the side.

"Good boy, you did great!"

T-ray and George looked at each other, not knowing whether such an interpretation would be accepted by the market, but out of respect for Phil's professional ability, they chose to trust him.

"This song is going to be a huge hit!" Phil warmly hugged Leon, looking even more excited than T-ray. "Such a masterpiece is a steal for you, Niko."

"Maybe. I'd like to borrow your good words, Bro." T-ray said with a wry smile.

As a producer specializing in gangster rap, his understanding of the pop music market obviously cannot be more professional than Phil's.

The current pop music market has experienced the dominance of hard rock in the 80s, the awakening of gangster rap in the 90s and the wave of love songs after the millennium.
In an increasingly diversified environment, the situation where a single type of music dominates the market no longer exists.

Finally, T-RAY gritted his teeth and said to Leon, "Since Phil recognized your performance, I can only choose to trust you, a cunning white trash, for the time being."

"Then after the post-production of the songs is completed, we will release 5000 cassettes and 2000 CDs in the first phase. Let's forget about the vinyl records for now."

This order of magnitude was completely inconsistent with Leon's psychological expectations. He saw through T-ray's thoughts at a glance.

After all, it is a scratch-off lottery ticket. For an ordinary amateur singer, this amount of circulation is indeed enough.

But Li Ang has great ambitions for "Take Me to Church". He just wants to make more money as soon as possible to get rid of his current living conditions, and is unwilling to harm his own interests because of T-RAY's stinginess.

In order to increase the brand's popularity, thousands of cassettes had to be given away for pre-promotional purposes alone, and the circulation of CDs, which had greater profits, was pitifully small.

So he said bluntly: "Dude, you're even more stingy than Grandet. How many people would buy such an antique as a cassette tape these days?"

"You should have enough confidence in our work."

T-RAY glanced at George behind him and said, "Don't be silly, white boy. This circulation is not small for a newcomer. If it performs well, I will issue more."

"Remember this! You just moved your voice, but I'm spending real money!"

"Do you know how much it costs me to print these records? That's enough to keep me playing bitches on Manhattan Beach for months, and no two of them are the same!"

Li Ang was speechless for a moment. If he wasn't so poor, he would have paid for it out of his own pocket. How could he have the turn of this guy to give him advice?

Nigo is not worth discussing with!

After signing his name on the contract, Li Ang left the recording studio.

The music video shoot will begin in two days, and if nothing goes wrong, he will hold his first book signing event at Becky Park in Brownsville in about two weeks.

This will also announce the official release of the Take Me to Church record.

Li Ang was walking on the street with his guitar on his back when a car horn suddenly sounded behind him.

"Fuck you, Nigga!"

Black people in the slums love to honk their horns. Even if the road is wide enough for two cars to drive side by side, they still like to honk their horns to tease homeless people for fun.

Having been in Brownsville for so long, Li Ang naturally fought back in the face of such provocation.

Only then did he realize that the person who honked at him was Phil Bryan, who was driving a black Chevrolet Camaro.

The car looked a bit older, which didn't seem to be befitting of Phil, the former general manager of Epic Records.

"Street Coconut Crisp, do you want me to take you home?"

"Fuck you, stop calling me that stupid nickname." Leon spat softly, "Forget it, Mr. Phil. I don't live far from here."

"Your shoes look very old, which is not suitable for a singer."

Through the Camaro's windshield, Leon saw Phil waving a stack of banknotes at him.

Li Ang was already angry about T-ray's stinginess, as he didn't even give himself a symbolic signing fee after signing the contract.

So when faced with the temptation of money, he got into Phil's passenger seat without thinking much.

"If you want to be a successful singer, it's not enough to just have works, you also have to learn how to package yourself."

"Dressing well will double your worth. I predict you'll be successful, so you should try to dress yourself decently in advance. At the very least, don't look like a homeless person."

After saying that, Phil handed over the bills in his hand.

Li Ang took the money from the other person almost as if snatching it, and nodded several times with a greedy look like a jackal.

A full 1000 US dollars!

He has never had so much money at once since he traveled through time!

Phil narrowed his eyes and smiled and said, "Take this money and buy yourself a decent set of clothes."

"By the way, remember to buy a new phone. I need to keep in touch with you at all times."

Leon's mind, which was intoxicated by money, quickly came to its senses and suddenly realized a question: Why did Phil do so much to him?
The other party came today only as an old friend of T-RAY to provide guidance on recording. Even if "Take Me to Church" becomes a huge success in the future, it has nothing to do with Phil.

He asked tentatively, "I really appreciate your generosity Mr. Phil I can't believe you're giving me so much money for nothing."

"Don't think too much. I simply admire your talent. I like dealing with young people like you."

Li Ang thanked him repeatedly, with the corners of his mouth raised forty-five degrees to reveal a sly smile.

Just giving a thousand dollars for free out of admiration?

This kind of nonsense may be enough to fool the honest and simple-minded Nigo.

In the world of capital, there are no gifts without reason. Any free thing has already been secretly marked with a price.

But even so, Li Ang accepted the $1000 without hesitation.

No matter what the other party's purpose is, take the money first.

Now that we are in this situation, refusing the money would be a crime!
(End of this chapter)