Conquer America, Start with a Boxing Champion

".So give me reason to prove me wrong, To wash this memory clean, Let the floods cross the distance in your eyes"

In the Metropolitan Cinema, Link took a microphone and sang "Give Me Reason" with the accompaniment of the band.

This is the New York premiere of "Transformers 2". Before the movie started, Link was invited to the stage to sing the movie's theme song.

Bang bang bang!

At the end of the performance, there was a burst of warm applause and cheers from the audience.

Link waved his hand and went to the front row of the audience to watch the movie. When he saw the battle between the "Autobots" and the "Decepticons", the phone in his pocket vibrated several times.

He took it out, took a look at it, was stunned, and sent a message to Anna.

"sure?"

"Yes! MJ's family has published an obituary at two o'clock in the afternoon."

Anna texted back.

Link shook his head and sighed.

In fact, he had a premonition a few days ago. MJ's concert was originally scheduled to be held in early June. Because MJ was unwell, it was postponed twice. There was only one rehearsal at Lincoln Center, and the remaining two were postponed. Canceled because MJ couldn't be there.

Although he and MJ had only met twice and did not have a close friendship, seeing a familiar person disappear from the world also made him feel like a creature of its own kind.

"Link, isn't the movie good?"

"Transformers" series director Michael Bay asked.

"No, it's pretty good. It's the most exciting movie I've seen this year."

See Michael Bay looking at him doubtfully.

Link smiled softly and told the news about the death of another Michael. Director Michael Bay also sighed after hearing this.

After watching the movie, the news of MJ's death in Los Angeles was broadcast on many electronic screens on the streets.

The news announced by the hospital is that MJ suffered a cardiac arrest at home and fell into a deep coma. He was then sent to the nearby UCLA Medical Center for rescue, but died after the rescue failed.

Because Michael was a big shot and was involved in too many things, in the days after his death, rumors were flying all over the Internet news, and there were various speculations about the cause of his death.

Because of Michael's great influence, relevant news was all over the media. A few days after his death, many activities and concerts in the music industry were postponed.

Link's second album, "Go Forward", has also been postponed to July as a result.

"Anna, how are the sales of "Lighters" this week?"

In the office, Link asked while flipping through documents.

"Lighters" was released on major digital music platforms in mid-June as originally planned. Without much publicity, it had 75,000 downloads in the first week, ranking 74th on the Billboard singles chart and 5th on the rap chart.

For two newcomers, Mars and Bobby Jr., this result is quite good.

"108,000 copies were sold this week, ranking 21st on the singles chart, and second on the rap chart, only 0.2 million copies behind the first-place "D.O.A. (Death of Auto-Tune)" and third Kanye’s “Monster” topped 30,000 copies.”

Ms. Anna said while holding the folder.

"Sounds good."

Link took out a lollipop and put it in his mouth.

Anna looked at him and smiled: "Yes, not only did it perform well, the media also spoke highly of this song, praising this rap song for its perfect fusion of funk, rhythm and blues, and rap, opening up a new "The rap style has also changed the style limitations of people listening to music, and it has a certain degree of pioneering in rap music. "XXL" magazine gave it a five-star rating and called it one of the ten most recommended rap singles this year."

"Five-star review?"

Link was a little surprised. "XXL", also called double-X-L, is the most authoritative professional magazine in the rap music industry, headquartered in New York.

Every month, songs on the rap charts will be reviewed, rated from 1 to 5 stars, and the best singles of the month will be released.

Link's "I'm The One" and Jay-Z's "D.O.A. (Death of Auto-Tune)" also only received four stars, but he gave "Lighters" five stars, obviously very optimistic about this song. , which also shows that the quality of this song is indeed good.

According to this momentum, "Lighters" is likely to reach the top of the rap chart next week.

Unfortunately, in the afternoon of the same day, a rap single "Forever" co-created by Lil Wayne, Kanye, Eminem, and Drake was released on major music digital platforms.

Because this song was jointly sung by three of the top rap stars + rising rap star Drake, and because everyone knows that their purpose in releasing the song was to prevent "Lighters" from reaching the top of the rap charts.

As soon as this song was released, it attracted a lot of attention.

The song was released by Epic Records. At the time of its release, people from Epic Records explained to a reporter from the New York Daily News that the song was one of the interludes in the personal biopic of NBA star LeBron James, "The King of Basketball." one.

The movie was released in early June. The single "Forever" was originally planned to be released in June, not for the purpose of competing for the charts.

Not many people would believe this explanation. If it was not for competing for the charts, it would not be released when "Lighters" was about to top the rap chart. This situation is like Kanye releasing "Monster" in advance to suppress Link's "I'm The One".

Although there are many controversies about the release time of this song, it does not affect its sales.

"Forever" has 237,000 online downloads in the first week, successfully occupying the first place on the rap chart and ranking eighth on the Billboard singles chart.

"Lighters" sold 96,000 copies in the third week, surpassing Jay-Z's "D.O.A. (Death of Auto-Tune)", and continued to rank second.

"Three top stars joined forces to suppress Mars, a newcomer. It's too despicable, Link, should we fight back?"

In the Link music studio, Wiz Khalifa said very indignantly.

Link flipped through the new issue of Billboard and shook his head. "Three top stars plus a popular new star, even if we collaborate on another song "I'm The One", we can't beat them."

"Link, you are a tactical master. Last time, Jay-Z's "D.O.A." (Death of Auto-Tune) performed so strongly, but it was still taken first by "Give Me Reason". This time it will definitely work."

Mars stared at the afro and smiled.

Little Bobby, Philip, and Ali nodded in succession.

Link glanced at a few people and smiled helplessly.

The reason why "Give Me Reason" can be ranked first on the singles chart is the traffic brought by the movie and the high quality of the song itself, which has nothing to do with tactics.

But some people think it is his tactics, otherwise he would not announce compromise in the previous week and kill it to the top of the chart the next week. Some media called it "Link's comeback", and even people from Link Music thought so, making it difficult for him to defend himself.

"Let's slow down the fight for the charts. MJ just passed away. It's not good to make a big fuss."

Several people nodded.

MJ was too famous. His death was a big shock to the American and world music scene. Recently, MJ fans in many countries and regions have held memorial activities and parades. It is said that the number of participants has reached millions.

MJ also released two rap albums in collaboration with East Coast and West Coast rappers. He has many fans in the rap world.

Being too high-profile at this time will attract attacks from black fans.

For example, Kanye and Lil's recent fight for the charts has been backfired.

Link is a new singer and a new rapper with few die-hard fans. At this stage, he needs to learn to attract fans and win people's hearts. Only by making his own people more and his enemies less can he be invincible.

After chatting for a few words, everyone continued to discuss music creation.

Several people signed by Link Music are all singer-songwriters. Mars can compile all the songs for his first album by himself. Lana has been an underground musician for four or five years and has a thick songbook.

Wiz released an album with Warner Records in 2007, and also had a hit single "Say Yeah". Last September, because Warner postponed the release of his second album, he chose to end his cooperation with Warner in advance and became a freelance singer.

At Link's invitation, Wiz agreed to hand over the production and distribution of his second album to Link Music.

Little Bobby is a singer of Atlantic Records. After being seconded by Link, he mainly helped Mars produce his first and second albums.

Link sometimes comes over to talk about music with everyone, occasionally plays some music clips to provide reference and inspiration for everyone, or cooperates with them to write songs and lyrics, but will no longer give them complete songs.

For singer-songwriters, the level of singing will be higher if they write their own songs. It is not a good habit to rely on others to write songs.

Several other people have signed multiple record contracts with Link Music. If he had to write all the songs, he wouldn't be able to come up with so many good songs.

"Boss, the time for MJ's memorial service has been confirmed. It will be next Tuesday."

Anna called and said.

"Okay, help me book a plane ticket."

Link thought for a while and said.