NOVEL ONLINE FREE Chapter 185: Second Special Issue
After making a round at MJ's memorial service and watching a concert commemorating MJ with performances by divas like Mariah Carey and Lionel Richie, dozens of singers took the stage to perform MJ's "Heal the World."
In the evening, Link drove Taylor back home.
"So, got any inspiration?"
On Santa Monica Boulevard, Link looked over at Taylor, who sat in the passenger seat, and asked with a smile.
Taylor, dressed in a blue dress, curled up in her seat, frowning deeply, scratching her head constantly, and her golden curly hair was tousled, resembling a pile of instant noodles.
"Why? Why can you find inspiration at the memorial service, but I can't?"
Taylor blinked her blue fox eyes and looked at him jealously.
Link chuckled lightly, "I've said it before, you didn't know MJ personally, so his passing doesn't touch you, and naturally, it won't spark your creative inspiration."
"Are you saying it has to be someone close to me?"
Taylor propped up her chin, batting her long lashes, and slowly turned her gaze towards him.
"Hey, don't look at me like that!"
Link pushed her forehead away with his finger, "I've already given you plenty of inspiration, you can't just sacrifice me to God to write a song."
"I wasn't thinking that at all!"
Taylor glared at him and continued, "Just now, I was thinking about my deceased relatives. My grandfather passed away too early, I was only eight or nine years old, and I don't have a strong memory of him. My grandmother—did you know?—she was also a singer from Tennessee, very beautiful in her youth, and she had the biggest influence on me. Unfortunately, she passed away in '03."
"I'm sorry!"
Link said politely.
Ignoring him, Taylor held her face and said, "Maybe I could write a song for my grandmother."
Link nodded, agreeing she could not only write about her grandmother but also her grandfather, Mrs. Andrea, and so on. Link remembered that Mrs. Andrea might have a tumor, he wasn't sure if it had been diagnosed, and thought he could take them for a health check next time.
"When do you plan to release your third album?"
"Next year, or the year after that, I don't have any plans yet."
"That's so slow. I debuted two years after you, and next week, I'm releasing my second album, and next year will be my third."
Link said with a smirk at the corner of his mouth.
Taylor clenched her fist and tapped his shoulder, "Don't be too happy. Everyone in the industry knows that it's best to release an album a year. If you release them too frequently, fans won't buy them, so be careful, or they might not sell."
Link smiled, acknowledging her point. Releasing albums too quickly could lead to promotional and distribution issues. If an artist's fame is too minimal, it could also lead to album sales stagnating, which was one of the reasons he delayed his second album by a month.
However, he wasn't too worried; the quality of the songs on his second album was high, and the company was willing to spend money on promotion, so there was no need to fret about not selling.
Additionally, after the release of his second album, Ivanka wanted him to conduct world tours to promote the songs from both his first and second albums.
"Do you have enough songs for your third album? Do you need help?"
"No! I have hundreds of songs in my songbook, more than enough for the third album. I just want to write better songs to dedicate to my fans, unlike some people who rush out a few songs and release them without any sincerity."
Taylor gave him a sideways glance and said with an upturned corner of her mouth.
Link just shook his head with a smile, choosing not to argue with her.
Taylor humphed, fixed her tousled hair in the mirror, and said, "The news says that Link Music is a mom-and-pop shop, one handles management, and the other takes care of the creation. It sounds quite nice."
Link had seen articles hyping up his relationship with Ivanka.
Some claimed he was Ivanka's lover, often secretly meeting at the top of the TP Tower.
Others said that the Thompson Family was the financial backbone and silent partner of Link Music, and there were stories about him and Ivanka secretly getting married license in Las Vegas, as well as more reports suggesting he was two-timing with Taylor and Ivanka, branding him as a major playboy.
Especially after his fallout with the East Coast rap collectives, such negative coverage was on the rise daily.
But those tabloids didn't have any real evidence, so they were limited to speculative gossip that was relatively harmless.
"I have no special relationship with Ivanka, I've definitely not lied to you about that."
"I know."
Taylor pursed her lips, turned her head, and looked at him with her blue eyes, "I just want to tell you, the Thompsons are businesspeople focused on profits. Her constant pressure on you to release records, two or three a year, treating you as a money-making tool, isn't good. It can waste your musical talent and potential.
If you want to be a great singer, you can't focus too much on profits but should value your work more. Even though your last album had six charting singles, a good result, if you took the time for creation, all twelve songs on the first album could have the chance to chart."
Link nodded, acknowledging Taylor was right.
Artists too driven by profit can make their work feel mercenary, and to cater to the mass market, they may have to lower the quality of their output. Good art often has a niche audience—like pure, lofty works—but sometimes it takes decades or centuries for such great works to be accepted.
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However, this didn't apply to Link.
Although he had learned to play the piano and guitar and compose music from Taylor, his current skills were not enough to produce an original piece presentable to the world. At this stage, he could only borrow from the few hundred pieces of future music in his head to mix in the music scene.
Because these pieces were time-sensitive, he had to speed up the pace of releasing albums.
There were also those time-sensitive investment projects on his mind, deciding that he needed to make money faster.
So Ivanka urged him to release an album to make money in this way, which also fit his planning.
"I get what you mean, but don't you worry, now is the peak of my creativity. I can definitely handle two albums a year."
Link pinched her cheek and smiled.
Taylor swatted his hand away and hummed lightly, "Stop making excuses. You just can't part with that big-breasted, big-bootied woman. I feel like touching that booty myself, don't tell me you don't want to."
"Uh, dear, we're discussing music creation here, can we not drift so far off topic? You said it yourself just now, trust that there's nothing special between me and Ivanka."
Link said, feeling helpless.
"But you've definitely had an emotional affair. Just like the movies say, men are always looking for new thrills, fickle creatures that are never satisfied...."
As she spoke, Taylor suddenly stopped, pulled out a notebook and pen from her bag, placed them on her knees, and started to write and draw.
Link knew she was inspired and dared not disturb her. He reduced the speed of the car, which cruised along the West Coast highway lined with tall palm trees, slowly towards the sun-drenched beachfront villas.
On Wednesday, the second promotional single "Believer" from the album "Keep On Movin'" was released, the first being "Give Me Reason" released in May.
The second one is also a rock song, originally released by Imagine Dragons in 2017.
The style of the song is hard and fierce, like Link's boxing style, with heavy backbeat drums and a robust rhythm, coupled with Link's impassioned voice, it's like a rap with a strong rhythmic pulse, making it a battle hymn for overcoming adversity and breaking through hardships.
From the theme, style, to the background story, it all fits very well with Link's identity and experiences.
"Believer" had once reached number four on the Billboard singles chart, and number one on the rock song chart, demonstrating its high quality.
On its release day, it achieved 126,000 downloads on digital music platforms, becoming the champion of iTunes Music Store downloads in 12 hours and the champion of Amazon Digital Music downloads in 16 hours as well as topping the Billboard Digital Song Sales chart.
Many in the industry also gave the song high ratings, with 23,049 people on the Amazon Digital Music store awarding it a 9.1 out of 10.
Rolling Stone magazine gave it a five-star spotlight recommendation on their official website.
The good reception of "Believer" also led to a surge in pre-order sales for the album both online and offline. By Friday noon, the cumulative pre-sales had surpassed 100,000 copies, and, according to expectations, the first-week sales of the album would not be less than 300,000 copies.
However, on Friday, Jay-Z also released the second promotional single of his 11th album, "Empire State of Mind".
This song is about New York, a signature piece of Jay-Z, also very high in quality. It garnered 164,000 downloads on various digital music platforms on its first day, directly taking away the position of "Believer" as the champion of the digital music download chart.
Following the release of "Empire State of Mind," entertainment media also shifted their focus to the music scene, concentrating on the new songs from Link and Jay-Z.
Within two or three months of spread, the news of Link's discord with East Coast rappers like Jay-Z had created a buzz in the entertainment circle, becoming the most heated news in June and July, apart from MJ's passing.
Media reports stated that from April, the two sides had begun to compete for the charts, first vying for the number one spot on the Billboard Rap Chart, and then for the number one spot on the Billboard Hot 100.
Those who entered the fray on the Link Music side included Link, Wiz Khalifa, Bobby from Atlantic Records, and newcomer Bruno Mars under the Link Music label. Among these five individuals, except for Link and Wiz Khalifa who each had an album, the other two were considered new artists.
On the East Coast rap side, those who entered the battle included Jay-Z, Kanye West, Eminem, Lil Wayne, T.I., Drake, 50 Cent, and others. In the rap music scene, their album sales and influence were all within the top 20.
Comparing the fame and number of participants from both sides, the East Coast rappers had the power to completely dominate Link Music.
However, to everyone's surprise, Link Music's side was not crushed after the battle for the charts began.
Link's "I'm The One" and "Give me reason" successively defeated Jay-Z's "D.O.A. (Death of Auto-Tune)," Kanye's "Monster," and T.I.'s "Dead and Gone" on the rap chart and the Hot 100, securing the double championship.
The only defeat came in mid-June with the release of the rap song "Lighters," which was suppressed by "Forever," a joint creation of Kanye, Eminem, Lil Wayne, and Drake, to the second spot on the rap charts and was never able to reach number one.
Yet, considering that the song was performed by two newcomers and was pressed down by three top streamers, it was an honorable defeat.
And now, the two sides are going to compete for the charts once more, this time not only for the singles chart but also for the album sales chart.
Link's new album "Keep On Movin'" is set to be released next Monday, while Jay-Z's 11th album "The Blueprint 3" is scheduled to release next Tuesday.
The release dates of the two albums are just one day apart.
From the current situation, both albums have the potential to succeed.
Both "Keep On Movin'" and "The Blueprint 3" saw their first promotional singles successively reaching number one on the Billboard Hot 100.
The second promotional singles also successively topped the digital music download charts as champions.
Judging from the albums themselves, it's hard to tell which one has the upper hand.
Speaking of fame and influence, Jay-Z, who has been in the industry for over twenty years, has deep roots in music, a large following of loyal music fans, and is known as the 'King of New York Music,' seems to have an edge.
"But we can't underestimate Link; he's a miraculous guy. His debut album went Double Platinum in the United States. When 'I'm The One' contended with 'Monster' for the charts in May, everyone thought Kanye was sure to win. But then, Link astonishingly won eight swimming gold medals at the World University Games, which was incredible.
This news also pushed his song to number one on the rap charts. I heard that Link has enrolled to compete in the Berlin World Swimming Championships next week. If he can beat Phelps and other world champions to win another eight gold medals, 'Keep On Movin'' may just have a chance to win.
Yes, 'Keep On Movin'' is the name of Link's second album, and from the two singles released previously, we can hear that the album tells the story of a fighter, with a very positive theme....
So it's still uncertain who will win and who will lose between the two albums."
John Ferreiro, a famous music critic from the Los Angeles Times, wrote in his article.
In addition to the Los Angeles Times, other major U.S. newspapers, television stations, and radio stations have also recently discussed the topic of Link and Jay-Z's new albums battling for the charts. They are deliberating which album will be more successful, which will have more charting songs, and whose single will reach the top of the charts.
For this reason, betting companies have set up new betting projects, wagering on the first week, first month, and three-month sales numbers of the two albums. Looking at the odds released by various betting companies, the odds for Link's new album to win in weekly sales are 1:1.8, and for Jay-Z's album to win are 1:1.2, suggesting that Jay-Z has a greater chance of winning.