The opening of China Entertainment Group gave Jay Chou a head-on confrontation

Chapter 981 Using Magic to Defeat Magic

Beat magic with magic—this is a lesson from my father that I must always remember.

The reporter, who had been forced to swallow his pent-up frustration, was suddenly caught in a dilemma. All his questions seemed utterly powerless in the face of the banner of American freedom.

They were like the incompetent husband, watching helplessly as Zhou Yi, this foreigner from across the ocean, manipulated and ruthlessly exploited American freedom in front of them, turning it into something crooked and completely broken.

A feeling of helplessness from the bottom of my heart swept over my whole body in an instant. My lips trembled and I couldn't utter a word. My palms were ice cold.

“I know many people have opinions about me, which is normal. I also have opinions about them, but when have you ever asked them not to speak or not to express their opinions? Have I ever completely silenced even one dissident?”

As he leaned back tactically, Zhou Yi raised his hand and gestured to the camera in front of him, saying eloquently, "You can't only love freedom of speech when you're winning, nor can you only befriend your neighbor when you agree with him, understand?"

?

He was using all my words!
These are all my lyrics!!!
The more they listened, the more they felt that this little bit of flavor was getting to them. At this moment, they had a strange feeling that their profession had been NTR'd – Zhou Yi, who was not a professional in this field, had a news broadcasting ability that he could use with ease, which was far superior to theirs.

"Spike, you—"

"Alright, that's enough gossip about me. Today's main character isn't me, it's Stefanie."

Zhou Yi glanced sideways at another reporter who was raising his hand to speak, then interrupted the reporter's spellcasting with lightning speed: "I hope everyone will not get their priorities mixed up."

Sun Yanzi, who was still engrossed in reading the Book of Changes and debating with the Confucian scholars, finally snapped out of his daze and pulled himself back from his previous blatant and undisguised spectator mode, sitting up straight.

For Americans, her biggest musical label right now is cover song.

That cover album ensured that Sun Yanzi didn't lack her own unique style when performing at various venues, but an original EP is, to put it simply, a very risky project.

If it weren't for the attention Zhou Yi helped her generate, Utada Hikaru would be a cautionary tale.

"Spike, we found that among the albums you've produced so far, besides your own, the only other one is Stefanie. You produced her Chinese album, and now you're producing her English album. Why do you have such a strong preference for her?"

"Because of her voice."

Getting down to business, Zhou Yi's exaggerated expression also disappeared: "Those who know me know that I value vocal talent very much, which is why I discovered Rihanna, and Stefanie is actually the same way."

"You weren't the producer for Rihanna's album, so why did you change your mind when it came to Stefanie?"

"Because Stefanie is Asian."

When the conversation turned to the key point, Zhou Yi's tone instantly became aggressive: "Although many people are unwilling to admit it, in my opinion, the lack of understanding and barriers between the Western music scene and the Asian music scene and Asian musicians has always existed."

"Whenever an Asian singer comes to the Western music scene, the quality of their albums is completely unmatched by their status, no matter how big an Asian superstar or queen they are."

"I've also seen too many Western music producers who are too proud of their own work and unwilling to help Asian singers produce an English album that matches their status in Asia, simply doing a perfunctory job."

"For example, I have a friend whose company had arranged for her to work with several top producers when she first started working in the US, but the final product was not satisfactory. In the end, it was thanks to the song I wrote that her EP didn't disappear without a trace, and she finally had a hit song that became popular all over the world..."

To prove his point, Zhou Yi even gave a real-world example—of course, he omitted the name here.

Even if everyone thinks about it for a moment, they will know that it is referring to Hsiao Ya-Hsuan, who already has a huge hit song in Europe and America called "Because of You".

After all, while she might not have become a top-tier star, it's perfectly fine for her to gain popularity and become more recognizable during the peak of her song's popularity, which can be considered a successful foray into the US music scene.

“I am outraged by what happened to my friend. I think this is a problem with the underlying logic of the Western music scene. A lot of music producers have arrogance that is beyond their capabilities, especially when dealing with Asians.”

"Whether it's estrangement, misunderstanding, or even arrogance and discrimination, this is an extremely unhealthy music industry environment. I don't want to be the only Asian singer in the world who can enter the international market."

"So when the company approached me and said they wanted to release an English EP for Stefanie, I agreed without hesitation."

Zhou Yi, speaking with resounding conviction, articulated his ambition: "There's an old Chinese saying, 'A single flower does not make a spring; only when a hundred flowers bloom can spring truly arrive.' Therefore, I want to use the album *Stefanie Song* to tell those producers who harbor arrogance, perfunctoriness, misunderstanding, and alienation towards Asians, and to tell those companies that own Asian artists—"

"A proper world music scene should be a place where a hundred flowers bloom..."

In short, it boils down to one word: other producers in the Western music scene are simply too xenophobic and incompetent!
Incidentally, it also revealed a topic that the Western music scene had been avoiding after Zhou Yi achieved tremendous success: discrimination against Asian singers.

This press conference directly brought up this detail, which Western media like to gloss over and ignore, in the most direct way.

To be fair, his wording this time was relatively mild; he didn't directly state that it was discrimination.

While this might seem a bit ridiculous, or even an overreaction, from someone like Zhou Yi, who has already reached the pinnacle of popularity and been crowned GOAT, the overwhelming criticism he faced after refusing the Nobel Prize suggests a degree of validity in his statement.

Incidentally, this also sparked a discussion about whether the topic was correct or not.

Discrimination against Asia in the Western music scene! Spike makes another controversial statement!

"Amidst the hype and controversy, has Spike attacked the music producer community?"

"..."

"Spike is spouting nonsense again. How did he become popular if he's so prejudiced against Asian singers?"

"I really have a love-hate relationship with Spike's mouth. Why can't he just say less of this nonsensical stuff?"

"But that makes some sense, doesn't it? Besides Spike, who else can name a Chinese singer who's famous in the US?"

"Elva."

"Wasn't Spike responsible for her hit song?"

"But now that Spike says that, how many Asian singers besides Spike can actually establish themselves in the Western music scene? None. Even if they can't write good songs, surely they can still sell them?"

"Thinking about it carefully, could it be that Spike wrote all the songs for himself on all his albums, or was he forced to do so by the circumstances?"

"Stop discussing it. Spike is just deliberately creating controversy to promote his girlfriend and album. Since he said that, people will definitely pay attention to the upcoming single. Everyone wants to hear what he's really like, despite his arrogant words."

"How come you have a girlfriend?"

"Nonsense, Spike has been in the industry for so long, written songs for so many people on so many albums, but the only albums he has produced besides his own have always been Stefanie's albums. There is no other one."

"Spike really knows exactly what your country's citizens want to see..."

Public opinion was in an uproar, and the discrimination industry chain once again came to the fore.

This time, however, the Asian music scene has been brought into the spotlight.

These borderline discriminatory rhetoric are still too effective and too likely to hit the sore spot for the American public.

However, the Book of Changes has its own self-consistent verification method.

The combination of these two elements is truly the magical brawl version that Europe and America excel at—they've really mastered the art of generating buzz.

Zhou Yi's bold statement has made the November 4th premiere of "Call Me Maybe" a highly anticipated event.

On November 4, 2006, at 7:00 AM, this controversial pre-release single was officially released.

(End of this chapter)