China Entertainment 2000

Regarding Eminem and 50 Cent jumping out to add drama to themselves at this time, there was actually no big reaction from Warner Bros. Everyone could see that this person was promoting himself in the name of confronting Zhou Yi. Increase your album sales.

As the most promising competitor for the best rap album and best single this year, 50 Cent, which was at its peak since its debut, has been soaring all the way under the protection of Eminem——

Since the album "Get Rich Or Die Tryin" was released in early February, sales exceeded one million within a week. So far, total sales in the United States have exceeded 4 million. According to estimates by industry insiders, this album is expected to sell more than 6 million copies in 2003.

This is only the sales volume in a single North American region. If the scope is expanded to the world, it can be said that the total sales volume will exceed 10 million, and even higher points are not impossible to foresee.

In the entertainment industry, fame and fortune are the most important.

Now for 50 Cent, with this super hit album as a foundation, Lina must have it, and then the next thing that is missing most is fame.

In other words, it's a coffee position.

Is there anything better to improve one's status than to win the No. 1 single on Billboard with Zhou Yi, the newly minted three-time Grammy Award winner?

The answer is no.

With "In Da Club" just one step away from being number one on the Billboard, using the Billboard results to make a fuss is undoubtedly the safest option.

Not to mention that Zhou Yi's current reputation in many American media can be described as mixed reviews - as many people like him as he is, there are also how many people hate him.

Don't tell me that Zhou Yi's songs have just started to hit the charts. I just ask you if you are competing for the charts and that's it.

What?

Do you want to be shameless?

If Eminem and the company behind him really wanted to lose face, they wouldn't have fought like Mariah Carey last year, and continued to bite Mariah Carey again and again despite the latter's denials.

"I think it's a confidence thing."

Rowan Placido, then editor of the American comprehensive literary magazine "The New Yorker" expressed his appreciation for 50 Cent in an interview: "What the American music scene needs is this kind of confidence, just like Just as the Brit Awards pay more attention to British people, we should focus more on the American music scene instead of discussing an Asian.

"It is no exaggeration to say that I think this is an invasion from Asia, and the Grammys have surrendered to the invasion. They are not even as good as the Brit Awards in this regard."

As we all know, because the All England event was held before the Grammys, the Zhouyi public relations team did not choose to focus on it. It is precisely because of this that Zhou Yi, who knew he would not win the award, did not go at all and even "spoke wildly" during the interview.

The Grammy award is undoubtedly a stamp of approval for the European and American music scene - after all, whether you want to admit it or not, the Grammy is indeed the highest award in the world music scene.

Kylie Minogue is famous in the UK and Shakira is already a queen in Latin America. In this way, they still chose to enter North America.

Because the word racial discrimination is too sensitive, Rowan Placido, who received the money, did not mention this aspect, but borrowed the experience of Kylie Minogue, Shakira and others to break into the North American music scene to pave the way. The American music scene has the highest level of style in the world——

Then the conversation changed and he began to win over fans of these outsiders.

Your idol failed to get recognition from the Grammys when he traveled to North America. Zhou Yi came to participate in the Grammys for the first time but got a trophy. Can you tolerate this?

Isn't this a complete shady story?

At a small scale, this is a shady story about the Grammys; at a larger scale, it is an invasion of the United States by Asian capital!

Asians want to control the voice of our American music scene!

Can you bear this? !

As for how to solve this matter, Rowan Placido did not give any detailed names, but said vaguely, "We also have good singers, such as Norah Jones, such as Alicia ·Keys, like Britney, like 50 cents, like..."

However, among this series of lists, the only one who has released a new album is 50 Cents.

This thought was more or less attributed to Kennedy's convertible - everyone on the street knew it.

In order to gain sympathy points for himself, 50 Cent, who played the inspirational card, gradually began to tell the outside world about his "legendaryness" under the guidance of the company - the legendary nature of being shot nine times and not dying!

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

This is a legendary and inspiring neighborhood in itself, simply because it has produced many famous rappers in the history of American music, including LL Cool J, Nicki Minaj and Salt N Pepa, the most successful female rap group in history.

Curtis also adhered to the fine traditions of Queens and became a rapper.

Like many black people, soon after he was born, his father relied on his racial talents to abandon the family and abandon the family.

The 15-year-old mother started a drug trafficking and pimp business in order to raise her son.

Then, when Curtis was eight years old, his mother was murdered over a drug deal, and the young Curtis had to go to his grandmother's family, who also lived in the slums.

When he was 12 years old, he embarked on the road of drug trafficking. By the age of 18, he had become a well-known drug lord, earning $5,000 a day.

In 1996, perhaps tired of the frightening life of drug trafficking, Curtis, who was released from prison again, began to cut up his career as a drug lord and transform himself - learning to rap and giving himself a stage name: 50 Cent.

It has to be said that Curtis is indeed extremely talented in hip-hop music.

But just when everything was about to get on track, on May 24, 2000, Curtis, who was about to release his first album, was shot outside his grandmother's house. The assailant used a 9mm caliber pistol and shot him at close range. He fired 9 bullets and then fled the scene.

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

Ordinary people would have confessed on the spot, but after being sent to the hospital for rescue, Curtis miraculously survived and recovered as before after only more than half a year of training.

The family was unhappy, his father disappeared and his mother died; he worked as a pimp and became a drug lord, he also boxed, he was shot nine times and survived, his first album was aborted, his debut was blocked, he was blacklisted by the American record industry, and then he was banned by Eminem. Signed a contract and debuted a hit album...

If there weren't real people here, everyone would think that this plot is a movie.

This has also become Curtis' favorite to show off when promoting - most of his fans initially got into the trap from his legendary experience and were moved by his inspiration.

"I choose 50 Cent. He is more in line with the situation of our American music scene and is one of our own."

"Indeed, it's not that Spike is not good. The main reason is that Spike's experience has been too smooth and smooth. It doesn't seem interesting. The only hot news is the gossip, which feels too distant from us."

"Yes, that's right. As Spike himself said at the beginning, he has a happy family and a happy life. He has achieved success without experiencing any setbacks. It's so distant."

"I grew up in various drug-trafficking environments when I was a child. However, my experience is not as legendary as that of 50 Cent, but I recognize his courage to come out. This is a real man."

"..."

Unknowingly, 50 Cents became an inspirational black representative that interprets the American dream, subtly affecting every passerby who can see similar news. Coupled with the hype of related songs, he looks like a representative figure in the American music scene.

In the context of the so-called Asian invasion, who can support such an executor of the American dream if not him?

Of course, many people are still confused about this wave of rhythm - they don't even know what the so-called "China threat theory" and the so-called "Asian invasion theory" are.

They will only understand the world based on the information given by major traditional media.

If the media says east today, they will be east; if they say west tomorrow, they will be west.

According to the description of some large and small media, Zhou Yi, who won the Grammy Award, became the vanguard of the Asian invasion, the evil dragon that must be stopped, and the devil that must be resisted.

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

Qian Jiang almost tore up the newspaper in his hand.

Obviously, this is a counterattack by many media - a counterattack against Warner leading a public relations team to help Zhou Yi win the Grammy Award.

"Normally, you can't expect that European and American idiots who still have many people believing in the flat-earth theory have any superb ability to identify information."

Zhou Yi, who was sitting on the sofa in the lounge, took a bite of the hot dog bun and replenished his stomach after being busy for almost a day without eating properly. He said vaguely: "After all, the fact that I won the Grammy was too much of a shock to them. , to put it more seriously, I have the ability to threaten the cultural evaluation system dominated by them, and they will never give up. "

Europe and the United States—to be precise, the cultural evaluation system based on the United States has always been a weapon for the United States to export cultural values ​​to the outside world.

Whether it’s the Grammys, the Oscars, or the so-called three major European awards, the Brit Awards, etc., if you want to win an award, you have to enter that circle, or you have to conform to their ideas, and then you get to the stage of competing for public relations capabilities. .

If film directors can occasionally break through the blockade with their expressions on screen, then in terms of pop music, the Asian market has been completely abused unilaterally.

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

Even Japanese music, which has advanced rapidly, has failed miserably under the current rules of the United States. The only genius who had any hope of breaking the blockade, Kyū Sakamoto, returned to Japan early due to the suppression, and later died in a plane crash.

Zhou Yi was able to win the award this time, thanks to the fact that Warner, Disney, Apple, Pixar, Coca-Cola and other interest groups behind him are members of this circle, and he got the ticket to enter the competition to compete in public relations capabilities.

Of course, the most important thing is that these English songs of Zhou Yi are all products under the rules of American music. Those media who want to criticize and expand cannot find fault and can only point the rhythm to Zhou Yi himself.

"I will ask the company and partners to help refute the rumors, and I will visit the scene more during this period."

Qian Jiang bit his toothpick, obviously ready for a protracted war.

When those people put 50 Cent in an opposing position and marketed inspirational, American dream and other characters, it was actually time for media resources to go head-to-head.

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

But unfortunately, he was obviously not very obedient.

Not only was he ambitious, but he also kicked open the door of the Grammys with the banner of "racial discrimination" and accepted the award standing up. This is what many people don't want to see.

Qian Jiang stood up and was about to start preparations when he was stopped by Zhou Yi: "No, no, no, old money, don't refute the rumors. This is a waste of resources and useless efforts."

"?"

Qian Jiang stopped and turned around, looking at the man sitting on the sofa in surprise.

Zhou Yi raised his eyes and looked at him, pointing his right hand at his temple: "In law, there is a concept called the self-evidence cycle, which is why the law advocates whoever asks for evidence.

"If we focus on refuting rumors about public relations scandals, we will go along with their wishes. They will continue this topic and let us waste our energy on such unobjectionable nonsense."

Qian Jiang frowned: "But if you don't refute the rumors, the risk will be great. The status of Grammy is self-evident in Europe and the United States."

Although they are indeed suspected of engaging in shady activities, the fact that everyone is so public-relative means that everyone is engaging in shady activities, that is, no one commits any foul play.

"Just use a more outrageous news to cover up the limelight and discussion."

Zhou Yi put down his right hand with a smile on his lips: "Just right, you can still give me a concept to hype up."

In this era, if you want to achieve the outrageous results of five championships in one specialty, it will be very difficult to achieve without a concept or reason that can impress the G-spot in the hearts of the American public.

There are so many good songs every year, many of which are at the No. 1 spot on Billboard, but they have never been able to win the No. 1 single. In addition to the lack of marketing, more importantly, they lack a story.

As an Asian and a Chinese, the only thing he can use is the banner of freedom and equality that Europe and the United States use to deceive others.

And this is precisely the basis of America’s foreign propaganda.

"We have just used racial discrimination before, will it cause resentment if we use it again?" Qian Jiang still has some scruples about marketing methods that are used frequently and frequently in a short period of time.

"As long as I'm really being discriminated against, isn't that okay?"

Zhou Yi spit out the toothpick in his mouth, and what he said shocked Qian Jiang——

"Let people criticize me. If necessary, you can also let people criticize me deliberately. The greater the intensity, the better. The premise is that you must bring 50 cents as the object of praise, and you can praise them and belittle me unlimitedly. But the premise is that you cannot be caught. Don't be fooled, it will be revealed that he is the person we are looking for..."

When someone accuses you of engaging in shady activities, but you are actually involved in shady activities in name, what should you do?

It's very simple, just discredit the person who said you were involved in shady activities.

False business war strategizing, real business war personal attacks.

After finishing the explanation, Zhou Yi stood up and straightened out the wrinkled suit on his body. He stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling window and looked at New York at his feet. His angular face was reflected on the glass.

………………………………

"Extra number! Extra number! Zhou Yi may encounter the greatest resistance in his journey to the United States!"

"Asian Invasion!" Is Zhouyi Grammy exposed? ! 》

"Zhou Yi is involved in a public relations scandal, may his Grammy trip be stained?" 》

"The shady story is coming, is it difficult to tell whether Zhouyi's award is true or false?" 》

"Grammy's silence, will the Zhouyi Grammy trophy be withdrawn?" ! 》

"..."

March 15, 2003, Saturday, 9:30 a.m. Imperial time.

Newspapers such as Southern Entertainment News, Apple Daily, Next Weekly and other magazines carried the whirlpool of public opinion that Zhou Yi has fallen into in the United States in recent days - the shady story.

On the Internet, discussions about this matter have intensified with the transfer of information from all parties.

Right now is the time of SARS, when most Chinese people are staying at home watching TV, discussing news and celebrities.

Suddenly seeing the negative news related to Zhouyi, the attention naturally increased.

A Chinese star went abroad to receive an award and was accused of shady affairs?

This is so much fun.

"Really or not? Is Zhou Yi so powerful to do something shady?"

"That's right, wasn't it said that Zhou Yi had the highest album sales in the world last year? That award should be his."

"High sales volume does not mean you can win awards, I hope everyone knows this."

"I hope everyone knows that you're a bitch, don't open a trumpet account if you can!" (has been banned)

"..."

Netizens who were already idle now have an additional point of discussion on the Internet, and the popularity is even higher than that of "The Legend of Heaven and Dragon Slayer" which was just launched a few days ago.

"If you ask me, Zhou Yi should not go abroad to compete with European and American singers to win awards. It is inevitable that he will be hacked. Americans cannot allow a Chinese to conquer the American music scene. He is not one of their own."

"Zhou Yi is too crazy in Europe and the United States, and now there is a backlash. In the European and American music circles, there are Shakira, Mariah Carey, Kylie Minogue, Avril Lavigne, Ailiya Keys, Nora... Singers like Jones would say a few words for him.”

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

"This pervert always had a fake smile on his face when taking photos with male singers at the Grammys. He must be a female singer if he is friends with her."

"If you ask me, Zhou Yi should come back to acting, and not suffer the humiliation outside. It would be great if Zhou Yi played Zhang Wuji in the recently popular "The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber". He is young and handsome, and is more suitable for Gao Yuanyuan and Jia Jingwen. Su Youpeng is too old and not suitable at all!"

"..."

Taiwan, Cai Yilin, who is promoting her new album and wants to take advantage of the SARS period to enjoy this big cake as much as possible, is very nervous-

She released her new album "Look at My 72 Changes" on March 7th to make a comeback. The two songs "Say I Love You" and "Madrid Castle" escorted by Jay Chou are of extremely high quality. It was the time to show her strength and dominate the headlines, but she met Zhou Yi's British album "Forever Young" released after dominating the Grammys.

Because Taiwan broadcast the Grammys this year, Taiwanese fans who have not seen the real Zhou Yi in the news for a long time suddenly burst into great enthusiasm, especially after he lifted three trophies.

With the Grammy effect, Zhou Yi's English album sold a crazy 280,000 copies in Taiwan in the first week. As of the 15th, 360,000 copies were sold in two weeks, which can be said to have directly squeezed out nearly one-third of the Taiwanese album market in the past few months.

This is not friendly to Cai Yilin.

Under the pressure of Zhou Yi's almost sweeping, the popularity of her album was crushed by Zhou Yi's Grammy news, and the first week was obviously lower than expected, with only nearly 70,000 copies sold.

Although this result is much better for ordinary singers, for Sony, which expected 80,000 to 90,000 in the first week, this result was obviously affected by the popularity.

There is no way, Cai Yilin, who planned to rely on the quality of the album, began to run more desperately to the scene, in order to allow herself to occupy more pages of major entertainment news---She was almost successful. After all, Zhou Yi's Grammy effect could not last too long, and he was not in China.

As a result, seeing that he was getting more and more news coverage, the song "Say I Love You" was also recognized by more and more people, and the popularity was getting higher and higher. Suddenly, all the major entertainment media in Taiwan collectively gave up the "Double J" report and swarmed to chase the news of "Zhou Yi's Grammy scandal".

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

"I..."

Cai Yilin, who was in Taiwan, was almost crying out of grievance. When she called Jay Chou to complain, she was crying and her words were incomplete.

Jay Chou felt a little embarrassed.

Zhou Yi was very worthy of him. He said early on that he would not release a Chinese album in March, but only an English album, and he would release it on March 1st after participating in the Grammy Awards.

He had also conveyed these situations to Cai Yilin a long time ago.

The latter was convinced that Zhou Yi's English album would not perform well in Taiwan, so she dared to release it on March 7th as originally planned.

As a result, first Zhou Yi won the Grammy Award, and then there was Zhou Yi's Grammy scandal. Two explosive hot topics served her alone. This blessing was somewhat against the will of heaven.

Affected by Zhou Yi's news popularity, her album "Look at My 72 Changes" has only had 120,000 legitimate sales so far in half a month. A large number of passers-by and listeners were attracted by Zhou Yi's news before and after.

Although the sales volume in Taiwan this year is not low, there is a certain gap between Sony and her expectations...

"There is no way, okay, I won't tell you for now, I have to call and ask about Ayi's situation." After comforting Cai Yilin, Jay Chou turned to call Zhou Yi's number and cared about his situation.

Thanks to Zhou Yi's reputation in the past in China, when this so-called scandal was first exposed, many people actually didn't believe it.

Basically, they all thought that Zhou Yi was blackmailed by the Americans because he had made an international impact.

But it was not until a week after the news became more and more intense that they only waited for Warner to explain the rumor lightly, and some people smelled something wrong.

According to Zhou Yi's character, if this thing was fake, he would have stood up and fought with others.

But there is no official counterattack from Zhou Yi at home or abroad.

"Don't worry, I'm fine. I'm collecting evidence and preparing to make those idiots pay for it."

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

After him, Chenglong, Jiang Wen, Li Lianjie, Chen Daoming, Zhang Guoli, Huo Wenxi, Cai Zhuoyan, Wang Lihong, Lin Junjie, Tao Zhe, Liu Ruoyin and other friends Zhou Yi met and contacted in China all called or sent text messages to ask about the situation.

At one point, Sun Yanzi was so anxious that he jumped up and down like a wild beast. He was hanging at Cheng Hao's house all day and almost bought a plane ticket to fly to the United States.

Xiao Yaxuan, Fan Xiaopang and other people who clearly have a good relationship with Zhou Yi are worried but also feel reassured by him.

On the Internet, various discussions about Zhou Yi's dark secrets have gradually become popular.

The most typical one is a post published by Tianya user "Free Beaver 7": "Zhou Yi, you have brought shame abroad, shame!"

"I have always said that Zhou Yi's arrogant personality will suffer a great loss. There are people who protect him in China, but not abroad.

"There are a lot of people abroad who are more talented than him. Isn't this a big deal?

"He also wants to touch the Beatles. I don't know who gave him the courage.

"His parents have been honest all their lives, and they didn't expect that the son they taught would be an arrogant and liar... (The user has been banned for verbal abuse)"

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

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

The invitation letter would publicly state that Zhou Yi would personally come forward to clarify the matter...