Chapter 462: Asian Invasion, Grammy Rigging (6k)

As for Eminem and 50 Cent jumping out at this moment to add drama for themselves, the entire Warner Bros. staff actually had no major reaction—anyone could see this person was just using the name of opposing Zhou Yi to boost his own album sales.

As the existence currently most likely to compete for this year's Best Rap Album and Best Single, 50 Cent, who reached the peak upon debut, has been soaring straight up under Eminem's protection—

The album "Get Rich Or Die Tryin'" was released in early February, with sales breaking one million within a week; as of now, total sales in the US region have exceeded four million copies. According to industry insiders' estimates, this album's projected sales within 2003 will reach over six million copies.

This is merely sales in a single North American region; if the scope is expanded globally, total sales breaking ten million can be said to be a foregone conclusion, and aiming even higher is not impossible to envision.

In the entertainment circle, fame and profit are the most important.

Now, for 50 Cent, with this super blockbuster album as a foundation, profit is certainly secured; what is most lacking next is fame.

Or rather, status.

Currently, is there anything better for boosting status than stepping on Zhou Yi, this newly crowned three-time Grammy winner, to take the Billboard Single Number One spot?

The answer is no.

With "In Da Club" just one step away from Billboard Number One, using Billboard results to make a point is undoubtedly the safest option.

Not to mention Zhou Yi's reputation under many American media pens is currently mixed—however many people like him, that many hate him.

Let alone Zhou Yi's songs only just started climbing the charts; simply ask if you are fighting for the chart position, and that's it.

What?

You ask if it's shameless?

If Eminem and the company behind him truly had shame, they wouldn't have torn Maria Carey apart last year, nor would they have kept biting down on her repeatedly despite her denials.

"I think this is a kind of confidence."

Rowan Placido, then editor of the American comprehensive arts magazine "The New Yorker" (The New Yorker), expressed appreciation for 50 Cent during an interview: "What the American music scene needs is exactly this kind of confidence; just as the Brit Awards focus more on the British, we should focus our gaze more on the American music scene rather than discussing an Asian."

"Not exaggerating, I think this is an invasion from Asia, and the Grammys have surrendered in this invasion; in this regard, they are even worse than the Brit Awards."

As everyone knows, because the Brit Awards are held before the Grammys, Zhou Yi's PR team, after weighing the options, did not choose to focus on them. Precisely because of this, Zhou Yi, knowing he wouldn't win, didn't even go, and even "spoke wildly" during an interview.

And the Grammys awarding prizes is undoubtedly a stamp of approval for the European and American music scenes—after all, whether you are willing to admit it or not, the Grammys are indeed the highest award in the current world music scene.

Kylie Minogue achieved fame and fortune in Britain, and Xia Qila is already a diva in the Latin American region; yet, they both chose to venture into North America without prior arrangement.

Because the term "racial discrimination" is too sensitive, Rowan Placido, who took money, did not mention this aspect; instead, he used the experiences of Kylie Minogue, Xia Qila, and others venturing into the North American music scene to set up the high status of the American music scene in the world—

Then he shifted his tone, starting to woo the fans of these outsiders.

Your idols ventured into North America but failed to gain Grammy recognition, yet Zhou Yi, attending the Grammys for the first time, took home the trophy; can you people tolerate this?

Isn't this a clear-cut case of rigging?

This matter, on a small scale, is Grammy rigging; on a large scale, it is Asian capital invading America!

Asians are trying to control the discourse power of our American music scene!

Can you people tolerate this?!

As for how to solve this matter, Rowan Placido did not give any detailed names, but spoke ambiguously, saying, "We also have very good singers, such as Norah Jones, such as Alicia Keys, such as Britney, such as 50 Cent, such as..."

However, in this list of names, the only one who has released a new album currently is 50 Cent.

This intention is somewhat like Kennedy's convertible—known to everyone on the street.

And to gain sympathy points, 50 Cent, playing the inspirational card hard, began under company instruction to gradually tell the outside world his "legendary" nature—the legendary nature of surviving nine gunshot wounds!

On July 6, 1975, 50 Cent, whose real name is Curtis James Jackson III, was born in Queens, New York, USA.

This itself is a neighborhood full of legendary inspirational stories, simply because many rappers famous in American music history have come from here, including LL Cool J, Nicki Minaj, and the most successful female rap group in history, Salt-N-Pepa.

Curtis also inherited the fine tradition of Queens and became a rapper.

Like many Black people, shortly after he was born, his father relied on his racial talent to "leave the child but remove the father," abandoning the family.

His mother, only fifteen years old, started dealing drugs and working as a pimp to raise her son.

Later, when Curtis was eight years old, his mother was murdered due to a drug deal; young Curtis had no choice but to go live with his grandmother's family, who were also in the slums.

At twelve years old, he embarked on the path of drug dealing; by eighteen, he had become a well-known small-time drug lord, earning five thousand US dollars a day.

In 1996, perhaps tired of the terrifying drug-dealing life, Curtis, after being released from prison again, began to cut off his drug lord career and transform—learning rap, and giving himself the stage name: 50 Cent.

It must be said that Curtis indeed possesses extremely high talent in hip-hop music.

But just as everything was about to get on the right track, on May 24, 2000, Curtis, about to release his first album, was shot outside his grandmother's house—the perpetrator used a 9mm caliber handgun, firing nine shots at close range before fleeing the scene.

These nine shots hit Curtis's fingers, arms, buttocks, both legs, chest, and left face respectively.

If it were an ordinary person, they would probably have died on the spot, but after Curtis was sent to the hospital for rescue, he miraculously survived, and recovered completely after resting for just over half a year.

Unfortunate family, father disappeared, mother died; worked as a pimp and was a drug lord, also practiced boxing; survived nine gunshot wounds; first album aborted; debut blocked and blacklisted by the American recording industry; then signed by Eminem, debut album exploded in popularity...

If it weren't for a living person standing right here, anyone would think this plot was filming a movie.

This also became the capital Curtis himself liked to brag about most during promotion—his fans mostly entered the fandom initially from his legendary experiences, moved by his inspiration.

"I choose 50 Cent; he fits our American music scene's situation better; he is one of our own."

"Indeed, it's not that Spike isn't good; mainly, Spike's experiences were all too smooth sailing, looking uninteresting; the only hot news is gossip, creating too much distance from us."

"Right, exactly, just as Spike himself said back then, he has a happy family and a happy life, achieving success without experiencing any setbacks; too much distance from us."

"I grew up in various drug-dealing environments when I was young; however, my experiences aren't as legendary as 50 Cent's, but I truly recognize the courage he walked out with; this is a real man."

"..."

Unknowingly, 50 Cent became the inspirational Black representative interpreting the American Dream, subtly influencing every passerby who could see similar news. Combined with related song hype, he looked like a representative figure of the American music scene.

Under the so-called background of Asian invasion, with such an executor of the American Dream, if you don't support him, who else can you support?

Of course, regarding this wave of hype, many people still didn't understand—some didn't even know what the so-called "China Threat Theory" or the so-called "Asian Invasion Theory" actually were.

They would only recognize this world according to the news given by major traditional media.

Today the media says east, they are east; tomorrow they say west, then they are west.

And under the descriptions of some large and small media outlets, Zhou Yi, who won the Grammy Award, became the vanguard of the Asian invasion, a dragon that must be stopped, a demon king that must be resisted.

"It's simply nonsense! It's ridiculous that so many people still believe it."

Qian Jiang almost tore the newspaper in his hand.

Clearly, this is a counterattack by many media outlets—a counterattack against Warner leading a public relations task force to help Zhou Yi win the Grammy Award.

"Normal. You can't expect the stupid idiots in Europe and America who still believe in the flat Earth theory to have any superior ability to distinguish information."

Sitting on the sofa in the lounge, Zhou Yi took a bite of a hot dog bun, replenishing his stomach which had barely eaten properly for nearly a day due to his busyness, and mumbled unclearly: "After all, the fact that I won a Grammy is too shocking for them. To put it broadly, I now have the ability to threaten the cultural evaluation system with them at the core. They will absolutely not let this go."

The cultural evaluation system based in Europe and America—to be precise, dominated by the United States—has always been a weapon for the US to export its cultural values.

Whether it is the Grammys, the Oscars, or the so-called European Big Three, the Brit Awards, and so on, if you want to win an award, you must enter that circle, or conform to their concepts, and only then will you reach the stage of competing in public relations capabilities.

If film directors can occasionally break through the blockade with visual expression from time to time, then in the realm of pop music, the Asian market is being completely dominated on one side.

Especially for the Chinese pop music market, which started extremely late.

Even Japan's music, which has progressed with amazing speed, is a total failure under the current American rules. The only genius with hope of breaking the blockade, Sakamoto Kyu, was suppressed and returned to Japan early on, not to mention that he later died in an air crash.

The reason Zhou Yi was able to win this time is also thanks to the fact that the interest conglomerates behind him—Warner, Disney, Apple, Pixar, Coca-Cola, and so on—are members of this circle, which allowed him to get a ticket to enter and compete in public relations capabilities.

Of course, the most important thing is that all of Zhou Yi's English songs are products under American music rules, leaving those media outlets with no flaws to pick and expand upon, so they can only steer the narrative towards Zhou Yi himself.

"I will have the company and partners help launch a rebuttal. You should run more live performances during this time."

Qian Jiang bit on a toothpick, clearly having made preparations for a protracted war.

When those people placed 50 Cent in an opposing position and marketed personas like 'inspirational' and 'American Dream', it actually meant the time had come for a hard clash of media resources.

If Zhou Yi had not performed so aggressively, then Zhou Yi would have been the best spokesperson for this so-called 'American Dream'.

But unfortunately, he is clearly not very obedient.

Not only does he have ambition, but he also kicked open the doors of the Grammys carrying the big flag of 'racial discrimination', stood there and accepted the award, which is something many people are unwilling to see.

Qian Jiang stood up and was about to start preparations when he was called back by Zhou Yi: "No, no, no, Old Qian, do not launch a rebuttal. That is wasting resources and is a futile effort."

"?"

Qian Jiang, who had stopped in his tracks, turned his head and looked with surprise at the man sitting on the sofa.

Zhou Yi raised his eyes to meet his gaze and pointed to his temple with his right hand: "In law, there is a concept called the 'burden of proof paradox', which is also why the law advocates that whoever makes the accusation must provide the evidence.

"If we focus on rebutting public relations scandals and the like, we will actually be going along with their wishes. They will continue this topic all the way, making us waste our energy in this kind of pointless wrangling."

Qian Jiang frowned: "But the risk of not rebutting will be huge. The status of the Grammys in Europe and America is self-evident."

Although they do indeed have suspicions of rigging, since everyone is doing public relations like this, it is equivalent to everyone rigging, which means no one is breaking the rules.

"Just use a more outrageous piece of news to cover up the headlines and the discussion volume."

Putting down his right hand, a smile formed on the corners of Zhou Yi's mouth: "Coincidentally, this can also allow me to hype up a concept."

In the current era, to achieve the outrageous feat of a single album winning five number-one singles, if there is no concept or reason that can touch the G-spot of the American public's heart, it is very difficult to accomplish.

There are so many good songs every year, many of which are at the level of Billboard number-one singles, yet they have never managed to achieve a number-one single result. Besides deficiencies in marketing, the more important reason is that they lack a story.

And as an Asian, as a Chinese person, the only big flag he can utilize is the one about freedom and equality that Europe and America use to deceive outsiders.

And this is precisely the foundation of America's external propaganda.

"We just used 'racial discrimination' before. Will using it again cause backlash?" Qian Jiang still had reservations about marketing tactics used at such high frequency in a short period.

"As long as I am truly discriminated against, then isn't there no problem?"

Zhou Yi spat out the toothpick he had been holding in his mouth, and the words he spoke left Qian Jiang utterly stunned—

"Let people slander me. If necessary, we can even have people intentionally slander me. The stronger the intensity, the better, provided that 50 Cent is included as the object of praise, endlessly praising him while belittling me. But the premise is that we cannot be caught with our pants down, exposing that we hired those people..."

When someone says you are rigging, and you actually did rig it in name, what should be done?

Very simple: just ruin the reputation of the person who said you were rigging.

Fake business warfare strategy, real business warfare personal attacks.

Having finished giving instructions, Zhou Yi stood up, adjusted the slightly wrinkled suit on his body, stood by the floor-to-ceiling window gazing out at New York below, with his sharp-featured face reflected in the glass.

…………………………………

"Extra! Extra! Zhou Yi's US Breakthrough May Encounter Maximum Resistance!"

"Asian Invasion! Zhou Yi's Grammy Exposed as Rigged?!"

"Zhou Yi Involved in Public Relations Scandal, Grammy Journey May Have Stains?"

"Rigging Strikes, Is Zhou Yi's Award Real or Fake?"

"The Silence of the Grammys, Zhou Yi's Grammy Trophy May Be Reclaimed?!"

"..."

March 15, 2003, Saturday, 9:30 AM Beijing Time.

Newspapers led by magazines and journals such as the "Southern Entertainment News", "Apple Daily", and "Next Magazine" transported the public opinion vortex Zhou Yi had fallen into in the US recently—the rigging.

Online, discussions about this matter intensified as information from various sides was transported.

At this moment, it was the time of SARS, when people were basically all huddled at home watching TV, discussing news, and discussing celebrities.

Suddenly seeing negative news related to Zhou Yi, the attention naturally shot up.

A Chinese star goes abroad to accept an award and ends up being accused of rigging?

This fun is too big.

"Is it true or false? Does Zhou Yi, who is so strong, need to rig?"

"Exactly, exactly. Didn't they say Zhou Yi had the highest global album sales last year? Then the award should rightfully be his."

"High sales do not equal winning an award. Take note of this."

"Take note your mother's f***ing ass. If you have the ability, don't use a small account!" (Banned)

"..."

Netizens who were already bored out of their minds now clearly had one more discussion point on the internet, with a heat even higher than "Heaven Sword and Dragon Sabre" which had only just started broadcasting a few days ago.

"If you ask me, Zhou Yi shouldn't have gone abroad to compete with European and American singers for awards. Being blackened is inevitable. Americans cannot allow a Chinese person to conquer the American music scene; he is not one of their own."

"Zhou Yi is too arrogant in Europe and America. Now he is suffering backlash. On the European and American music scene side, only singers like Xia Qila, Mariah Carey, Kylie Minogue, Avril Lavigne, Alicia Keys, and Norah Jones would say a few words for him."

"Why are they all female singers? Where are the males?"

"That pervert always wore a fake smile when posing with male singers at the Grammys; anyone close to him must be a female singer."

"If you ask me, Zhou Yi should come back to act instead of suffering out there. It would be great if Zhou Yi played Zhang Wuji in the recently popular 'Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber'; he's young and handsome, a better match for Gao Yuanyuan and Jia Jingwen. Su Youpeng is too old; he doesn't fit at all!"

"..."

In Taiwan, Cai Yilin, who was promoting her new album and hoping to monopolize this huge cake during the SARS-induced release gap, was numb—

She released her comeback album 'Look at My 72 Changes' on March 7th. With Jay Chou's backing, the two songs 'Love You' and 'Madrid Castle' were of extremely high quality, just the time to make a big move and dominate the headlines, but then she ran into Zhou Yi's English album 'Forever Young' released after he topped the Grammy charts.

Because Taiwan broadcast the Grammys this year, fans who hadn't seen the real Zhou Yi in the news for a long time suddenly erupted with immense enthusiasm, especially after he lifted three trophies.

Bolstered by the Grammy effect, Zhou Yi's English album sold a crazy 280,000 copies in its first week in Taiwan; by the 15th, it had sold 360,000 copies in two weeks, directly draining nearly one-third of the Taiwanese album market for those few months.

This was very unfriendly to Cai Yilin.

Under Zhou Yi's near-sweeping pressure, the heat of her album, crushed by Zhou Yi's Grammy news, was significantly below expectations in the first week, selling only nearly 70,000 copies.

Although this result was much better for an ordinary singer, for Sony, which expected 80,000 to 90,000 copies in the first week, this result was clearly affected by the lack of heat.

No choice, Cai Yilin, who planned to rely on album quality for a slow but steady release, started running live venues even harder, hoping to occupy more space in major entertainment news—

She was almost succeeding; after all, Zhou Yi's Grammy effect couldn't last forever, and he wasn't even in the country.

But just as the news space she obtained was increasing, 'Love You' was gaining more and more recognition, and its popularity was rising—suddenly, all major entertainment media across Taiwan collectively abandoned reporting on the 'Double J' and flocked to chase the news of 'Zhou Yi's Grammy Scandal'.

Cai Yilin missed the front page, the headlines... and even the heat, once again, and again, and again.

"I..."

Cai Yilin, who was in Taiwan, was so aggrieved she almost cried; when calling Jay Chou to complain, her voice was choked with tears, and her words were incomplete.

Jay Chou felt a bit awkward listening.

Zhou Yi had been very fair to him, saying early on that he wouldn't release a Chinese album in March, only an English one, and that too on March 1st after attending the Grammys.

He had also informed Cai Yilin of these circumstances long ago.

The latter had firmly believed that Zhou Yi's English album wouldn't achieve any explosive results in Taiwan, which is why she dared to release it on March 7th as originally planned.

But instead, first Zhou Yi won the Grammy, then came the Zhou Yi Grammy scandal; two explosive hot topics served up just for her, a bit of a heavenly blessing that was almost too much.

Affected by the heat of Zhou Yi's news, her album 'Look at My 72 Changes' had only 120,000 legitimate sales in the half-month up to now, as the attention of many casual listeners was drawn to Zhou Yi's news before and after.

Although the sales figures weren't low for Taiwan this year, there was indeed a certain gap compared to the expectations of Sony and herself...

"There's nothing to be done. Alright, I won't talk to you for now; I need to call and ask how A-Yi is doing." After comforting Cai Yilin, Jay Chou turned and dialed Zhou Yi's number, asking about his situation.

Thanks to the fame Zhou Yi had built domestically in the past, when this so-called scandal first broke, many people actually didn't believe it.

Most thought Zhou Yi was being blacked by the Americans because he had made it internationally.

But a week later, as the news grew more and more intense, and they only waited for a flimsy rumor explanation from Warner, some people finally smelled something wrong.

Given Zhou Yi's personality all along, if this were fake, he would have stood up and fought them to the death long ago.

But unfortunately, there was no official counterattack from Zhou Yi, either domestically or internationally.

"Don't worry, I'm fine. I'm gathering evidence, preparing to make those idiots regret it."

On the phone, Zhou Yi's usual hearty laughter made Jay Chou feel somewhat relieved.

After him, Cheng Long, Jiang Wen, Li Lianjie, Chen Daoming, Zhang Guoli, Ho Man-hei, Cai Zuoyan, Wang Lihong, Lin Junjie, Tao Zhe, Liu Ruoying, and all the friends Zhou Yi knew and had contacted in China called or sent text messages to ask about the situation.

Sun Yanzi, who was so anxious she was jumping up and down like a hedgehog, hanging around Cheng Hao's house all day, was just one step away from buying a plane ticket to fly to the US.

Xiao Yaxuan, Fan Xiaopang, and others who clearly had a good relationship with Zhou Yi, while worried, also received his reassurance.

And online, various discussions about Zhou Yi's scandals began to remain high—

The most typical was a post by Tianya user 'Free Beaver 7': 'Zhou Yi, bringing shame to the country abroad, disgrace!'

"I've always said Zhou Yi's arrogant personality would lead to big trouble; there are people protecting him domestically, but not abroad.

"There are plenty of people abroad more talented than him; now he's paid the price, right?

"Still trying to ride the coattails of The Beatles; don't know who gave him the courage.

"His parents were honest all their lives, never expected the son they raised to be a narcissist and a liar... (This user has been banned for verbal abuse)"

On the evening of March 17, 2003, Europe, America, and even Asian countries like China, Japan, and South Korea unexpectedly received an open media invitation from Warner—

It was sent by Zhou Yi, inviting them to attend a press conference.

The invitation stated that Zhou Yi would personally appear to clarify the matter...

(End of Chapter)