Chapter 88: Cash Flow and War Logistics
Monday, February 8, 2016 (Morning)
"Factory Week" was over. The silence of Monday morning in the canyon house felt different. It wasn't the silence of rest; it was the silence before the offensive.
Michael sat in his studio with his coffee. On his MacBook Pro desktop, there was a folder named "FINAL ARSENAL". Inside, five MP3 files shone like silver bullets:
'XO TOUR Llif3_Master.mp3'
'Hope_Master.mp3'
'Save_That_Shit_Master.mp3'
'Gucci_Gang_Master.mp3'
'Im_Gonna_Be_Final_Master.mp3'
His initial instinct, that of the "SoundCloud kid", screamed at him to upload 'XO TOUR Llif3' right now. It was Monday. It was a good day for a release.
But Michael stopped it.
He looked at the file. He heard the first few seconds in his head: "Push me to the edge, all my friends are dead".
That song wasn't just a track. It was an event. It was a horror movie. And he knew that, in 2016, people's attention entered through their eyes before their ears.
"No," he said aloud. "Don't upload XO yet."
He decided to change the strategy. He wouldn't release the audio alone. He wanted the first time the world heard that chorus, to be seeing images of darkness, of bones, of Arabic subtitles and VHS aesthetic. He wanted the full impact.
But videos cost money. And the video he had in mind for 'XO' (and the madness he planned for 'Gucci Gang') was going to be expensive.
He opened his browsers. It was time to see if his empire was paying dividends.
He logged into the dashboards of his distributors and YouTube.
The January numbers had consolidated.
'Lucid Dreams' was still a monster, generating thousands of dollars daily in streaming.
'White Iverson' and 'Beamer Boy' maintained a steady flow.
'Look At Me!' was still viral.
He looked at the total available balance ("Available Balance").
$158,450.32 USD.
It was pure liquidity. Money generated by compressed air and sound waves.
Michael didn't feel the thrill of a rich kid. He felt the satisfaction of a general who has just received ammunition supplies.
This money wasn't to buy a Z3. Not yet.
He clicked on "Withdraw".
He transferred the entirety of the $150,000 to the "Gray Matter, LLC" operating account.
"Cash out," he thought.
That money had an immediate destination. He was going to reinvest it all. He was going to burn it on production.
He needed to finance the darkest video of his career for 'XO TOUR Llif3' and the stupidest and most expensive video in history for 'Gucci Gang'.
He closed the bank page. He had the money. He had the songs. Now he needed the logistics.
He picked up his phone. It was time to call Karl.
Michael had barely closed his bank tab when his phone came to life on the desk. The name on the screen flashed with an urgency Michael had learned to associate with money or problems.
KARL.
He answered.
"Tell me," said Michael.
"Mike," said Karl. There was no greeting. His voice sounded accelerated, electric, as if he had just run a marathon or closed the deal of his life. "We have a problem."
Michael tensed. "What happened? Did Sting regret it? Lawsuit for 'Look At Me!'?"
"No, not that kind of problem," Karl laughed, a nervous and euphoric laugh. "The problem is geographic. Los Angeles has become too small for us."
Michael leaned back in his chair. "What are you talking about?"
"I'm looking at my calendar and it's a war map," said Karl. "After the success at The Echo and Create, and with the numbers for 'Lucid Dreams' going up... promoters have gone crazy. I have offers, Mike. Serious offers."
"Break it down," ordered Michael.
"First, the local stuff. I have more dates for this week in San Diego and Santa Barbara. They are medium clubs, a thousand people, sold out guaranteed. Easy money for the weekend."
"Good. Accept."
"That's the easy part," continued Karl. "But then there's the national stuff. They called me from Texas. They want you to go to SXSW in March. Not as a small artist in a side bar. They want you to headline one of the main rap showcases. I also have emails from promoters in Chicago and New York. They want to see you. They want to know if the phenomenon is real."
Michael felt the adrenaline. New York. Texas. That wasn't a local game anymore.
"And Mike..." said Karl, lowering his voice a bit. "There are offers from other countries. A festival in London wants to know if you have a valid passport. A club in Toronto, Canada, is offering to cover international flights."
Silence filled the line. Michael looked out his studio window toward the quiet California oaks.
The world was knocking on his door.
"What do you want to do?" asked Karl. "We can be selective. Make the demand go up. Or..."
"Accept almost everything," Michael cut him off.
"Everything?" asked Karl, surprised.
"I want to saturate the market," said Michael, his voice cold and calculating. "I want my name on every poster. I want that when people open Instagram, they see a video of me in a different city every night. I want to be everywhere."
"That's aggressive," said Karl. "I like it. But we have a logistical problem, boss."
"Which one?"
"We can't do a national tour in a rented van with your friends from school," said Karl, with brutal honesty. "I love the guys. Nate is big, but he's not professional security. Sam is good with the camera, but he doesn't know how to set up a stage. And I can't drive the van and negotiate contracts at the same time."
Karl paused.
"If we go to New York, if we go to London... we need infrastructure. We need a tour manager. We need a sound engineer who travels with us so you don't sound different every night. We need real security."
Michael knew Karl was right. His "tribe" was loyal, but for the war that was coming, he needed mercenaries. He needed professionals.
"Understood," said Michael. "I have the money. I just transferred funds to the operating account. We have a budget."
"Good. Do you know anyone? Because my contacts are from agencies, and they're going to charge you triple."
Michael thought of the only person he knew who lived in that middle ground between the underground and the professional.
"Leave it to me," said Michael. "I know a guy who knows everyone."
"Let me know when you have the team," said Karl. "I'll start drafting the contracts for Texas."
Michael hung up. The territorial expansion had begun. Now he needed to recruit his army.
He searched his contacts.
T-Roc.
Monday, February 8, 2016 (Noon)
Michael hung up with Karl and looked for the next number in his contact list.
He didn't hesitate. He knew Karl was right. His friends —Leo, Sam, Nate, Jake— were his heart, his tribe. They were loyal to the death. But loyalty didn't EQ a sound system at an outdoor festival in Austin, Texas. Loyalty didn't negotiate with airport security in London.
He needed professionals.
He dialed T-Roc.
The DJ answered on the third ring, with loud music in the background.
"Tell me, boss," said T-Roc. "Need another remix?"
"I need an army," said Michael, bluntly. "Karl just gave me the news. We're going on tour. Real tour. Texas, Chicago, New York... maybe Europe."
T-Roc whistled. "Shit. That escalated quickly."
"Yeah. And we can't do it like last time. I can't depend on the venue's sound engineer knowing what he's doing. I can't depend on Nate stopping a crowd if things get ugly. I need a permanent team."
"I understand," said T-Roc, his voice turning serious. "You want a road crew."
"Exactly," said Michael. "I need a FOH (Front of House) engineer who travels with us, who knows my mixes by heart. I need a lighting tech who isn't an idiot. And I need security. Real security. Someone who has worked on tours, not in nightclubs."
There was a pause. Michael could hear T-Roc thinking, going over his mental contact list in the dirtiest part of the Los Angeles music industry.
"I know people," said T-Roc finally. "I know the best mercenaries in the city. Guys who have toured with metal bands and old school rappers. They're good. They're discreet. And they don't ask stupid questions."
"Are they available?" asked Michael.
"They're always available if the price is right," laughed T-Roc. "But I warn you, Mike. They aren't cheap. They want per diems, they want decent hotels, and they want to be paid on time."
"Money is not a problem," said Michael. "I just injected capital. Pay them what they ask. I want the best."
"Okay. I have a guy for sound, 'Soundman Dave'. He's a grumpy old man who hates everyone, but he has the best ears on the west coast. And for security... I know a guy who used to work for Suge Knight in the 90s. He's a tank."
"Hire them," ordered Michael. "Everyone."
"When do we start?"
"Wednesday," said Michael. "I want them at my house first thing Wednesday. We're going to do a general rehearsal with the full team. Lights, sound, security. I want them to understand the show before we get on the plane."
"Done," said T-Roc. "I'll make the calls. Welcome to the big leagues, kid."
Michael hung up.
He stared at his phone. In the course of a morning, he had authorized the spending of tens of thousands of dollars and had hired a small army.
It wasn't a school project anymore. It was a traveling corporation.
He got up from his chair. Logistics were resolved. Money was flowing. The team was on its way.
Now, only one thing remained. The creative part.
He had to plan the video that would introduce his new status to the world.
He sat back down and opened a blank page in his notebook. He wrote at the top: 'XO TOUR LIF3' - VISUAL CONCEPT.
Monday, February 8, 2016 (Night)
Michael hung up the phone. The touring army was hired. The money was in the account. The logistics of the invasion were resolved.
Now, he had to resolve the propaganda.
He sat at his desk, pushing the MacBook aside to make room for his physical notebook. He switched his mindset from CEO to Creative Director.
He knew 'XO TOUR Llif3' and 'Gucci Gang' couldn't be simple audio releases. They needed to be visual events. They needed to define the culture, not just participate in it.
He opened a clean page and wrote: VISUAL BUDGET.
He started breaking down the vision for 'XO TOUR Llif3'.
This song was his dark anthem. He didn't want dancing models. He wanted a nightmare.
He wrote:
Aesthetic: High definition VHS horror. Something that feels like a cursed tape found in the woods.
Details: Fake Arabic subtitles (a nod to the future aesthetic of Virgil Abloh that he remembered). Blood. White eyes.
Director: Cole Bennett. No one else could handle the psychedelic post-production it required.
Budget: $20,000 - $50,000.
It was expensive, but necessary. He wanted it to look like cult cinema.
Then, he moved to the next page. And smiled.
'Gucci Gang'.
For this song, subtlety was not an option. The song was stupid, repetitive, and bright. The video had to be the same. It had to be a million-dollar meme.
He started listing the requirements. It looked like the wish list of a billionaire child.
Location: Rent a high school. He wanted to walk through the halls as if he owned the place.
Wardrobe: Buy all the Gucci clothes. Not rent. Buy. Bags and bags of clothes for him and for the extras. He wanted the logo to be omnipresent.
Transport: Rent luxury cars. A Lamborghini Huracán. A Maybach.
Props: Kilos of marijuana (props, for legal safety), foam cups, syrup.
Element X: He wrote a single word and underlined it twice. TIGER.
He wanted a real tiger. Alive. Walking next to him through the school hallways.
He did the mental math. Insurance, the handler, permits, the school...
He wrote the final figure: $100,000+.
One hundred thousand dollars. In a two-minute video. Harris would probably have a heart attack when he saw the bill. But Michael knew it was an investment. Spending 100k to generate 100 million memes was cheap.
With the video plans drawn up, his gaze drifted to his MacBook screen. To the only System guide that remained intact in his inventory.
'Diamonds'.
The original artist's name flashed: Rihanna.
The conflict returned.
He didn't know what to do with that song. It was a massive success, a global anthem, but it was useless to him. He couldn't sing it. It didn't fit his "sad boy/rich rapper" brand that he had just meticulously designed.
But he couldn't leave it there either. It was a waste of a "Diamond" level resource.
He leaned back in his chair, biting the cap of his pen.
He remembered he was a "Catalyst".
He realized he had to change hats once again. He could no longer think only as the artist who goes on stage. He had to think like an executive. Like a producer.
If he couldn't sing it, he had to find the voice that could. The voice that deserved that song.
'I need to find my Rihanna,' he thought. 'Or find this world's Rihanna and make her listen to me.'
It was a problem for another day. But the seed was planted. His empire wasn't going to be limited to his own voice. He was going to control the voices of others.
He closed the notebook. "Factory Week" had officially ended.
He had five hits on the hard drive, a touring army hired, and a $150,000 video bill pending in his head.
He got up, turned off the lights, and left the studio.
He was exhausted, but his mind was clear. Monday had been productive. The war was funded. Logistics were ready.
It was time to sleep. Tomorrow, he would start spending that money.