With the piano accompaniment, the song achieved quite a nice feel.
The lyrics, which had seemed immature before, became less awkward under Ariana's interpretation—or rather, this was exactly what a seventeen-year-old girl's lyrics should sound like.
In fact, for most musical masterpieces, without the emotional rendering of melody, the lyrics alone would often seem incredibly stiff.
Ariana successfully utilized the excellent singing skills she had honed on Broadway. After all, this was a girl who had carried the lead role in the classic Beauty and the Beast at the age of sixteen.
After finishing the song, she flashed a playful smile at Leon.
The light in her eyes wrote her thoughts clearly on her face: Praise me, quick!
"You sang great. Turns out Phil must be blind." Leon applauded from the side.
"Really? Then can I put this song on the new album?"
"Absolutely, only..." Leon hesitated, afraid of accidentally shattering this girl's fragile heart again.
"Only what?"
"An album needs at least ten solid tracks. Right now, Señorita is at its sales peak, so let's wait a bit."
Hearing this, Ariana immediately jumped off the piano bench.
Barefoot, like an excited bunny, she hopped over and grabbed Leon's hand. "Come with me!"
The two walked into Ariana's bedroom. As soon as they entered, Leon was shocked by the overwhelming pink before his eyes.
It's normal for a seventeen-year-old girl to like pink, but Ariana seemed to have an excessive obsession with it.
From the carpet to the walls, to the home textiles and various pieces of furniture—without exception, everything was pink.
Clothes scattered all over the floor, including underwear, were all pink too.
Mike and Phil used to bet often on what color underwear was hidden under Ariana's miniskirts.
Now that question could be put to rest.
The answer could only be pink.
"You are the girl most obsessed with pink I've ever seen," Leon exclaimed.
"This is nothing. Actually, my brother is the person most obsessed with pink in the world. You should check out his room; he's perfected every detail." Ariana introduced her brother with a proud face.
Leon recalled just seeing her brother holding his head high with that arrogant look.
That affected mannerism almost made him vomit his dinner.
Ariana took out a pink notebook from the drawer of her vanity table.
It was densely filled with lyrics and musical notation.
Leon roughly counted; there were at least thirty songs.
"You wrote all of these?" Leon quickly flipped through the notebook, occasionally humming along with the notation.
He had to admit some works were written quite well; the arrangement of the chorus and verses was very mature.
"Of course~ Actually, I also have some demos already recorded." Ariana walked to the desk and opened her laptop.
This desk had been completely transformed by her into a simple recording workstation.
Microphone, tuner, mixing equipment...
Although not professional, it had everything needed.
"I really struck gold..." Leon sighed after putting on the headphones and listening for a short while.
Recorded without professional equipment and guidance, these works were inevitably rough and immature.
But being able to achieve this level was already remarkable.
Originally, he thought of Ariana as a brainless white girl like Robbie.
Thinking that without the charity of his inspiration, they could achieve nothing in the music industry. Now it seemed this view was completely wrong.
Ariana could totally become a self-sufficient money-printing machine like Cardi B!
The difference lay in the source of inspiration: Ariana's came from a teenage girl's romance brain, while Cardi B's came from the tunnel below.
Seeing Leon's shocked expression, Ariana mustered up courage and said, "I want to produce an album, an album that belongs only to me, Ariana Grande."
"Will you give me this chance?"
"This..." Leon fell into hesitation.
Currently, shooting Straight Outta Compton required money, and promoting the records of so many singers under the label was continuously burning cash.
Cardi B and Robbie both had plans to release new singles.
His financial situation wasn't enough to support producing another exquisite album for Ariana.
"Leon~" Ariana batted her big watery eyes, shaking Leon's arm.
Every eyelash stabbed into his heart.
"Boss~"
Looking at Ariana's eyes about to drip water, Leon compromised. "Alright, but this will take some time... Your main job right now is to promote Señorita."
"Mm-hmm!" Ariana nodded seriously. "Then when is the best time?"
"This year. If the physical record sales of Señorita break 2 million copies annually, the company will produce an album for you."
"Great!" Ariana excitedly threw herself directly into Leon's arms.
Whether out of jealousy or some other reason, Ariana's brother, Frankie, looked unhappy.
He poured cold water from the side, "Why does it take so long? With my sister's talent, one album will definitely make her huge!"
"She will soon surpass bitches like Lady Gaga and Katy Perry!"
Leon glanced at Frankie like he was looking at an idiot. "I agree with your thoughts, but the company is taking a premium route now. A great album needs time to polish."
"I'm just kindly reminding you to hurry up! Warner Music and Sony Columbia have both shown strong interest in my sister~ If you don't cherish this future superstar..."
"Shut up!" Ariana's petite body erupted with a high pitch, instantly making her brother shut his mouth obediently.
Leon rubbed his temples. Things were exactly as he thought before.
Warner Music's offensive was swift and comprehensive; they didn't intend to let go of any singer from Apocalypse Music.
He patted Ariana's shoulder and asked with a serious face, "Is that true, Little A?"
"Warner Music is contacting you? Is it that bastard Leonard?"
Ariana bit her lip lightly; the expression on her face already gave the answer.
"Fxxk! Who my sister contacts has nothing to do with you. As the boss of a record company, you haven't done anything for your artists!"
"Do you know what Ariana has suffered recently? Her career almost suffered a devastating blow!"
Frankie got more and more emotional, while Leon completely didn't understand what he meant.
Ariana was rocketing up, getting everything all newcomers dreamed of.
What exactly did "devastating blow" refer to?
"Frankie, shut up!" Ariana was so anxious she almost jumped.
Leon pulled over the pink swivel chair in the room and sat down, crossing his legs. "Go on, Frankie, tell me what happened?"
Frankie looked left and right, seeing his sister's gaze wanting to kill someone, he dared not speak for a long time.
"Don't test my patience, bxxch!"
Leon's roar instantly sobered him up. Only then did he realize that in front of him was a street tough guy who dared to go against P. Diddy just half a year after his debut.
"Don't you watch entertainment news? Entertainment Weekly devoted a large section to introducing my sister's dating history..." Frankie said through gritted teeth.
"That's it?" Leon let out a long sigh of relief. What kind of devastating blow was this?
In America, girls generally have dating experience from a very early age.
Although Ariana was taking the teen idol route, fans' rejection of idols dating wasn't that severe.
Even if the dating history was a bit complicated, it didn't matter much. If a clean dating history were a hard requirement for idols...
Then this type of singer would be extinct in America.
"You really know nothing about this! You must see what they did to Ariana!" Saying this, Frankie returned to his room.
Ariana wanted to chase after him to stop him but was blocked by Leon.
"It's okay, I must know exactly what happened." He rubbed her head. "I will protect you. You know I can always solve troubles."
Half a minute later, Frankie returned to the room and handed over the latest issue of Entertainment Weekly.
A striking headline first occupied Leon's vision—Ariana Grande Only Loves Black and Big, Revealing the Complex Love History of the Idol Girl.
The article detailed several boyfriends Ariana had dated, with a large portion dedicated to a Black man.
A young Black actor from Broadway named Dean exclusively revealed to Entertainment Weekly that Ariana was a lustful bxxch who looked innocent on the surface.
When she worked on Broadway, she often "hunted" honest and simple nggas from the same crew.
"WTF..." Leon looked up and glanced at Ariana; her face instantly turned tomato red.
"This isn't true... none of this is true!" Ariana's lips were trembling. "I did date Dean for a while, but we didn't do anything."
"Mm-hmm, I believe you."
Leon's extremely perfunctory attitude almost made Ariana burst into tears.
Soon he discovered the trick in the article.
The first half of this soft article detailed Ariana's love history, but the second half suddenly changed direction, pointing the spearhead at Leon.
The article wrote that Ariana was a pet kept by Apocalypse Music boss Leon, and the relationship between them was far from a simple cooperation.
He quickly realized that this article was also part of the opponent's plan to attack Apocalypse Music.
For a teen idol, having a dating history is nothing.
But if described as an insatiable whxxe like Kim Kardashian, it would indeed have a great impact on her career.
Because of Dean's personal account, the credibility of this article in the eyes of the melon-eating masses undoubtedly increased a lot.
At this moment, Ariana's endurance had reached its limit, and tears finally broke the dam in her eyes.
"I'm sorry, I really can't control my emotions... I don't understand why Dean would do this to me..."
"It's okay, I will solve this matter completely, very soon." Leon hugged her shoulders and comforted her.
"The influence has already spread. No matter how I explain, no one will believe it..."
"Don't worry, I already have a detailed plan to clear your name." The corners of Leon's mouth rose, revealing a mysterious smile.
"Clear my name?" Ariana looked up, her tear-stained face full of confusion.
Whether it was Warner Music or P. Diddy, their behavior had escalated to touch Leon's bottom line.
He didn't care at all about rumors smearing him personally before; anyway, he relied on black traffic to maintain heat.
Poaching was also very common in the record industry. The three major record giants had been doing whatever they wanted in the industry for a long time.
No matter which newcomer showed a trend of rising to fame, they would quickly be targeted.
In the final analysis, this was still within the scope of normal business competition.
But for a singer taking the teen idol route, black material could very likely lead to the collapse of her career.
The last singer called "America's Sweetheart," Britney Spears, had her career on the verge of collapse under the crazy revelations of entertainment media and her own biological parents.
Leon absolutely could not let this situation go unchecked.
Apocalypse Music currently lacked a professional PR team, so he decided to step up personally to refute rumors for Ariana.
He contacted Joe Rogan through Bonnie. When the time came, he would go on the podcast with Ariana.
On The Joe Rogan Experience, the most influential podcast in the US, they would fire shots at the mastermind behind the scenes.
After listening to Leon's plan, Ariana's emotions eased somewhat. She whispered, "Can doing this salvage the current situation?"
"It's not that simple. The opponent hired a professional team." Leon spread his hands. "Starting tomorrow, I will contact radio stations big and small in New York to have them issue statements refuting rumors about this matter..."
"Publish some articles to clear your name in those entertainment magazines and newspapers..."
"Not just New York, but in big cities like Los Angeles, Chicago, Miami, etc., I will arrange everything."
Ariana curled up tightly in Leon's arms, her eyes intensely affectionate. "Thank you, Leon... but this will cost a lot of money, right?"
Mentioning dollars, Leon inevitably felt a pang of pain.
Such a huge PR plan to clear her name probably wasn't something a few hundred thousand dollars could settle.
But compared to the benefits Ariana was creating, this money had to be spent.
He said to Ariana with a serious face, "In my heart, nothing is more important than your future!"
Ariana's heart was completely melted by Leon, falling completely into his arms. "You are the best boss in the world!"
"Before recording Joe Rogan's podcast, we have to invite a special guest."
"Who else besides us two?" Ariana frowned in confusion.
"Of course, it's that Black ex-boyfriend of yours... If he can come out to refute the rumors, things will go much smoother..." Leon revealed an inscrutable smile.
"He's not my ex-boyfriend anymore! He's a shameless scumbag!"
"Okay, okay... whatever he is, anyway, we have to find him."
Only a fool wouldn't think that Dean must have taken the mastermind's money to reveal stories to the entertainment media.
To prevent this kind of thing from happening again, he had to pay the price!
Leon put his arm around Ariana's shoulder and said, "Do you know where this bastard lives now?"
Ariana shook her head. "I've never been to his house, but we should be able to find him on Broadway in New York."
"Very good."
"But I think Dean won't accept your invitation unless you give him a lot of money." Ariana sighed.
"Money? No no no... I won't give him a cent, but I will give him some special gifts." Leon looked down at the time on his watch.
7:45.
"The Broadway show should be at its climax right now... What did you just tell me? That ngga is a professional actor in the Chicago cast?"
"I'm going to have a chat with him right now."
"Using the most old-school, traditional Chicago way."