Conquer America, Start with a Boxing Champion

While Link opened the champagne to celebrate, "The Blueprint 3" distribution company Roc Nation Records also held a cocktail party at the Hilton Hotel to celebrate the album's weekly sales victory.

It's just that Jay-Z wasn't happy at the party.

Before the album was released, he had high hopes for the album. According to his and the company's estimates, sales in the first week would be at least 800,000, with a high chance of exceeding one million, setting a new record in his career.

But no, sales in the first week were only 458,000.

For many first- and second-tier singers, this figure is something they can’t even dream of.

For him, a king-level figure in the music industry, 458,000 albums seems a bit mediocre, even a failure.

The main reason for the failure was that part of the market share was eaten up by Link's album. Without Link's album, "The Blueprint 3" would have a great chance of selling more than 600,000 copies in the United States.

Thinking of the young man Link, Jay-Z had a low and fat black face, smoking a Cuban cigar, looking coldly at the lively dance party, and saw his wife Beyoncé dancing with Duck Drake, and his face became even darker. .

"Jay-Z, what's wrong?"

Kanye asked as he came over with a glass of wine.

"What do you think of the sales of this album?"

"Sales champion, of course not bad."

Kanye said.

Jay-Z shook his head. Rap ​​music has been doing very well in recent years. Kanye's "Graduation" in 2007 and Lil Wayne's album "Tha Carter III" last year sold more than 900,000 copies in the first week.

The new albums of Eminem, T.I., and Chris Brown also sold more than 600,000 copies in the first week.

Compared with these people, he obviously felt that his appeal and influence in the music world had declined significantly, which made him very uncomfortable.

"I heard that Link will go to Berlin to participate in the swimming championships next week. If he wins a few more gold medals, there is a great chance that his album sales will exceed ours next week. What suggestions do you have?"

Jay-Z asked.

Kanye is also one of the producers of "The Blueprint 3" and is responsible for the production and singing support of ten songs in the album. If the album sells well, Kanye will also get a share.

Kanye thought about it. Link went to the World Swimming Championships to compete with top foreign swimmers. If he could defeat those opponents and win a few gold medals, the media would report on him. This was inevitable.

As Link's exposure in the media increases, the new album will be noticed by more people and sales will increase. This seems inevitable.

This week "Keep On Movin'" only has more than 30,000 copies less than "The Blueprint 3". According to this trend, it is very likely to surpass the latter next week and top the album sales chart.

The media is now paying close attention to the album sales of Link and Jay-Z. If it is surpassed next week, Jay-Z will be embarrassed.

It’s just that Kanye thought for a while and couldn’t think of a good countermeasure.

"Should we also hold a few more book signings and invite some celebrity guests to help sing?"

Kanye reminded.

Jay-Z held his cigar between his fingers and shook his fingers, rejecting the proposal. He is a big shot in the rap industry and is worth 7.8 billion US dollars. Let him sit there all day without moving and keep signing autographs for fans. It was okay when he was young. Not possible now.

He couldn't afford to lose that face.

Jay-Z saw Lil Wayne, T.I., and Chris Brown, and waved them over, told them what had happened, and asked them what they could do.

Lil Wayne rubbed his chin and thought for a while, then chuckled and said: "This kind of thing is very simple. If we continue to hype Link's racial discrimination and let fans attack him, his album will never sell."

"this is not OK!"

Jay-Z shook his finger. Washington has already said hello. It can compete with Link for rankings and suppress him through industry competition and other methods, but it can no longer involve the issue of racial discrimination.

Link is an Olympic champion, world boxing champion, popular singer, swimming star, and youth idol. He also has many fans and has great influence in the United States.

If there is no conclusive evidence to falsely accuse him of racial discrimination, the impact will be very bad, and it will not be good for anyone if it makes a big fuss.

"How about hyping up his dirty stuff? Link attaches great importance to reputation and public image. This is why those fans host him. As long as we expose his dirty stuff in the media and make him infamous, those young people will no longer support him."

T.I. suggested.

"That's a good idea."

Jay-Z's eyes lit up.

Some media have analyzed that the reason why Link gained huge popularity in just over a year is because of his excellent public image.

He came from a lower class background and through his own efforts, he became a world boxing champion, a multi-millionaire, and a representative of the American dream.

He is diligent and studious. He became a multi-millionaire and studied hard. He took the initiative to go to college. He is a good example for young people.

He can sing and compose, and is known as a pop music genius and youth idol.

He also actively participated in sports games to win honors for the country.

Except for committing some crimes before he was a minor, he is almost a perfect idol.

If black material can be used to destroy his good image, fans will be disappointed and his albums will not sell.

"Dirty information? What black information does Link have?"

Kanye asked.

Jay-Z looked at T.I. who made the suggestion.

T.I. was stunned for a moment, "I heard that guy is very good at that, his private life must be very chaotic, hehe, maybe he has dozens of girls in one night."

"Who did you hear that from? Do you have any photos for me to see?"

Kanye asked curiously.

"I guessed, I think he should be that kind of person."

"No evidence, think about other black materials."

Jay-Z waved his hand and asked everyone to think about Link's black materials together.

Kanye and others tried to think for a while, but they didn't find any black materials about Link.

He doesn't take drugs or drink, doesn't go to prostitutes or gamble, and doesn't abuse violence. Although he has had several rumored girlfriends in the past two years, he has never dated more than two girlfriends at the same time.

In general, he doesn't have any black materials in his private life.

"Impossible!"

Jay-Z doesn't think there are perfect idols in the entertainment industry. He also came from the bottom and knows how difficult it is to climb up from the bottom. He also knows how many celebrities who look glamorous on the outside have a lot of dirt hidden inside.

Link must be the same.

Lil Wayne's eyes turned, "Why don't we arrange for someone to stuff a bag of drugs into his car, and then call the police to arrest him."

Jay-Z thought about it, but it didn't work.

Link is a multimillionaire with many lawyers under him. He has connections with the Duva and Thompson families, and is an elite athlete valued by the Sports Commission. This kind of frame-up will not affect him at all.

Seeing that everyone couldn't think of any black material about Link after thinking for a long time, Jay-Z threw down his cigar angrily, stepped on it with his foot, looked at the music agent and said:

"Invest another 5 million in publicity, contact more media, and I will continue to win the championship next week."

Everyone thought about it and thought this method was not bad. Jay-Z already had many fans and the quality of his album was not bad. With more publicity and promotion, it would not be difficult to win the album sales chart championship again next week.

As long as Link can be suppressed for another week, after the third week, when other people release new albums, Link will have no chance to win the album chart championship again.

If Link's album cannot win the championship, everyone will win this battle for the chart.

In the second week after Link's album "Go Forward" was released, Jay-Z's Roc Nation Records, in conjunction with Epic Records, Kanye's GOOD Records, and Lil Wayne's Young Money Company, invested millions of dollars to promote the new album "The Blueprint 3" through various channels.

Jay-Z also held several charity concerts in New York, Los Angeles, Las Vegas and other places in the name of the "Shawn Carter Foundation" to donate money to black low-income children who are out of school, and invited hundreds of singers, actors, and sports stars in the circle to participate.

At the New York concert, Jay-Z donated 500,000 US dollars on the spot, causing a sensation in the audience.

These concerts were broadcast live on MTV Music Station, with the highest ratings exceeding 15 million.

Almost on the same day, good news came from the World Swimming Championships held in Berlin, Germany.

Athlete Link Baker defeated French player Bernard and Korean player Park Tae-hwan in the 100-meter freestyle track and 200-meter freestyle track respectively, winning two gold medals.

After the news reached the United States, all major American media reported on the incident. ESPN Entertainment Sports Program Television Network broadcast the live broadcast of the swimming championships via satellite signals.

In the following days, the publisher of "The Blueprint 3" invested a lot of money to promote it in various parts of the United States to increase the exposure of this album and vowed to keep it at the top of the album chart.

Link also fought hard at the Berlin Olympic Swimming Center and won 7 gold medals, including 100/200/400/1500m freestyle, 100m/200m breaststroke, and 4x100m freestyle relay.

He broke two swimming records and is currently the holder of four FINA swimming records.

The only regret is that American swimming star Phelps accidentally slipped and injured his knee before participating in the 100m breaststroke and had to withdraw from the competition midway, so Link was unable to face him head-on.

After the competition, Link and the US swimming team flew back to Los Angeles.