[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-the-king-of-2000-a-mandopop-dynasty":3,"chapter-the-king-of-2000-a-mandopop-dynasty-the-king-of-2000-a-mandopop-dynasty-chapter-76":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","The King of 2000: A Mandopop Dynasty",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2301332,4501,"Chapter 76: The Concept of the Second Album","the-king-of-2000-a-mandopop-dynasty-chapter-76",76,"\u003Cp>Pepsi Reasserts Dominance as Xie Tingfeng Joins in Force!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Coca-Cola Finally Awakens—Can Master Zhou Yi Stand Alone?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As two truly international corporations, Pepsi and Coca-Cola’s spokesperson choices are annually a focal point for entertainment and even economic media.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Having tasted the success of the star strategy with Michael Jackson, Pepsi has always pursued a star-driven approach.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Since entering the Chinese market, they’ve signed every top-name singer—Zhang Guorong, Liu Dehua, Guo Fucheng, Wang Fei—whomever had the highest popularity. Their strategy is pure star bombardment, maximizing buzz, Kancheng  the Real Madrid of the beverage industry.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As Pepsi’s longtime rival, Coca-Cola, which markets itself around family, care, and warmth, has been far left behind in spokesperson selection.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Continuous data declines forced Coca-Cola China to seek innovation after entering the new century, attempting to sign young, popular stars to expand brand influence and not let Pepsi monopolize the spotlight.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Coca-Cola originally wanted to sign Xie Tingfeng—they even reached the point of imminent agreement; all it needed was his signature to make him Coca-Cola’s first spokesperson since the new millennium.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“But the hype around you and Xie Tingfeng was simply too high. Seeing that buzz, Pepsi immediately stepped in and cut in.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Watching Zhou Yi frown at the headline “Can Master Zhou Yi Stand Alone?”, Qian Jiang revealed the inside story of how he snatched the Coca-Cola deal: “You know how many Hong Kong artists Pepsi has signed—they offered the same endorsement fee, and their endorsement environment was better than Coca-Cola’s.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Afraid we’d be poached by Pepsi, Coca-Cola immediately contacted me, saying they could loosen terms—any issue, we could sign.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“But they had one condition: as their only domestic singer spokesperson, you must compose an advertising song matching their new promotional theme.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Here’s their new campaign concept—take a look. Can you write it?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Facing this work demand, Zhou Yi finally put down the gossip magazine he’d been engrossed in and reached out to take the file Qian Jiang handed him—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Youth, freedom, joy, recklessness?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhou Yi raised an eyebrow, surprised: “Has Coca-Cola abandoned its family-friendly image?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Not at all. If you sign, Coca-Cola will still shoot family-friendly ads for you—they want it all.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Qian Jiang shook his head and added: “So, writing an ad song shouldn’t be a problem, right? They don’t demand lyrical depth or vocal technique.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Just make the melody upbeat, rhythmic, catchy—something that appeals to young Chinese people your age.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“No problem. When do you need it?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhou Yi nodded without hesitation—he had zero pressure about delivering songs.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was a ten-million RMB deal for the millennium—even if the company took 40% after he signed, and he paid taxes, it still exceeded all the money he’d made from zero-start investments over the past few years.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The entertainment industry really does make money fast.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Coca-Cola’s deadline is after the New Year—February. After filming the commercial, paired with your promotional song, they’ll launch it in March with the new theme.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Qian Jiang counted out Zhou Yi’s post-New Year schedule on his fingers: “So in March, as spokesperson, you’ll need to appear at several major domestic events for Coca-Cola.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“By late March, I suggest you start preparing your second album.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“That way, once recording and MV production are complete, you can release it no later than June.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Perfect timing—summer is always the peak season for the music market. If your album quality is high, with Coca-Cola’s marketing advantage, you could capture the largest market share of the year.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Oh, by the way.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Planning next year’s schedule, Qian Jiang snapped his fingers and asked: “Will you include the ad song in your album, or save it for a greatest hits or EP later?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I have no interest in releasing greatest hits.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhou Yi immediately set down the file and shook his head: “EP? We’ll see. When I have time, I can collect songs I’ve sung but never officially released—then slip the ad song in. EPs don’t need themes anyway.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The songs in his head suitable for Coca-Cola’s ad had little to do with his current R&B, hip-hop, drama, or Chinese-style music—forcing one onto an album would create jarring dissonance.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Have you decided on a theme for your second album? Keep with R&B and hip-hop? Or a transformation?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Talking about the album, Qian Jiang’s expression turned serious—this was critical to Zhou Yi’s future popularity: “I know songwriters love challenging themselves with transformation, but my advice is to stick with stability for your second album.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Why not do both?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhou Yi blinked and asked in return.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Do you know why I wrote ‘Flower Field Mistake’? It was just groundwork for the second album.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He’d personally brought hip-hop into the mainstream of Mandarin music—he couldn’t abandon his title as “godfather.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His first album laid the foundation with ‘Flower Field Mistake’; his second album should feature ‘At the Plum Branch,’ the perfect fusion of hip-hop and Chinese style.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With ‘Flower Field Mistake’ as foundation and ‘At the Plum Branch’ as bridge, he could naturally introduce the Chinese-style concept in his second album—‘East Wind Break,’ a pure Chinese-style song, was ready to debut.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thus, with R&B, drama, and Chinese-style ‘Flower Field Mistake’ already established in the first album;\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>the second album adds hip-hop, drama, Chinese-style ‘At the Plum Branch’ and the most complete pure Chinese-style ‘East Wind Break.’ This continuity and development of his core artistic theme across two albums is perfect.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Now the issue is hip-hop.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As the genre that launched his first album, ‘Happy Worship’ succeeded mainly because it was a new type—its lyrics weren’t remarkable, just fitting the era.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>To show musical growth and development, the second album’s hip-hop track must at least include one song with lyrical breakthrough—ideally one that resonates with the times—to serve as the centerpiece.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Pondering, spinning his pen, Zhou Yi suddenly froze—then remembered a song—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘Drifting North.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As one of Wang Lihong’s few breakout hits after the traffic era arrived, ‘Drifting North’ was a resounding success in both lyrics and concept.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Most importantly, Zhou Yi himself had been ‘forced into the northern drift’ for years—he’d witnessed countless musicians and actors come north seeking fame before his debut; writing it would be effortless.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With the core thematic songs now clear, the rest was simple—just ensure high singability within each theme.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A concept album with both depth and breadth gradually took shape in Zhou Yi’s mind.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>(End of Chapter)\u003C\u002Fp>",1055,"2026-06-20T07:33:41.161Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","9c917911ef0aeed370ba449bd5a9ddc324d015f195d955f3610b788693149499","the-king-of-2000-a-mandopop-dynasty-chapter-77","the-king-of-2000-a-mandopop-dynasty-chapter-75",883,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fthe-king-of-2000-a-mandopop-dynasty-cover.jpg"]