After Leon's meticulous adjustments, the three ladies were in top form.
David Fincher had upgraded the scale of every scene based on the original MV.
Just as Leon was wondering how he would handle this final scene with all three women on stage...
He heard a crack.
Beyoncé was swinging the horse-taming whip in her hand.
"Good girl," David marveled, his eyes seemingly expecting something.
As if receiving some command, Cardi B immediately dropped to the ground on all fours.
Dancing the way she was best at.
Immediately after, Beyoncé raised her arm again, lifting the prop in her hand.
"WTF..." Leon had already guessed what would happen next.
Crack—
The whip fell, the sound distinctly different from the first empty crack.
The expression on Cardi's face showed not a trace of discomfort, looking rather delighted instead.
Texas cowgirl Beyoncé raised her slender neck like a proud black swan.
The three ladies twisted their bodies simultaneously, each dancing differently.
This was also within David's design.
He wasn't pursuing the uniform precision of a girl group, but extreme dancing with distinctive characteristics.
The MV shooting site turned into a dance floor for the three ladies to rave.
The shooting plan originally scheduled for three hours was completed in less than two hours.
Beyoncé rushed to Leon's side immediately and whispered, "How was my performance just now?"
"Outstanding as always."
"Compared to Taylor?"
This question was completely a freebie. Although everyone performed excellently...
Compared to Beyoncé and Cardi going full throttle, Taylor was obviously the most reserved.
Leon responded without thinking, "Of course you were better. No one can question Beyoncé's dancing."
Beyoncé grinned from ear to ear, eyes rippling with emotion.
If not for the complexity of the staff present, the two would have already slipped into a luxury suite at the Trump Hotel.
Currently, the ambiguous relationship between the two had been exposed by some tabloids.
But it was still at the stage of chasing wind and clutching at shadows, without substantive evidence.
"Honest" JAY-Z firmly chose to believe Beyoncé, spending a little money to shut the mouths of these gossip media.
However, this was also warning Leon and Beyoncé that they couldn't mess around for the time being.
After hugging, Beyoncé left first with her assistant.
Taylor, having changed clothes, stood not far away looking very hesitant. After hesitating for a minute, she walked over.
"How was my performance just now?"
"Outstanding as always. No one can refuse the charm of Taylor Swift." Leon directly copy-pasted the evaluation just now.
"God, can't you be a bit more sincere?" Taylor pouted.
"When you get used to the sound of praise, you question the sincerity of others." Leon spread his hands. "This isn't my problem; every word I said is true."
Taylor was speechless, rolling her eyes.
She had experienced 6 ex-boyfriends, most of whom were written into songs as material.
She already had a professor-level understanding of scumbag routines.
"Do you want to have dinner together later?"
Facing Taylor's repeated proactive invitations, Leon's first reaction wasn't joy but confusion.
This looked like the other party was interested in him no matter how he looked at it.
He couldn't help but question what damn charm he possessed.
"But it's already very late." Leon glanced at his gold watch.
It was already 8:30 PM.
For the rich in Manhattan, nightlife was just beginning.
One night was enough for them to hit four or five bars, tasting fine wine, cigars, and beauties in different ways.
Leon just wanted to find an excuse.
He could completely guess what the other party was thinking; nothing more than trying to persuade him to return to Robbie.
"I don't look back"—this sentence had become a principle for Leon.
He didn't want to hear another word of persuasion about getting back together.
"Better not..."
"Listen to me today!" Before Leon could finish, Taylor grabbed his wrist without explanation.
This was the first time she acted so forcefully.
He could only comply.
Taylor's bodyguard drove them to a high-end restaurant in Battery Park City.
This was a private restaurant exclusively serving celebrities.
As soon as Taylor got out of the car, she was guided by the waiter into a hidden private room.
She took off her jacket and hung it casually on the rack.
"It's been almost a month; do you really not plan to give Robbie an explanation?"
Leon had long guessed what Taylor would ask, his expression instantly turning from sunny to cloudy.
He was already disgusted with this topic.
He immediately got up to leave. "If you're still asking me this question, then I think we have nothing to talk about."
"Sit down..."
"Please sit down and listen to me!"
The suddenly raised volume caught Leon off guard.
Stunned for a full five seconds, he lit a cigarette and sat down.
Smelling the pungent smoke, Taylor frowned. "Don't you know how to respect a lady at all?"
"Did you respect me just now?" Leon spread his hands.
While the two were silent, appetizers were brought into the room.
Leon completely ignored Taylor, rudely picking up the plate and wolfing it down.
Taylor picked at her food with a fork, breaking the silence first. "Listen, I'm not trying to persuade you to get back together. I'm tired of doing such stupid things."
"Wow..." Leon let out a long sigh of relief.
"But you shouldn't leave her hanging!"
"What exactly are you trying to say?"
"I mean, if you decided to break up, why not just say it?" Taylor said. "Robbie is as depressed as ever, but she doesn't lack male suitors around her."
Leon didn't intentionally keep Robbie hanging.
Out of consideration for traffic, Leon had his own ideas about officially announcing the breakup.
The official announcement would bring a huge wave of traffic.
And right now, his traffic was at its peak due to the Diddy shooting incident; exposing the breakup at this time wasn't the right moment.
This would be equivalent to wasting a chance to hype up heat.
"Whatever happened between Robbie and me, it's between the two of us." Leon leaned back, looking indifferent.
Taylor was actually tired of acting as a lobbyist between the two long ago.
If not for Robbie's pleading, she wouldn't bother wasting her breath.
"You really are a hateful guy; no one knows what you're thinking." Taylor sighed helplessly.
This was already her third attempt at persuasion.
As a bestie, she had done everything she could.
This was also the last time she would do this.
"Let's talk about music; I'm better at that." Leon said. "This collaboration was perfect. Maybe next time we can have a chance to collaborate alone."
Bang Bang hadn't been released yet, but the heat on the internet had been high for a long time.
Like a volcano on the verge of eruption.
Most of the topics were discussing Beyoncé and Taylor, and of course, Taylor's heat was obviously a head taller.
Both were public figures with huge traffic, but every time Leon tried to get heat, he even risked his life.
While Taylor had it much easier; her daily outfits could spark fan discussions, and her heat was perennially at the top tier.
Such a cash cow absolutely couldn't be enjoyed by Scott alone.
Now that Leon and Taylor had established a cooperative relationship, if he didn't leech off this woman's traffic, it would be a crime!
Taylor cupped her chin in her hands and asked with a smile, "Trouble is everywhere around you. Will collaborating with you be life-threatening?"
"In most cases, I can't help it." Leon quickly skipped this topic. "Maybe we can have a collaborative single soon; my inspiration has been exploding recently..."
The corners of Taylor's mouth rose, revealing a trace of disdain.
That expression seemed to say: I can write a high-quality album just by breaking up, and you're talking to me about inspiration?
"Let's talk about this later." Taylor smiled. "I have an inspiration right now, writing the story of you and Robbie into a song, ruthlessly exposing you, a heartless scumbag."
"No problem, just remember to pay me copyright fees."
"You..."
For the next period of time, Leon was basically busy accepting various interview programs.
Besides using the "shooting incident" to gather heat, the biggest purpose was to promote the upcoming Bang Bang.
This record cost him a considerable amount of money and energy.
Promotion also had to be perfect.
Subway stations in major cities across the US, prominent billboards, and large screens in commercial plazas were occupied by the hot figures of the three Bang Bang heroines.
To achieve this national-level blanket promotional effect, asking Leon alone to pay would inevitably hurt.
Big Machine Records and Columbia Records also poured a lot of money into promotion.
For the first collaboration of the two major Divas, putting aside how much money it could make, earning buzz was definitely not a loss.
During this period, he received a detailed business plan from Dana about the "BMF Title."
He looked through it roughly; it wasn't much different from what the two verbally discussed before.
Now all that remained was signing the contract and setting the time for the first BMF title fight.
During lunch break, Leon, who rarely had free time, chatted with Bonnie in the office.
Aisha, who seemed to be working overtime forever, also joined in with a coffee cup.
Leon had conveyed the task of finding a reliable law firm to Bonnie months ago.
Legal counsel was an important weapon for dealing with various copyright and master recording rights issues when breaking up with the Roc Nation Kingdom in the future.
Record company, clothing company, media company...
Leon's tentacles had spread across three different industries, and disputes over copyright and reputation rights would inevitably arise in the future.
A reliable law firm was crucial to the company's future development.
After layers of screening, the names of three law firms were placed in front of Leon.
Susman Godfrey, a large law firm headquartered in Texas.
With over 100 years of history and an office in New York.
Focusing on criminal and commercial cases.
Many members of its legal team participated in the "O.J. Simpson murder case."
This case once shook the whole of America.
Finally, under the defense of the luxury legal team known as the "Dream Team," Simpson was acquitted.
Kim Kardashian's father, Robert, became famous in one fell swoop thanks to his outstanding performance in this case.
Next was Skadden, the largest law firm in New York.
As a comprehensive law firm involving almost all judicial categories, it had over 2,000 lawyers and annual revenue of 1.7 billion dollars.
Most celebrities, wealthy businessmen, or enterprises living in New York cooperated with this law firm.
The last one on the list looked the most inconspicuous.
Vincent Law Firm.
A law firm established only in 2007, with only five practicing lawyers.
This sounded like a small workshop, and a comprehensive law firm at that.
This company's slogan was: Only providing top-level services for the most valuable clients.
Leon thought this was just a gimmick, like the Wall Street legend Madoff who went bankrupt and was imprisoned during the financial crisis.
This former Nasdaq chairman created the biggest Ponzi scheme in US history with the gimmick of "membership, high-end, mysterious."
The only reason this small law firm could enter this list was its ridiculously high success rate.
A law firm could actually have a success rate and penalty reduction rate as high as 60%, and the key point was that it focused on the criminal field.
This sounded simply incredible.
But whether this data was watered down was unknown; Leon remained highly skeptical about this.
Most criminal cases were concluded in the investigation hearings before the official trial.
"Skadden is very interested in cooperating with us." Bonnie said. "They have rich experience in the field of copyright dispute cases; Paramount Pictures and Time Warner have established cooperation with them."
Hearing this, Leon also leaned towards choosing Skadden.
Although the fees were a bit expensive, the ability was guaranteed.
Paramount was caught in a tearing battle with the powerful Disney over the copyright of Iron Man.
Being able to deal with Disney's legal department, the ability naturally needed no further explanation.
Just when Leon was about to make a decision, Aisha, who had been drinking coffee and slacking off on the side, suddenly expressed her opinion:
"Vincent Law Firm, is it Mr. Luca Vincent's law firm?"
The eyes of the two turned to her in unison. Bonnie asked, "That's right, you know that lawyer?"
"Can't say I know him... but I know a bit about him." Aisha said. "A considerable portion of his clients are Mexicans."
"Mexicans?"
Associating with the intricate relationship between Aisha and Mexican gangs, Leon understood what she meant before long.
"Yes, this guy's reputation has even reached Mexico..." Aisha took a sip of coffee. "He is a cunning fox walking on the edge of the law. As long as you give him money, he will use every means to help clients escape guilt."
Combining Aisha's words with that ridiculously high success and penalty reduction rate...
This data appeared even more terrifying.
Luca's clients were either drug lords or cartel gunmen...
Serving this group of felons exclusively, how strong must his professional ability be?
"Is this guy reliable?" Leon asked, "I mean, is there a risk in cooperating with such a person?"
Although the other party's record tempted him, he didn't want to have any intersection with Mexican drug traffickers because of this.
Being entangled with street gangs was already the limit.
More than 90% of rappers had some connection with gangs more or less.
Aisha explained, "Relax, Luca always cherishes his reputation very much; he only serves money..."
"Very good." Leon made a decision immediately.
Asking Bonnie to contact Vincent Law Firm.
At 9 PM, Leon came to the banks of the East River.
Standing at the junction of the Hudson River and the East River to admire the night view.
Since Bonnie moved out of the apartment, the empty apartment left him with no way to vent his loneliness.
Dialed the phone.
Regrettably, Ariana was performing in Orlando, Florida.
Just as Leon was calculating which high-end nightclub to go to for some fun, the sound of inspiration refresh rang in his mind.
A black man dressed as a Western cowboy appeared on the screen, pouting his thick lips and lowering his cowboy hat.
Looking a bit comical.
A melody combining Trap and Country styles rang out.
The MV title subtitles unfolded—Old Town Road.
Yeah, I'm gonna take my horse to the old town road
I'm gonna ride 'til I can't no more
I'm gonna take my horse to the old town road
I'm gonna ride 'til I can't no more (Kio, Kio)