The number one playboy on the Peninsula!

Chapter 144 New Album Concept
The next day, Armani set January 26th as the date for the announcement of Gong Cheng as the new spokesperson for EA Asia Pacific.

JYP's Park Jin-young specifically called Gong Sung to his office, opened the company's recently updated music library, and told Gong Sung to choose any song he wanted. As early as October of last year, the company had begun collecting songs that would suit Gong Sung's vocal style and other aspects to fill the album.

Gong Cheng sat on the sofa, wearing headphones. After playing five or six songs from the collection, he frowned and then took off his headphones with a wry smile: "Brother Zhenying, I can sing all these songs, but none of them are suitable."

He put it very tactfully. In short, the songs included by the company are not very good.

"Isn't it possible?" Park Jin-young thought seriously. He still agreed with the boy's opinion on composition. Besides, Gong Cheng's first full-length album had been fully prepared by the company since October last year.

"..." Gong Cheng was silent for a moment. From his perspective, the latest additions to the company's music library clearly showed Park Jin-young's ambition to break into the US. The problem was, the arrangements of these songs clearly showed a desire to break away from the K-pop genre, while the core of the songs was superficial. The style and form borrowed heavily from early European and American country music, resulting in neither the unique charm of K-pop nor the current development of European and American music. Ultimately, it was a hodgepodge.

In his opinion, the biggest difference between the European and American music markets and K-pop lies in the arrangement. K-pop arrangements are still somewhat traditional. K-pop's current format needs to use three elements: group music, dance, and concept to enrich the music and address its shortcomings. To put it nicely, it's K-pop; to put it bluntly, it's just formulaic dance music without any originality.

Park Jin-young sighed. He knew Gong Cheng wouldn't use most of the songs included, but a full album needed at least 10 songs, so the company would do whatever they could. But he didn't expect this brat to dislike a single song.

"The company will continue to collect songs, and we'll filter out another batch when the time comes."

"You should hurry up and make it yourself."

As he said that, he smiled helplessly: "By the way, do you have any ideas for the new album?"

I first learned about this Yonsei University junior's arranging abilities from his former classmate, Gong Cheng's mentor. It wasn't until he was discovered and brought into the company that he was hired. With the release of his solo debut album, the release of Bombardment Meteor's first album, "Fireworks are eternal," and the orchestral arrangement of "Fake Love," not only him but musicians across the peninsula all recognized that this young man's talent for arranging and composition was definitely not limited to Asia. His stage was definitely global, which is why Gong Cheng has become the most sought-after producer in the peninsula.

"Yes." Gong Cheng nodded when he heard about the new album. He had a vague idea of ​​the concept of the new album in the past two days and was about to talk to Park Jin Young about it, but he was busy with the filming at Armani and delayed it.

"As for the promotion of the new album, I think we can make an announcement by the end of the month to start pre-launch promotion."

"Is it so urgent? We can start promoting it in early February." Park Jin Young asked with some confusion. According to the company's ideas and plans, Gong Cheng's first regular album will start to be promoted and promoted in early February and will be officially released at the end of March, which is exactly a two-month promotion period.

"The plan might need some revisions, bro." Gong Cheng was discussing the new album that had been giving him quite a headache these past few days, and he casually offered some ideas and suggestions. "The album's title is 'Wheel of Fortune&X,' which roughly translates to 'The Wheel of Fortune.' It's the eleventh card of the Major Arcana in the Tarot, and X is its number."

"Is 'Wheel of Fortune & X' related to your stage name, Tarot?" Park Jin-young asked, his interest growing. The company has always been relatively weak in terms of concepts, unlike SM's Lee Soo-man, who created super-powered aliens and the mother of life. While childish, they still had a lot of fans.

"Yes, there are." Gong Cheng slowly explained the concept of the new album: "Tarot means nature's secret treasure house. Whether it's the previous album 'YDP' based on the Three of Swords, or this one 'Wheel of Fortune&X', both are one of the 78 cards."

"And 'Wheel of Fortune&X' in the Tarot deck signifies a brand new beginning. When the wheel begins to spin, good fortune or bad luck is unknown, as the saying goes, fate is unpredictable. A brand new beginning expresses that, having escaped last year's lows, Tarot has ushered in a new beginning. The unpredictability of fate lays the foundation for the diverse stylistic changes of this album. My current idea is that the songs included will include hip-hop, R&B, lyrical pop, and melodic rap..."

"Wheel of Fortune&X?" Park Jin Young thought seriously. He believed that the concept of this album was in line with Gong Cheng and the company's current positioning of the album. Conquering the US - isn't it a brand new beginning?

"The entire album is divided into two parts. The concept of the upper part, 'Black Vitality,' represents breaking away from the past and transforming into a new life, which is the new beginning mentioned above. The concept of the lower part, 'Colorful Butterfly,' will connect the styles of the songs in the upper part and transform into lyrical R&B and other musical styles."

"If we were to give the entire album a base color, the upper section, 'Black Vitality,' would have a dark gray base, while the lower section, 'Colorful Butterfly,' would be the colorful sunshine that breaks through the haze."

Gong Cheng looked at Park Jin Young with a beaming smile. It should be pretty good, right? The concept of his new album perfectly matched the company's positioning and planning for the album. The diverse musical styles depicted the ups and downs of fate and its journey.

"Go on." Park Jin-young listened intently. The overall album concept perfectly connected his stage name, Tarot, with the concept of his previous solo album. "I think we can release a teaser for the new album at the end of the month, and release the audio and music video for the first half of the album, 'Black Vitality,' on March 1st. It'll be about four or five songs. The style of the first half will be more authentic European and American hip-hop, and the music video can be shot by stringing together several songs into one cohesive video, rather than filming them one by one."

Gong Cheng was confident that he could produce four or five songs in a month, and he still had a few songs in his music library that could be put into the album.

"The second half, 'Colorful Butterfly,' will have its audio and music video released on April 1st, simultaneously with the album's release. Pre-orders will be available in March. The music video shoot was similar to the first half, effectively splitting the entire album into two parts, both in terms of tracks and music videos."

"For the album cover, I'd like to contact the artist Lee.k and have him draw it. I'll have separate covers for the upper and lower albums. When the album is officially released, the two covers can be combined into one, encompassing both the 'Black Vitality' and the 'Colorful Butterfly' elements."

Gong Cheng expressed his thoughts clearly in one breath. For his first official album, the company and he had more goals than just targeting the peninsula or even Asia.

……

After leaving Park Jin-young's office, Kim Dae-woo drove Gong Sung to the set of "Goblin." As filming accelerated, the TVN drama also moved on to Gong Sung's character, Kim Eun, and confirmed that Lee Ji-eun's character, Ji Eun-tak, was the Goblin's bride.

On a night of thunder and lightning, Ji Eun-tak points to Kim Jung's chest and reveals that the sword engraved with the white tiger totem is stuck in it. The audience is also introduced to the fact that the Goblin's mood can affect the weather. Whenever this ageless, weathered Goblin feels melancholy, Seoul will always experience heavy rain and thunder and lightning.

The romantic and magical setting once again fueled audience enthusiasm, and ratings continued to climb. Gong Cheng's character, Kim Seon, who had wandered the world alone for over 900 years, blossomed during drunken nights as he came into contact with Ji Eun-tak. In winter Seoul, the cherry blossoms lining the streets blossomed in time with his throbbing heartbeat.

The title of "Goblin: The Lonely and Great God" also captures the theme of the series. After nine hundred years of life, he's lonely and sad. But upon meeting his bride, Ji Eun-tak, his heart brightens with the words "Sarangheyo" at the end of the first episode.

He fell in love with his bride, which led to the final scene of the latest episode. In the hotel room, Jin Xin, played by Gong Cheng, said the seemingly heartless "Sarangheyo" to Ji Eun-tak, accompanied by the prelude of the OST "Stay With Me".

This audio clip was instantly edited by countless netizens and fans and used as background music on major social media platforms.

"Woo woo woo~ Oppa's sarangheyo is so sweet!"

“I never get tired of listening to it!”

"Aaaaaah! Will Oppa's mood affect the weather in Seoul? This setting is too romantic!"

"Woo! I also want to meet a soft-hearted God!"

"Why hasn't Armani officially announced it yet? Do you think we don't know the teaser poster features oppa?"

"Gong Cheng, you are my God!!!"

"..."

On January 26th, with the popularity of "Goblin," Armani officially announced Tarot as its new EA Asia Pacific spokesperson. They also released a pre-filmed promotional video and makeup photos. They also launched a promotional campaign across the Asia Pacific region, particularly in Seoul and Neon, China, using prominent LED screens.

At 03:24 in the morning, the Armani brand commented on its official Weibo account: "Starting with beauty, falling in love with talent, and loyal to character, with a calm demeanor and restrained elegance. Emporio Armani's new Asia-Pacific ambassadors Gong Cheng and Tarot brilliantly present the brand's 2017 Spring/Winter collection advertising blockbuster. Resolving complexity with a pure approach, staying true to the classic concept of the flow of matter, it is endowed with a striking essence of elegance in the context of the times!"

The accompanying image shows the wardrobe custom-made for Gong Cheng by Armani during the filming of "Goblin." The spacious wardrobe is filled with a dazzling array of suits, trench coats, scarves, leather shoes, and watches. Gong Cheng, wearing a light gray casual long-sleeved shirt, sits lazily in front of the open wardrobe door, a faint smile on his face, as if he's trying to decide which piece to choose.
Seeking monthly ticket
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(End of this chapter)