America's Top Player

Chapter 98 Gangster Chemist

"Hey, sit down quickly. Let me introduce you!" Kendrick pulled Leon to sit on the sofa that no one dared to touch, which was owned by Nico in a suit. "This is Leon! And this one is my boss, Robinson. People call him the Saint!"

Li Ang showed a look of surprise. The black man in front of him was well-dressed and had no strange hairstyle or tattoos.

However, it was "Saint" Robinson, the current notorious leader of the Compton Crips.

"Boring," Robinson muttered, dropping his controller. "I've been trying to beat the flight school missions for five years now, and all I can do is have fun with these Blood Gang bastards."

Kendrick reminded: "The gang in the game is Baras, right?"

"Don't you know that the real-life prototype of the Ballas Gang is that group of idiots wearing red turbans?" Robinson rolled his eyes at Kendrick.

Then he extended his right hand to Leon. "I'm Nathan Robinson. You can call me Money, Chemist, Doctor, or Saint. Of course, you can just call me by my name."

"It's been ages since Compton has had a star like you. You're more than welcome here."

"It's an honor to meet a street legend like you." The two shook hands.

What surprised Leon the most was not Robinson's string of nicknames, which were longer than Napoleon's, but his words and deeds, which were totally incompatible with a gang.

He looked like a young Morgan Freeman, a rare black gentleman.

"Would you like a drink?" Robinson stood up and touched the pit bull lying on the ground.

"of course."

"Whiskey? Or cocktails? Sorry, I don't have any beer here." Robinson walked over to the wine cabinet and carefully selected. "I suggest you try some cocktails. Everyone who has tried them praises my skills."

Can he also mix drinks?
Robinson gave Leon more and more surprises. The more he looked at this guy, the more he looked like a veteran in the upper class, rather than a street godfather.

Since the boss has hinted, he can only choose to mix cocktails.

Robinson signaled a henchman to bring a set of wine utensils. He knew every step of mixing cocktails and was so skilled that it was heartbreaking.

In less than five minutes, three cocktails were ready, quickly and elegantly.

"Moscow Mule, try it."

As a world-renowned cocktail, the Moscow Mule is as famous as the Long Island Iced Tea, Mojito, etc.

After becoming famous, Li Ang also drank several times in various social occasions.

But even those professional bartenders couldn't match Robinson's concoctions.

"This is the best cocktail I've ever had." Leon drank most of it in one gulp to show his praise.

Robin smiled, raised his glass, and said, "Mixed drinks are like doing a chemistry experiment. It requires careful consideration of the ratio of raw materials, and the combination and reaction between different ingredients must be precise and accurate!"

"Did you get the nickname Chemist because you are good at mixing cocktails?" Leon asked.

Robinson laughed out loud, and the Nicos in the room also laughed, holding their stomachs.

Seeing Leon's puzzled look, Kendrick patted him on the shoulder and said, "Boss Robinson is a real chemist. Have you heard of crack?"

"What do you mean?" Li Ang understood almost immediately and showed a surprised expression again.

In the 90s, a black drug dealer in Inglewood invented a method to crystallize cocaine into a new drug, which later became popular in the United States.

This is an urban legend well known in the gang world.

"That's right! Boss Robinson is the man who invented crack. In the 90s, selling this great invention became an important means of survival for the Compton family."

Kendrick's face was full of pride when he described this experience, but Leon couldn't help but want to curse in his heart.

I came to Los Angeles to find you to make a movie. Why are you introducing me to a drug dealer?
And he is also a heavyweight dealer who has changed the industry landscape.

Now Leon finally understood why Kendrick was reluctant to tell them on the phone why they wanted to meet in Compton, nor did he tell them the specific meeting place.

Even if a heavyweight gangster like Robinson has long been cleaned up, he is still the focus of attention of the FBI, DEA and other departments.

Robinson also looked displeased and said in a scolding tone, "Little K, keep your mouth shut! Those things happened a long time ago!"

"Mr. Li Ang, I am now a serious businessman, please rest assured about this."

"Yeah. I'm not worried about that at all." Li Ang nodded repeatedly in a pretentious manner.

If they didn't mention anything related to the filming within ten minutes, he would find an excuse to leave.

Robinson adjusted the collar of his suit and sat down next to Leon. "As a well-known figure, I know your time is very valuable, so I'll be frank."

"I heard you're making a movie about NWA?"

"Yes, that's right." Li Ang responded.

"That's great. Big E and I are close friends, you know? I've helped him out with a lot of problems. This bastard is always in trouble."

Robinson pays great attention to his appearance and has no stubble on his face.

In addition, black people have more delicate skin, so Leon once thought that Robinson was only in his thirties.

Now he looks to be at least the same age as Big E, in his forties.

If Big E hadn't died.

Li Ang came here with the intention of resolving the film licensing issue. Now that the other party had said so, the next topic would be money.

As the leader of the Crips Gang, Robinson must have done a lot of cleanup work, such as mediating grudges and resolving competitors.

He simply asked directly, "Do you know Ice Cube?"

"Of course, Nico has a bad temper and causes more trouble than Big E. Among them, only Dre is the smartest, so it stands to reason that Dre has made a fortune now." Robinson's eyes lit up when he talked about Dre.

"Kendrick should have told you about my current troubles. Can you solve my problems?"

"Easy as that guy Ice Cube is, he's got a lot of respect for me, so it wasn't hard for me."

Hearing this, Leon breathed a sigh of relief and asked directly, "So, how much does it cost to deal with Ice Cube?"

As soon as these words were spoken, the atmosphere in the room suddenly became wrong.

Kendrick quickly stepped forward and covered Li Ang's mouth, whispering, "WTFBro, are you crazy? Talking about money is an insult to Boss Robinson. That's why everyone here respects him."

Li Ang was a little confused after hearing this.

A ruthless gangster boss who doesn't talk about money but only about feelings, does he really think of himself as a saint?

He nodded perfunctorily, but in his heart he didn't believe a single letter of the word.

Robinson smiled and told everyone to calm down. "Bro, I appreciate your generosity. I will definitely help you with this matter, but I don't need you to pay me a penny."

Is there such a good thing?

From the moment he entered the door until now, every word Robinson said was different from the script Leon had imagined before.

He had no idea what this guy was up to.

"On the contrary, I'll give you money!"

"You'll give me money?" Li Ang wondered for a moment if he had heard it wrong.

"Yeah, that's right! I want to invest some money in your movie. It's a movie about Compton, and it won't work without me."

Li Ang remained calm on the surface, but he was secretly happy. He had always had one concern about filming "Straight Outta Compton", and that was the funding issue.

Although Masterpiece Films has not yet given a specific budget figure, based on the $3300 million production cost of Eminem's " Mile", even if the cost is compressed to the extreme, Kendrick and other actors are getting half a price for free.

The final investment is unlikely to be less than 1000 million.

Li Ang only has a little over 500 million dollars in liquid funds. Although the record sales of him and his singers can provide continuous financial support, the capital chain is at risk of breaking at any time once the filming starts.

He had also asked Phil and James Wan to find out if there were any investors willing to invest.

It's clear that no one wants to invest in a black rap biopic.

For this purpose, he even considered taking out a loan from the bank.

For now, Robinson's proposal solves all the problems.

The premise is that what the other party says is true.

After calming down a bit, he gave Robinson a warning, "Mr. Robinson, I must tell you that investing in movies is risky. If the box office performance is not good."

He was interrupted by Robinson before he could finish his words. "Profits are the best, but losses are none of your business! I swear to God for everything I say!"

Such a response is so refreshing, so refreshing that it is hard to believe!
Li Ang's brain was working rapidly, and he could only think of one possibility - could this guy be using investment in movies to launder the black money he had earned before?
Such tactics are common practice in Hollywood, and Leon is not surprised at all.

Hollywood has hundreds of years of experience in film production, so industry elites can infer whether many scripts will make money before the project is launched.

The accuracy rate is at least 90 percent.

But even so, there are still so many movies every year that lose tens or even hundreds of millions of dollars.

Generally speaking, for those terrible movies that lose all their money immediately, as long as the film production company has little or no investment participation, there is a high probability that there is something fishy going on.

Seeing that Leon was still hesitant, Robinson continued to persuade him, "Bro, the theme of the movie you are going to shoot represents the totem of all of Compton. I must be involved."

"By the way, I heard you and Didi had some issues? That insidious guy loves to stab people in the back, and I'm good at dealing with guys like that."

Robinson is indeed a rare negotiating expert among black people, and every point he raised is very attractive to Leon.

Although he didn't want to get too close to dangerous people, Leon still decided to let Robinson join the gang.

Even if he could get Ice Cube now, it would be impossible to shoot in Compton without Robinson's participation.

In this way, the safety of the crew is guaranteed.

The deal was a great one, and both parties got what they wanted.

Li Ang smiled and spread his hands, "I don't think I have any reason to refuse you, Mr. Robinson."

"Oh yes! This is great! We are going to make a great black movie!" Kendrick danced excitedly.

The two sides then discussed the issue of investment shares and decided that regardless of the final budget, Robinson would own 30% of the investment.

After leaving Compton, Leon went straight to Robbie's luxury apartment in Beverly Hills.

When the negotiation was just going on, Robbie made so many calls to urge him that Leon was so frustrated that he wanted to turn off his phone.

But fortunately, the negotiation process was not disrupted by this little thing.

Robbie had just given him the key to the apartment some time ago, so he walked in without knocking.

After crossing the hallway he saw Robbie writhing on the living room carpet with his bare feet and headphones on.

"Oh my god! Why is this move so difficult?"

"Is my waist that hard?"

"My coordination shouldn't be this bad."

Looking at Robbie's clumsy dancing, Leon couldn't help laughing.

Although she has no talent in dancing, she is indeed an athlete and is good at difficult sports such as surfing and rock climbing.

She was a right winger on an amateur ice hockey team back home in Queensland, where brawls on the field were commonplace.

"Are you always so hardworking?" Leon deliberately raised his voice and finally caught Robbie's attention.

Robbie quickly threw down his headphones, rushed over and excitedly jumped into his arms, "Honey!"

Li Ang stumbled and almost fell, "Don't you know how heavy you are?"

"Oh my God! Are you saying I'm fat again?" Robbie instantly changed his expression to one of grievance, "Maggie will definitely scold me again"

"It's okay, a little plumper will feel better!"

"what!"

Leon completed the suppression with a somersault, causing Robbie to scream shyly.

The two began one-on-one dance training on the carpet.

Afterwards, the two of them lay on the carpet together, their eyes blank.

Robbie stared at the ceiling, wondering what was going on.

After a long silence, he suddenly asked, "I heard that you are planning a movie recently. Why didn't you tell me about it?"

"The movie is still in the preparation stage. Besides, it's a black gangster rap movie." Li Ang lit a cigarette.

"I don't care. As long as it's a movie, there must be a heroine, right? I haven't even settled the score with you for giving 'Senorita' to Little A last time! The heroine of this movie can only be me!"

No matter how Leon explained, Robbie kept nagging about the heroine.

Li Ang could only smile wryly and said, "A bunch of black actors covered in tattoos surrounding a blonde white girl. When was the last time you saw that scene in a movie? Movies like that usually don't last more than 40 minutes, right?"

This sentence made Robbie completely quiet down, and he hung his head with a red face.

"Don't be disappointed. I have a surprise for you. Maybe you're more attractive than the heroine of a movie."

"What surprise?!" Robbie's eyes instantly lit up again.

"Some time ago, the company submitted you for the Grammy Awards. Just before coming here, I got the news that 'Faded' was nominated for Best Dance Song of the Year."

"What!" Robbie didn't care that he was not wearing anything and knelt down in shock.

Lying on the ground like a docile pet cat, he asked foolishly, "Are you telling the truth?"

"Of course, and the market performance of 'Faded' speaks for itself. You should have no rivals for this award. Of course, it's too early to say anything."

Well--

Before he could finish his words, Robbie blocked his mouth.

"Oh my God, this is the most important moment in my life. I want to call my mother!" Robbie was so excited that his voice trembled. It seemed that this matter was really important to her.

As an actor, he has not made any progress in his acting career, but his singing career has hit the ceiling from the beginning.

"Don't worry, it's not too late to tell your mother after you get the trophy."

"Maybe you could have your mom fly to the U.S. to see you crowned at the Grammys next month."

(End of this chapter)