Chapter 202: Lawyer's Letter Warning

"Please, everyone, don't block the way, don't block the way, thank you. Please cooperate..."

Emperor Entertainment's bodyguards were already doing their utmost to protect Xie Tingfeng and Wang Fei, but the swarming reporters and paparazzi still made it nearly impossible for the two to take a single step.

Questions about Zhou Yi were thrown out one after another. Having been instructed by the company not to mention Zhou Yi easily outside, and to only speak in platitudes if he had to, Xie Tingfeng's good mood was completely ruined, and his face turned black.

Damn, don't these reporters have any sense?

"Don't you have a holiday on the 11th? Are you still squatting here looking for news about us?"

Xie Tingfeng's voice, which sounded slightly childish when speaking Mandarin, made Wang Fei, walking shoulder-to-shoulder beside him, lower her head and suppress a smile. Glancing at the man who clearly couldn't hold back his pride and spoke out to refute them, she simply gripped his hand tighter and did not speak to stop him.

"Ah Fei, it is said that your new album, scheduled for release in October, will also be launched in Japan. What is your sales expectation for your album? Can you beat Zhou Yi?"

"First, I need to make one thing clear: whether it is me or Zhou Yi, there is actually no competitive relationship regarding releasing albums or singles in Japan.

"On the contrary, if he can achieve success in the Japanese music scene, that would be a good thing for the entire Chinese music scene."

Having weathered great storms, Wang Fei was obviously more composed than her young boyfriend, steering the conversation toward the path of "we are all Chinese" while chatting and laughing.

The reporters, not really wanting to buy into this, still wanted to press for a big scoop, but alas, the two had already returned to the car under the escort of bodyguards—the roar of the Ferrari's engine, and they sped off, leaving everyone behind.

"Damn! These bastards!"

Glancing at the rearview mirror where the reporters were now completely out of sight, Xie Tingfeng, whose date had been disturbed, couldn't help but mutter a curse.

He just released an English song, and they still came after him.

Seeing this, Wang Fei couldn't help but smile and say, "What? Are you very angry? Because of that Zhou Yi?"

"No, if he can go to Japan and sell, that is his ability. I am just angry that those bastards can't find Zhou Yi and only come looking for news about us two."

Although Xie Tingfeng still remained stubborn after being comforted by his girlfriend, he had to admit that he was indeed impressed by Zhou Yi's music.

Reaching the number one spot on the weekly Oricon chart in Japan with absolutely no foundation to speak of, this could no longer be explained by marketing or luck.

He had also heard that English song and couldn't speak against his conscience.

"I heard this song was written just after he chatted with the two male leads of 'Rush Hour 2'. I have to say, this person is indeed full of talent and understands the songwriting habits over in America very well."

As someone very familiar with Western music, when Wang Fei heard the song 'The Lazy Song', if it weren't for Zhou Yi's long-standing reputation and style, her first thought was that this was a song written by an American singer.

Especially the lyrics.

Due to the fact that domestic cultural heritage has never been broken or extinguished over thousands of years, the emphasis on lyric culture has actually become one of the reasons why a host of big-shot lyricists cannot write catchy English songs.

Even completely westernized Hong Kong lyricists or ABCs cannot do it, because their writing habits remain rooted in the Chinese context, such as Wang Lihong, Lin Junjie, and Tao Zhe.

However, Zhou Yi's song completely broke free from the trouble of writing English songs within a Chinese context. Whether it was pronunciation habits or the combination, phrasing, and expression of English words, it was solidly authentic English context.

This seemed incredible to Wang Fei.

What surprised her even more was that the song's use of Lei Gui elements was even more proficient than Luo Dayou's 'Zhi Hu Zhe Ye' released in 1982.

One sentence to evaluate: Genius.

………………………………………

"Absolutely a genius."

Taiwan, a certain program venue.

When Li Zongsheng, who was guesting on the program with Chou Hua-chien, was asked for his evaluation of Zhou Yi's English single, he gave the highest evaluation of his entire career, sparing no words of praise: "When Hua-chien told me that Zhou Yi had a song that took the weekly number one in Japan, I didn't pay much attention at first.

"But after I heard this song, I immediately went to find Luo Dayou and played it for him.

"I told him, this kid won't even turn 20 until December this year, but his use of Lei Gui elements is already more proficient than yours.

"He wanted to refute me, but after listening to the song, he instead sighed and said, 'The younger generation is formidable.'

"You might not know what concept Zhou Yi's song represents.

"Let's put it this way: judging solely from this song, even if placed in the extremely developed pop music industry in America, I think Zhou Yi's talent can be said to surpass 99% of American musicians."

As soon as these words were spoken, the entire venue instantly erupted in an uproar!

It must be known that Li Zongsheng himself had published a commentary on the domestic music scene not long ago. In that music review article, the only musicians Li Zongsheng favored more and used as examples were Zhou Yi and Zhou Jie-lun—

"Whether it is Jie-lun's 'Niang Zi' or 'Double Section Stick', or Zhou Yi's 'Hua Tian Cuo', 'Susan Shuo', or 'Dong Feng Po', these are all their representative works blending Chinese and Western musical elements."

This was his evaluation of these two.

And as the representative of domestic R&B, the evaluation Li Zongsheng gave to Tao Zhe was pure R&B.

Pure, authentic.

In plain terms, it meant a lack of localization elements; in terms of combining Chinese and Western styles, he was not as good as the "Double Zhou" of Zhou Yi and Zhou Jie-lun.

His famous quote in this music review article, "You could find a thousand more like Tao Zhe in Seattle," although originally intended to praise Tao Zhe's production level for keeping pace with the world music scene, actually fully demonstrated that deep down he was also very clear about the gap between the Chinese music scene and the world music scene—

Namely, that top-tier domestic musicians like Tao Zhe wouldn't even rank in America.

But now, Li Zongsheng actually said outright that Zhou Yi could surpass 99% of American musicians?

If you convert that, doesn't it mean Zhou Yi far surpasses Tao Zhe?

Originally, Tao Zhe's fans were already very dissatisfied with Li Zongsheng's previous article. With these words spoken, Li Zongsheng was even more subjected to verbal and written attacks from many of Tao Zhe's fans—

But, Old Duan from Rock Records, who had expected to fight a public relations war, actually found that he didn't need to do anything at all; some rowdy Tao Zhe fans were directly silenced by Zhou Yi's fans—

"What are your sales figures?"

"How many Golden Melody Awards do you have?"

"Have any of the songs you written ever gone out of the Chinese market and been sold?"

Attacking face-to-face with a ultimate move, the most fatal blow.

For some reasons, Japan is actually more like a so-called holy land for some people in Taiwan.

But now, the holy land in their eyes was being face-checked and outputted by Zhou Yi, a compatriot—that glaring number one would make anyone fall silent.

It wasn't that no one suspected the song was ghostwritten, but the moment the doubt was raised, it was blasted to a bloody pulp by multiple parties together—

First, because Zhou Yi had written all of his previous two albums and one EP himself;

Second, because the lyrical style of 'The Lazy Song' was actually very much like Zhou Yi's.

That relaxed and carefree posture, and lyrics that were even more explicit and flirtatious than the song 'Hate the Dream of the Red Chamber', clearly showed it was written by Zhou Yi's own hand.

"Besides Zhou Yi, I don't think anyone else could write such flamboyant lyrics and still sing them with a straight face."

"Chinese lyrics do limit his expression in this regard; English lyrics truly benefit from the fact that many people don't understand them and are thus even more willing to listen. I suggest Zhou Yi do more of this!"

"The second album had such a flamboyant song as 'Dream of the Red Chamber,' but the second album didn't. I have reason to suspect that the Chinese version of this 'The Lazy Song' was originally a song Zhou Yi planned to include in the album, but after the company rejected it, it was changed into English that many people can neither read nor understand..."

Having found that shadow of the once flamboyant and explicit Zhou Yi in this English single, the early internet pranksters began discussing whether they could get Zhou Yi to write something more exciting.

"... Actually, 'The Lazy Song' really has no Chinese version, and this song has no direct connection to my song 'Hate Dream of the Red Chamber'."

On October 4, when Zhou Yi walked out of the CCTV building, reporters who had been waiting outside for a long time swarmed around him. Sa Beining, who had been unexpectedly squeezed into a corner, stood there like a lackey, unable to decide whether to laugh or cry, while cameras and video cameras faithfully recorded everything.

Zhou Yi, radiating integrity, joked with a smile: "Please, fellow reporters, do not spread rumors, or be careful of my lawyer's warning letter. My senior is right here; he is a host of a legal program. I imagine you wouldn't want to appear on 'Today's Law' as material, would you?"

(End of this chapter)