Landon's gaze involuntarily drifted toward Jennifer Connelly, who was earnestly discussing something with director Ron Howard in the distance.
She seemed to sense it, looked up, and gave him a gentle and bright smile.
"I miss you too, Rachel," Landon said softly into the phone, his tone gentle.
After hanging up, he put his phone back in his pocket, met Jennifer's gaze, and returned the smile.
Soon, it was Saturday again.
When Landon apologetically told Jennifer that he needed to leave temporarily this weekend to handle some private business, a flash of emotion clearly crossed her face.
Her lips pouted slightly, and her eyes seemed to say, "You're doing this again."
However, after Landon promised, "I'll let you know what I'm busy with next week," her slight displeasure turned into curiosity.
She didn't press him further, only tiptoed to peck him on the lips, which counted as letting him go.
On Saturday morning, Landon met Zoe at the hotel entrance and drove toward downtown Manhattan.
"Tracy has already arrived; the venue, equipment, and most of the staff are all in place," Zoe reported concisely while driving. She had changed into dark, casual clothes more suitable for activity today.
The vehicle finally stopped in front of an unremarkable brick building, where a narrow staircase led to a heavy black iron door marked with faded graffiti.
A small sign on the door read "Primer Bar," but at this moment, it had clearly been given a new mission.
This was an underground bar cleared out for filming; the interior was more spacious than it looked from the outside, with dim, colorful rotating disco balls casting blurry spots of light on the ceiling, and the long wooden bar reflecting a ghostly glow.
The rough, direct, and hormone-filled street energy and nightclub atmosphere required for "Yeah!" were perfectly embodied here.
Tracy was standing next to a makeshift director's monitor placed in the center of the dance floor, chatting with a few people.
Seeing Landon, she immediately walked over, her face beaming.
"Everything is ready. The people from Def Jam South and Lil's team are all inside. The scene is exactly the bar you wanted."
All expenses for this shoot—venue rental, equipment, staff salaries, post-production—were covered by Def Jam South, strongly recommended by Lil Jon.
In exchange, Landon's song "Yeah!" would also be released by this company, which held significant weight in the Southern hip-hop scene.
Over the past week, Tracy had finalized the key contracts with them.
The core of the contract was split into two parts. The first part was song copyright; since Landon independently completed the lyrics, main melody, and core rap segments, he held an 80% share.
Lil Jon received 20% for his contributions to the beat production and the iconic vocal tags (like the shout at the beginning of the song).
This part of the negotiation went relatively smoothly—although Lil Jon had considerable influence in Atlanta at this time, he had not yet become a national superstar, and Landon had indeed provided indispensable creativity in the beat and vocal design.
The second part was the master recording royalty split.
After some intense back-and-forth by Tracy and the WMA team she brought, the final ratio was set:
Landon, as the lead singer and core creator, held 54%;
Lil Jon, as the main producer, held 20%;
Ludacris held 8%;
The distributor, Def Jam South, retained a 28% share to cover costs such as distribution and marketing.
The distributor had such great confidence in the song that they even paid a substantial advance:
Landon received $500,000, Lil Jon's production advance was $400,000, and even the guest performer Ludacris received $200,000.
This money was not pure profit and would need to be deducted from their future royalty splits, but it was undoubtedly a shot in the arm and a real-money vote of confidence in the song's commercial potential.
Lil Jon not only brought a supervisor from Def Jam South, but also his own BME Recordings team, as well as a director and crew specializing in hip-hop music videos.
Of course, there was also Ludacris himself.
This young black man with a fit build and sharp eyes was currently standing by the bar with Lil Jon, sizing up the environment of the bar.
Landon took the initiative to step forward and shake hands and bump shoulders with him.
There was still a hint of curiosity in Lil Jon's eyes—why did Landon know about and recommend Ludacris?
It was worth noting that at this time, Ludacris mainly worked as a well-known DJ and host on the popular Atlanta radio station V-103, and had only independently released one album, "Incognegro," in 1999, which had a good reputation in the Southern underground scene but was not known in the mainstream market.
However, considering that Landon could create a song like "Yeah!", it was not surprising.
The MTV visual concept emphasized impact, rhythm, and a slightly dangerous sexiness, making the bar a natural stage.
Considering that Landon was not black, the female lead was not the typical black backup dancer.
After screening, Tracy finally locked in Eliza Dushku.
This rising star, who had gained immense popularity among teenagers for starring in "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," had an image that was healthy yet carried just the right amount of rebellion, and she had previous experience guest-starring as a dancer in music videos.
According to Tracy, when first approached, Eliza's agent was quite reluctant to have her dance as a backup in a bar scene for a "new singer."
But when Eliza herself heard that the singer was the actor from the Dove chocolate commercial, she agreed immediately.
Beauty is justice; it's like that everywhere.
When everyone gathered in the bar and finished simple introductions, filming began.
Because Landon's schedule was very tight, he had to complete all personal shots and joint shots within the two days of the weekend.
He had to return to the "A Beautiful Mind" crew early Monday morning, so the entire shooting schedule would revolve around his shots first.
The director and cinematographer quickly confirmed the storyboards and lighting.
The first shot was Landon's personal performance.
He needed to stand on the stage in the center of the bar, with the dazzling array of wine bottles behind the bar and flickering neon signs as the background.
Amidst the powerful beat, he sang the core segments directly facing the camera, with colorful lights sweeping across his chiseled face.
"We don't have time to slowly warm up, Landon," the director said next to him.
"This is your territory, and everyone in this bar is going crazy for you. This song is the torch you use to ignite this place. Energy—I want you to bring ten times the energy you had in the recording studio!"
When the iconic synthesizer intro exploded through the huge speakers on site, echoing in the bar space, it was as if Landon had flipped a switch.