Why bother writing songs? Fast forward to the "Don't Laugh Challenge"

Chapter 48 I don't know why I just want to A
Xia Shen was unaware of what was happening in the rap scene, as he was currently throwing himself wholeheartedly into production.

After completing the ambitious beat, the natural next step is to continue creating other beats.

The most efficient approach is to complete all the beats first, and then record them all at once, rather than working on them one by one.

First of all, there are only a few issues to pay attention to in "Great Ambitions". As long as you avoid them, you can complete it without any difficulties if you have a blueprint. For example, you can remove other parts or localize it to suit their world. Extending further, many songs in this album are actually treated in a similar way.

After all, many of the songs on this album actually come from the same singer from another world.

The second one is "Wealth Comes from All Directions" and "Cause and Effect".

Although it's called two songs, if you listen carefully, you'll find that it's actually one song that has been split into two parts.

Because they can actually be seamlessly connected, even though the stories are all connected.

"Wealth from All Directions" mainly tells the story of a gambler who has become obsessed and crazy, even to the point of being fanatical and superstitious in order to gamble.

In "Cause and Effect," the situation reverses. The gambler becomes a prisoner overnight, a loser in life. He loses not only his material possessions, which he has gambled away, but also his freedom, losing what is most precious to him.

This single tells the story of a gambler who has lost everything and his family, offering advice to those who come after him. It warns that, as the saying goes, karma is cyclical, and gambling inevitably leads to defeat.

It actually has a lot of meaning, even profound meaning.

Unlike other hip-hop music, it doesn't promote these things, nor does it boast about how much money it has won at the gambling table or how carefree its life is. Instead, it advises you to stay away from these things, which is quite the opposite of what others are doing.

Similarly, it doesn't directly tell you how bad gambling is. Instead, it portrays a gambler's perspective in a few words a person who is filled with regret and has lost everything. The lyrics enrich the character's arc, and finally, it uses its own experience to warn people.

This is a very unique perspective, at least in Xia Shen's opinion, it is not very common in rap.

So these two songs are actually bundled together, and even when they were to make a music video, they would be made together in the same music video with both songs crammed in.

After completing these two songs, the next one was "Leader, Godfather".

It was also a product of collaboration between two rappers.

However, the problem is that this song has the same issue as "Great Ambitions": either of the two rappers is fine on their own and can be a standalone song, but putting them together feels jarring.

The second verse, in particular, is filled with a lot of English, and sometimes even long stretches of English interspersed with one or two Chinese words.

The accent was also a complete imitation of a Black accent.

Putting aside the fact that this album is a purely localized album, the songs in it are all unique to China and belong only to Chinese culture. For example, the most explosive lyrics of this song are: "There are godfathers abroad, leaders at home, no hail when I'm here, park the Coaster properly for me, it takes at least three years to have this kind of awareness."

The original lyrics were about a Passat, but Xia Shen felt it wasn't exciting enough, so he doubled it up and turned it into a Coaster.

These are the things that are completely localized and can resonate with Chinese audiences. If you were to stuff a long passage of English into it and then sing it in a Black accent, do you think that would be appropriate?

That's definitely not appropriate!

So Xia Shen's approach was to start from the middle, cut off the remaining half, and keep only 1 minute and 30 seconds of the entire song, which is purely the content of that otherworldly rapper called Lan Lao.

As Xia Shen, who has been in the visual effects industry for a long time, felt that one minute and thirty seconds was enough.

The remaining songs did not have any similar content that needed to be cut.

"Six Lines" is a single piece about traditional Taoist culture, starting with Taoist culture to talk about the principles of life.

Similarly, the motivation for the whole song "Gathering Stars in the Sky" is a nursery rhyme that tells the story of an adult who has been through the harsh realities of society reminiscing about his childhood.

The next two songs are truly unique.

Unlike the previous ones, if the previous songs were pure rap, purely expressing content and rhythm, then with "A Laugh in the Vast Sea" and "The Ascetic Monk," the musicality suddenly comes through.

Let me put it this way: both of these songs are of extremely high quality and artistry! Their musicality is on a completely different level from the previous singles that focused on expression!

Moreover, the hook (the chorus of rap music) is technically very demanding and requires a high level of singing ability.

Of course, that's not the biggest difference. The biggest difference is that these two pieces require traditional instruments for recording, and even involve an entire orchestra.

So when Xia Shen used the Steinway piano worth millions that the company treasured, as well as Martin guitars worth 15 each, a DW drum set worth 30 each, and many traditional Chinese musical instruments, and even hired a bunch of musicians, the boss's face was practically screaming "pain."

Meanwhile, in the recording studio, final adjustments were being made. Inside was an entire orchestra, and the recording engineer was conducting. "Alright, three, two, one, go!"

Suddenly, a burst of exciting music rang out, and the recording officially began.

Time passed little by little amidst this busyness.

Soon, almost a month has passed.

This is the longest Xia Shen has ever spent making an album.

In the past, he could finish a song in a few days or even less, averaging only one or two days.

It's fair to say that the process has indeed been prolonged this time.

But this is actually Xia Shen's own feeling. To be able to finish an album in a month and even shoot a music video is something that is hard to imagine in everyone's eyes. It's fast enough.

Meanwhile, Chen Bili's album with the title track produced by Xia Shen was also completed.

After discussion, the company decided to issue shares at different times – mainly to avoid clashing with the previous offerings.

Chen Bili ran into Xia Shen, and they were afraid that Xia Shen would kill them.

Similarly, they were also afraid that Xia Shen would be killed by Chen Bili.

After all, this is the first time the company has let Xia Shen create a premium album, so it can be considered a trial run. They really don't know how it will turn out. None of the operations team in the company can analyze it.

So the company decided that Chen Bili would post first, and then Xia Shen would post next.

Xia Shen naturally had no objection to this.

He's having dinner with Zhou Yumeng right now.

Zhou Yumeng also helped him a lot with this album. For example, the opera segment in "Great Ambitions" was actually sung by Zhou Yumeng, who provided the vocals.

They ordered a medium-sized Huang's Chicken Pot for 68 yuan and are eating it now.

"How are you? Are you confident about the new album?" Zhou Yumeng asked.

"It's alright, I have some confidence, but not much," Xia Shen said, taking a bite of rice. "Mainly because it's my first time trying these styles, and the range is quite wide."

“I believe you can do it. Sometimes you need to have confidence in yourself,” Zhou Yumeng said. “Isn’t the Golden Melody Awards coming up soon? There’s a rap category this year. How about this, if you win this year, you treat me to a big meal?”

Zhou Yumeng smiled and looked at Xia Shen.

"No problem," Xia Shen readily agreed.

But actually he wasn't very confident, or rather, he hadn't even thought about whether he could win the award.

Besides, it's just a big meal; he could afford to treat even a three-star tire company right now.

However, while the tires are three-star, this chicken stew...
"How about we split the bill this time?" Xia Shen suggested.

"?"

Zhou Yumeng slowly typed a question mark: "Wait, buddy, you're going to split this 68 yuan too? I might as well just treat you."

“It’s different, I want an A.” Xia Shen nodded.

He didn't know why, but after recording that album, he suddenly had a strong urge to eat chicken hotpot, a dish he used to enjoy all the time. It was like he was itching to have some, and if he didn't, he felt like ants were crawling all over him, and the taste just wouldn't be right.

"Okay, fine." Zhou Yumeng said, indicating that she didn't understand but supported it.

After a period of preparation, Chen Bili's new album, along with the title track "Jump Tower Machine," has been officially released.

The entire company is now watching closely, waiting to see how this album performs, and then waiting for the right moment to launch their precious Xia Shen.

(End of this chapter)