Chapter 305: Tired, Let's Destroy It All

Although most people knew as clearly as a mirror that the DC editorial department would absolutely not pay any attention to Zhou Yi or even to Zhou Yi's suggestion.

But they still rushed in.

The reason was nothing else; they were just looking for fun!

After entering the new century, the intensity of feuds in the American music scene had declined significantly compared to the past.

In the late nineties of the last century and the early years of the millennium, the new generation of singers who rose during these two time periods began to gradually seize the discourse power from the veteran singers; Mariah Carey was a typical representative of those who had their power usurped.

As for male singers, even as strong as Michael Jackson, signs of fading away had inevitably appeared.

And the intersections and dirty dealings among this batch of newly risen singers were not yet complex enough to make people shout with satisfaction, which directly resulted in the current feuds not being as numerous as before.

Precisely because of this, Eminem, who had rich experience in failing since childhood, finally realized after growing up and experiencing repeated failures and blows—

He reviewed past failure cases in grief and anger, started to integrate existing resources, and buried his head to study a new fighting style suitable for himself.

Afterwards, he successfully attained the Dao, changed his appearance, and burst onto the scene, opening up a new track with his unique technical hardcore rap style—insulting whoever he met, quickly gaining fame and raising his status by provoking others, and relying on his top-tier talent to seize this overwhelming wealth brought by provocation, and firmly establishing his footing in the music scene.

After this whole combo move, he ate until his bowl and basin were full.

Anyone with eyes could see that this time, when Eminem scolded Mariah Carey, besides venting his anger, there was a high probability that he also intended to step on this top-tier diva to raise his own status.

But Mariah Carey's policy of non-response disappointed everyone who was expecting them to fight.

Just when they thought there would be no fun to watch, after Zhou Yi appeared, Mariah Carey changed her tune, started actively praising Zhou Yi, and even actively entered the fray for Zhou Yi.

"This is simply nonsense."

The DC editorial department, which had been inexplicably dragged into this dispute without doing anything, was now also somewhat speechless; even an online voting petition? You can actually come up with such a thing, you really are a talent.

"The heat is quite high, completely crushing Eminem. The person who planned this marketing campaign understands the internet very well; we just don't know who ghostwrote Spike's illustrated blog post."

There were also people with clear eyes inside DC.

Although they were more skilled in printed publications, they were not unfamiliar with the internet sector either.

After this marketing campaign, the one who benefited most obviously was Zhou Yi. His album sales were originally impossible to break the million mark again in the second week, but as a result, he forcibly attracted more people to buy by relying on the high heat generated by the hype.

Now, he had even stepped on Eminem to expand this matter into a carnival of the online world, letting a group of passersby who had money, energy, and also more time and were more able to accept new things hear Zhou Yi's songs, expanding the source of sales.

Originally, the attention on the feud war was already high; the stunt Zhou Yi pulled off was amazing, not to mention the passersby and the basic base, but even this group of old hands felt amazed.

"A marketing plan unique in the whole world; check who helped Spike write this blog post."

The head of DC Comics also became interested.

Strictly speaking, they also ate the benefits of this wave of widespread meme-playing; this blog post was definitely a marketing technique worth appreciating repeatedly.

Because the aggression and fun contained within it were the core that created this internet carnival, allowing countless creative netizens to participate in it.

This was obviously coming with preparation.

Eminem, whose voice channels were in traditional media, was caught off guard and directly lost in a mess.

Perhaps the only thing worth Eminem being grateful for was that his album sales were already declining, but relying on this wave of heat, they actually began to rise again.

Whether on the radio or on the offline sales charts, the data recovery of the song "Without Me" allowed him to maintain the position of runner-up on the Billboard charts after the chart change.

As for Zhou Yi, after entering the top ten of the Billboard, the potential of "Yeah" was completely released—

On July 18, the surging data of this song made everyone in the industry exclaim in their hearts that it was incredible; it topped the radio charts in nearly forty states across the United States!

At the same time, after two weeks of explosive fermentation of word-of-mouth, the two songs "Baby" and "Goodtime" also began to continuously expand their influence outward.

In Warner's statistics, in the United States, the sales volume of the hardcover edition of "The Attitude Show" actually surpassed the standard edition.

"Oh my goodness, this speed is too fast."

Qian Jiang, who had already started to imagine a double chart championship, looked at the feedback summary of various data from yesterday and wiped the non-existent cold sweat from his forehead.

Zhou Yi, standing calmly by the floor-to-ceiling window of the lounge with one hand in his pocket, slightly swaying a glass of champagne, looked down at the bustling city below, his eyes filled with smiles: "That's right, since I haven't stayed in the US for long, I must use strong medicine.

"Eminem must be very unhappy with me in his heart right now, but seeing that his own record sales are also recovering, he can only swallow this bitter loss in silence; he neither can nor will release a new song to Diss me.

"Because once he releases a new single to Diss me, the attention and sales of the new single will inevitably affect his album. He still has a scale in his heart regarding which earns more, the album or the single."

This group of people looks rash and impulsive on the surface, but when it comes to making money, each one is more shrewd than the next.

As for whether he will release a single to diss himself after another month or two when the golden period of album sales passes, that doesn't matter; anyway, he can release it then, and incidentally explode sales one more time.

There are still two songs prepared to beat Eminem into only being able to stubbornly exit the stage: Canibus.

The two diss tracks "PHD" and "UDidn'tCare", which explicitly named Eminem and unleashed full firepower, could basically be used by him after changing a few lyrics and names.

"Oh right, Mariah Carey asked to meet you, saying she wants to get to know you; I guess this wave of marketing effects shocked her."

Speaking, Qian Jiang also handed over a business card for the person—gilded, looking very high-class.

Zhou Yi, glancing back with interest, held it in his hand to play with; after pondering for a while, a playful smile rose on the corner of his mouth.

As the two male and female singers with the hottest momentum at present, the meeting of the two did not seem to have the intention of hiding from the media.

So that when Zhou Yi, sitting by the window of the private room in the restaurant, looked out, he could occasionally see the lenses of paparazzi constantly shooting towards his side.

However, since Mariah Carey didn't take it seriously, he naturally didn't bother to worry about this idle matter; instead, he drank and laughed with Mariah Carey, and the atmosphere was fiery.

"Well, to be honest, you are very different from the Chinese singers in my impression. Mike once told me that he met a singer from China at the World Music Awards; he was very humble."

Under the gorgeous lights, the two who had eaten and drunk their fill were chatting quite happily.

Mariah Carey, who is 32 years old this year, is at the end of her "Butterfly" peak period; the hot brown strapless gown reveals her figure without doubt.

Under the situation of always lacking someone to entertain since coming to the US, although Zhou Yi personally felt that Mariah Carey's looks were quite average, just for her willingness to express gratitude, he felt this woman was indeed generous.

After all, she perfectly implemented the creed that "thanking also requires exposing the chest," especially when bending forward or lowering her head.

Don't think that European and American women have good figures everywhere; that is purely a stereotype.

Not to mention that this person is a solid top-tier diva in Europe and America, with the bonus of a star halo.

"Actually, I can also be very humble, on the premise that you don't provoke me."

Zhou Yi, putting down the champagne, pretended to be helpless and shrugged: "Everyone who knows me knows that I am actually quite elegant and easygoing."

"Elegant and easygoing? You?"

As if amused, Mariah Carey leaned her upper body backward while laughing—under the table, her raised right leg accidentally scraped Zhou Yi's calves continuously a few times.

Hmm, an accident.

"Really, everyone who truly knows me says that."

With a playful glint in his eyes, Zhou Yi engaged this sister in casual conversation with great interest.

The next day.

Eminem, who had been forced by his mentor to temporarily halt single production, saw a headline in the newspaper that made him curse out the bitch—

"Spike's Victory! Eminem is Totally Crushed!"

"The Butterfly has flown into Spike's hands!"

The accompanying photos showed Zhou Yi last night, eating and chatting with Mariah Carey, clearly having a wonderful time.

After finishing their meal and preparing to part, the two even waved friendly greetings to the camera; anyone could tell what that meant.

"Yes, I had dinner with Spike last night. He made a very good impression on me, and his ideas are incredibly imaginative.

"I think that's probably why he is so popular in Asia and in the UK. An interesting man is always better than a boring one, isn't he?"

On the 20th, amidst a deluge of romance rumors, Mariah Carey personally gave an interview. While denying the romance, she also praised Zhou Yi: "There is no possibility of a romance between Spike and me; please do not write such nonsense. We are just very good friends.

"As that Gao Wei girl, Kelly Brook, said, Spike indeed fulfills all my imaginings of a man. If he were my age, I think I would chase him recklessly."

At the same time, she revealed her favorite song from Zhou Yi's album— "Because of You".

Afterwards, influenced by the rumors, Zhou Yi's "Because of You" also surged dramatically on real-time radio data, making everyone at Warner laugh with pure joy.

Sometimes, having too many trump cards in one album isn't a good thing; if not for the fact that the three hottest songs had already been selected, they really wouldn't know exactly which songs to allocate the main resources to.

However, when the aftereffects of the song "Because of You" began to ferment, the data showing various shifts left everyone at Warner collectively stunned—

Wait, how is this song about to explode too?!

After Zhou Yi finished his interview with Time magazine, on July 23, the day the Billboard charts updated again—

Under the gaze of the entire American music scene, the number one song on the Billboard chart had already become... "Yeah"!

"Single Chart Champion 'Yeah', Spike's first number one single is born! Previously, 'The Lazy Song' had only reached runner-up at best."

"Wait a minute, this top thirty... Spike's new songs all f***ing made it in?!"

Amidst continuous high heat, after the third week of release, Zhou Yi began to show the same signs of dominating the charts that he once had in the Chinese music scene—

"Yeah" soared from eighth place last week, overtaking Eminem's "Without Me", and officially claimed the championship!

Regarding this result, the fans, who had expected it all along, were not surprised.

After all, the popularity of "Yeah" was now so widespread that it could be heard everywhere on the streets and in every alley, and it had become a regular at various bars and nightclubs.

What surprised them was that the album "The Attitude Show", including the extra track in the deluxe edition, contained a total of twelve songs.

And now, besides two old songs, all the other new songs had f***ing made it into the top thirty?!

One person occupying one-third of the Billboard top thirty?!

"Yeah" claimed the championship, "Baby" was stuck at eighth, "Good Time" ranked eleventh;

"Galway Girl", "Because of You", "What Makes You Beautiful", and "How Long" ranked fourteenth, seventeenth, twenty-third, and twenty-fifth respectively.

The remaining three songs, "On One Thing", "DJ Got Us Fallin' in Love", and "Rude", were just barely holding the line—ranking twenty-eighth, twenty-ninth, and thirtieth.

"Incredible! Unbelievable! I can hardly believe my eyes! This is a miracle never achieved in the history of the American music scene!"

"If I were Warner, I would wish to turn back time right now and hold down Zhou Yi's hands from writing songs and releasing albums!"

"This is terrifying; on the Billboard chart, he is actually fighting himself. This internal consumption is too severe; Warner's promotional resources are being severely wasted!"

"Don't look at the singles, look at the album chart. Spike has f***ing won the championship again! God, three consecutive championships. This week his weekly sales were over 930,000 copies; the total North American sales for three weeks have surpassed three million copies! This is terrifying!"

With Warner's unlimited marketing support following up, Zhou Yi's album, which was superhuman in both quality and singability, completely blew the minds of everyone in the American music scene, giving the United States a little shock from a trump card!

The Canadian punk witch Avril, who had expected her single "Complicated" to break into the top fifteen as planned, rolled her eyes and threw her guitar aside after seeing the fresh new rankings of the new episode—

"Complicated", ranked thirty-first on the Billboard singles chart...

Tired. Let it all be destroyed.

I don't want to play anymore!

This is just f***ing ridiculous!!!

What the hell is this Spike! Do you release songs like this?!

I want to see which songs you plan to focus on next!

Avril, who had already hated Zhou Yi to the point of grinding her teeth without ever having met him, soon received some good news—

Spike is returning to his home country.

Because he must start his first concert tour, Spike has to return home first.

"Great! Open the champagne!"

Avril, who had truly been numbed by Zhou Yi's endless marketing during this period, immediately regained her confidence.

Zhou Yi isn't even in the United States anymore; there's no way he can still block her position, right?

On July 23, 2002, carrying the gains from his time in the United States, Zhou Yi was immediately given a special feature titled "Zhou Yi's American Journey" on the homepage of the portal website Sohu—

"The Man Who Created History for Chinese Singers!"

(End of this chapter)