Cao Xuan met the radio host Reese. He was a black man under 30 years old. He had a big gold chain and a big gold watch. He had short dreadlocks and was dressed in flashy clothes. When he saw Cao Xuan, he shouted exaggeratedly.
"Oh, my Chinese brother, that song "Natural" is great. I am your loyal fan."
"Thanks."
Cao Xuan really doesn't know how to greet men with the dazzling fist-bumping and shoulder-bumping style of black people, nor is he used to hugging men and directly shaking hands to express thanks.
In the United States, the best channels for singer promotion are television and radio, each with its own audience.
However, it is not easy to get opportunities on TV, especially on influential TV programs. Warner Bros. is currently negotiating, and Cao Xuan will mainly be active in radio stations at first.
This black man Reese is one of the most popular radio hosts in Los Angeles. His show is not easy to get on. If Cao Xuan had not had three songs on the charts, he would not have been able to join the show.
Of course, Warner's sufficient public relations expenses are also an important reason.
At least when Ruisi saw Cao Xuan, his smile was bright. It is understandable that whoever sees the God of Wealth would not smile brightly.
Reese's program was live broadcast, and Cao Xuan and others thought that they needed to study the script beforehand. Unexpectedly, Reese didn't care at all and instead asked him if he knew Jack Cheng.
He is a fan of Cheng Long!
If you have never been to the United States, you really can't understand how popular Cheng Long is in the United States. This is not the first time that someone has asked Cao Xuan about Cheng Long.
When many Americans hear the word "China", the first thing they think of is Jack Cheng or Bruce Lee. The more lively ones have to pose twice and scream twice.
It can be said that Cheng Long has become one of the synonyms of China to a certain extent in the United States.
Last year's "Rush Hour 2" had a global box office of US$347 million and a North American box office of US$226 million, ranking fifth in the 2001 North American annual box office list.
The first part of "Turning Hour" had a global box office of US$244 million and a North American box office of US$141 million.
Two series of movies, with a total box office of nearly 600 million US dollars, made the eldest brother a real Hollywood star and became extremely popular.
This also led Cao Xuan to answer the question about his relationship with Cheng Long whenever he saw someone who knew Jack Cheng, and to make it very clear.
I'm a singer, I can use my words, but I don't know kung fu!
But aside from the fact that he always has to compete with Cao Xuan, Reese is indeed a professional music radio host.
He has a detailed understanding of the Billboard situation and even current pop singers in the United States.
After chatting with him, Cao Xuan learned about some different views of the American music scene.
Warner or Mike would also tell him these things, but after all, they looked at it from the perspective of a record company, while Reese, as a music radio host, was relatively objective and more popular.
To put it simply, who is awesome and who is not?
Cao Xuan was actually not willing to listen to those data analyses. On the contrary, Reese's more popular explanation was more intuitive.
After chatting for a while, it was time for the live broadcast. The two started the live broadcast directly, and Reese started his opening remarks.
"Dear gentlemen and ladies, I am Reese, and we meet again today..."
Reese's hosting style is very lively and funny, with a bit of hip-hop style, but it is not as extreme as many black people, and it is a standard that can be accepted by most people.
From this point, Cao Xuan can see why Reese has been able to get ahead in the Los Angeles radio industry.
Having characteristics and adapting to the public, these two tricks can make him prosperous.
Reiss really likes to tell jokes, and in just a few minutes of opening remarks, he told two character jokes.
I don’t know whether the audience laughed or not, but he laughed so loudly that he went to see the guest Cao Xuan’s reaction.
Cao Xuan:==_=
Seeing Reese's eyes, Cao Xuan curved his lips politely. It wasn't that he didn't support him, but it was because he couldn't find the point of laughter.
If Reese were to say that Clinton's zipper was unzipped, Trump was having sex, or that the king of sleeping with his trouser pockets was unzipped, Cao Xuan would definitely smile happier than Reese.
But Cao Xuan didn't even know the two people he was talking about, so he didn't know what was so funny. A polite smile was already a big deal.
Ruisi glanced at Cao Xuan resentfully, but still introduced Cao Xuan professionally.
"The guest who came to our show today is Chris Tsao. All three songs from his EP "Chris Tsao" have just landed on the Billboard singles chart. Wow, this is a very remarkable achievement. Cao, give everyone a shout-out.
Say hello."
"Hello everyone, I'm Chris, from China."
"Good, Cao, I'm very curious as to how you, as a Chinese, can create such great English songs."
"That's it..."
If Cao Xuan dared to pick up the pieces, he must have made detailed preparations. The style, style, melody, creative concept, etc. of the three songs were randomly picked up and talked about for an hour without repeating them.
Reese was there to praise him, and the more he praised him, the more surprised he became.
As a professional music presenter, it goes without saying that his musical literacy is not comparable to that of professional musicians, but he can still be considered a top amateur.
He didn't understand everything Cao Xuan said, but he just thought it was awesome and didn't realize how powerful it was.
The understanding part also let him know that Cao Xuan has a very clear understanding of the evolution of popular songs in the world and various creative ideas, especially the two styles of rock and pop.
Although I am not particularly familiar with some local American cultures due to the fact that I may be from China, my pop music theory is very solid.
Reese even thought that Cao Xuan could go to teach at Berkeley School.
After all, radio programs are mass programs, and things that are too profound cannot be understood by him, let alone the audience, so these professional knowledge points stop there.
Cao Xuan's introduction was pretty much the same, so Reese just played the song and talked about the story based on the song. Anyway, he just played, and played to a high level.
You can gain insights into life after listening to this song. If you don't understand it, it means you are young.
Maybe what Cao Xuan said was not so straightforward, that's more or less what he meant. He actually didn't want to engage in these things, but he had no choice, American fans just wanted to say this.
The popularity of pop music culture in the United States has made fans and listeners have a relatively "high-end" aesthetic.
Of course, many people still like those bad street vulgar songs, cars, houses, bills, etc. Otherwise, those gangsta raps and pornographic songs would not be so popular.
But people are all about face. No matter how much you like these songs in your heart, you can’t use them to show off.
In my heart I think about the house, car and money, but in my mouth I talk about benevolence, justice, morality, freedom and democracy.
Therefore, a good song must have a story, life, insights, dreams, and transformation, otherwise it will just be a bad street song, a decadent sound without a soul.
Cao Xuan's song itself is a positive energy song that inspires love, so Warner's promotion positioning is very clear, it is aimed at high-end style and hits the G-spot of those fans.
Moreover, Cao Xuan's Chinese identity also fits the position of a foreign monk.
Although Americans have enough cultural confidence, they still have certain illusions about cultures they don't understand.
This fantasy can be channeled.
If you lead downwards, smear and vilify people, you will have an image of ignorance and pigtails.
You guide upwards and beautify it, and you will be a bard from the mysterious and ancient far east, full of wisdom and sincerity, singing about this diverse and changing world.
Since Cao Xuan cannot avoid the obstacles brought by his Chinese identity, then increasing his identity can bring benefits.
This is the "personality" or musical style positioning formulated by Warner for Cao Xuan. It is very positive and positive, otherwise Cao Xuan would not agree.
Cao Xuan is not afraid of the collapse of this "personality/positioning". Aside from the fact that he is not that great in his heart and has a tough time, most of the songs he writes are positive, which is not wrong.
In fact, many European and American singers have this kind of positive personality, especially if they are influential on an international scale, their character must be guaranteed.
To put it bluntly, even if you are just pretending, you have to pretend to be a good person.
However, with the rise of the Internet, many young people prefer individual and real idols.
Although the new generation of singers such as Britney and Avril Lavigne still maintain a positive image, they no longer deliberately pursue perfection. Instead, they will show some distinctive characters.
Cao Xuan thought this was good, and he also made it clear to Warner that the so-called "creative poet"'s personality was fine, but his own personality should not be exaggerated too much.
Whether at home or abroad, Cao Xuan hopes that everyone will pay attention to the work instead of paying too much attention to the actors or singers themselves.
Cao Xuan talked about song creation here, and talked about the life insights and dream concepts behind it. Reese cooperated in filming Rainbow Fart. Although it was the first time they met, the cooperation was quite tacit.
An hour later, the live broadcast ended. Reese asked about the listening rate data. Although it was only judged by the station's internal personnel based on experience, it was not particularly accurate, but it was still a basis.
What is gratifying is that the listening rate is very good, even among the best in the past two weeks.
After a tacit cooperation during a live broadcast, Reis and Cao Xuan became acquaintances, and they immediately said with a smile.
"Cao, it seems that the audience is very interested in you. Congratulations in advance, your EP is going to be a hit."
"Thank you, but can you call me Chris?"
"Why?"
"Good water...ahem, I prefer the title Chris."
Cao Xuan didn't tell the truth because the last time he explained to someone that "Cao" meant Fxxx, he was hurt by the weird, suppressed smiles looked at him by some Americans.
"No, no, no, there are too many people called Chris, they are not distinctive. Believe me, Americans will definitely prefer to call them Cao."
However, Reese put forward his own opinion. Putting aside the English context, people are more accustomed to calling unfamiliar people by their surnames. In terms of the two pronunciations, Reese felt that the latter was the one that impressed everyone most.
Just like Cheng Long, everyone calls his full name Jack Cheng or Cheng, but not Jack, because there are too many people named Jack and they can't tell them apart.
In the same way, when people call Cao Xuan, a Chinese, they would not put the popular name Chris as their first choice.
Either his full name is Chris Cao, or he is called directly and affectionately - Cao.
