"Let go of me, asshole!" Big Dan struggled to free himself from Leon's grip.
He had no idea what was happening, assuming it was just momentary hypoxia from singing too hard.
Leon, meanwhile, stood rooted to the spot, his eyes vacant like a zombie that had lost its soul.
Countless melodies, lyrics, and music video scenes flooded into his mind like a tsunami. He felt like his CPU was about to fry.
[ 'The Traitor' Tag cleared. ]
"Truly incredible..."
Inspiration Exploitation brought him hundreds of works. Just as Grey said, Big Dan's inspiration was ceaseless.
But having so many works appear at once posed a difficult problem for Leon: sifting gold from sht was going to be a massive undertaking.
Even singers at the level of Madonna or MJ couldn't guarantee every track was a masterpiece.
Generally speaking, having two or three songs on an album break into the Billboard Top 30 is already considered A-list standard. The other tracks are just there to fill out the album.
Out of Big Dan's 100-plus works, how many were gems remained a question mark.
Leon decided to filter them slowly later. The mediocre ones could always be bundled and sold to other singers if needed.
"Leon... what are you doing?"
"Bro, did you get hit by some voodoo?"
"Wake up! It's your turn to perform!"
Kendrick's voice snapped Leon back to reality. The nr had only arrived at the venue three hours ago. Deducting time for makeup, he hadn't even had time for a proper rehearsal.
According to the festival schedule, Leon would perform two songs. First, his breakout hit Take Me to Church.
Then, the main event: the lead single from his debut album, Sucker for Pain.
Roc Nation executives had high hopes for this track, so they had poured money into promoting it before the debut, whetting the appetites of many seasoned music fans.
The successor to West Coast godfather Dr. Dre and the rookie handpicked by East Coast godfather Jay-Z—a collaboration between these two new-generation artists was full of topicality.
As long as the debut performance was stunning enough, Leon would have a chance to break into the West Coast market.
"Street Jesus!"
"Leon! Leon!"
As soon as Leon appeared, the whole venue erupted.
Many fans in the audience had heard Take Me to Church, and quite a few were die-hard fans who collected vinyl records.
Imagine Dragons called themselves alternative rock, but in the eyes of many seasoned rock fans, Leon's music was far more manic and alternative than theirs.
From the moment the intro played, Leon entered the zone and dominated the stage.
After the "Amen, Amen" prayer, the chorus ushered in a massive sing-along from the entire crowd.
Leon liberally sprayed the beer sponsored by the organizers onto the crowd, pushing the atmosphere to its peak.
In the backstage hallway, Phil sneered at Grey while making obscene, provocative gestures.
Imagine Dragons' performance just now was top-tier, undoubtedly No. 1 among the first four performers. But Leon's current performance was not losing to Big Dan at all.
Even after Leon finished singing, the audience was still immersed in the emotion, singing the chorus acapella over and over in unison.
"Thank you, everyone. Your passion burns hotter than the sun today."
"Now I want everyone to throw away all your burdens, forget those damn rules and dogmas..."
"Next is the first public performance of my latest work... Welcome my good bro, the Son of Compton, Kendrick Lamar!"
Amidst the thunderous cheers of the audience, Kendrick walked on stage wearing a signature oversized Compton Lakers jersey.
Number 32, Magic Johnson.
"What's up, Philly!"
"I promise our performance will be more exciting than Game 7 of this year's NBA Finals!"
After speaking, Kendrick and Leon threw up a Compton Crip sign, and the intro started instantly.
Leon opened the chorus with a stunning falsetto.
Hearing just a line or two, many fans were intoxicated. It was Street Jesus's signature manic style.
I wanna chain you up
I wanna tie you down
I'm just a sucker for pain!!
Leon ended the chorus with an emotion-filled growl, and Kendrick immediately jumped out from behind him, seamlessly transitioning into the rap verse.
Just stay up in your lane, just don't fk with Kendrick
I'mma jump from my plane or stand in front of a train
Even without a single on-site rehearsal, the coordination between the two was seamless.
Kendrick, wearing sunglasses, jumped up and down on stage, constantly showing off the big gold chain on his neck to the camera. Leon also took off his shirt, bringing the venue to a boiling point.
No pain, no gain
No emotion, that's what business is
Lord have mercy on the witnesses
When they entered the final chorus, the audience was completely brainwashed.
They were like lambs in an apocalyptic fable, raising their hands high to welcome God's judgment, letting those hands taste the fire.
The charm of rock music was released undoubtedly at this moment—the unreserved venting of personal emotion.
This is why when Yeltsin asked the people what they needed, the people answered: Rock and Roll!
When the two rebellious music genres of rock and rap were superimposed on the festival stage, igniting the whole venue was the unquestionable result.
Seeing the audience's reaction, Leon and Kendrick fist-bumped again, smiling knowingly.
Without a doubt, they did it. This was the phenomenal performance effect every newcomer craves.
In the backstage hallway, Phil tried to copy Grey and kiss Leon and Kendrick's big heads.
Leon pushed him away without hesitation. "Fk off!"
Kendrick retreated repeatedly under the old man's offensive. "Bro! Keep that old pervert away from me! Fk, his spit got on my face."
Grey stood on the side, her face green with anger, her expression quite colorful.
Although nearly ten singers had yet to appear, given the lineup for the first day, it was foreseeable that basically no one could surpass the collaboration between Leon and Kendrick.
"Let's go, Big Dan!"
Originally, Grey wanted to enjoy the second day's performances—Nightwish, Kesha, and other big names would all appear.
But now she just wanted to leave. Seeing Phil's smug face made her sick.
The Vice President of Roc Nation called immediately. He had already learned about Leon's performance through staff on site.
At the same time, Leon received an unexpected call. It was Beyoncé.
The diva praised his performance highly, saying that if she didn't have to prepare for her Brooklyn concert and attend the VMAs, making her schedule too tight...
She would definitely have come to the festival to watch Leon's new song debut live.
"When this busy period is over, can I invite you to dinner privately?"
"I've encountered some bottlenecks in my creative process recently. Maybe you can give me some ideas."
Hearing this, Leon hesitated. Sister-in-law's figure was enchanting, sure, but if Jay-Z found out about this... it seemed a bit inappropriate.