Huayu 2002, I'm going to dominate the music scene!

Upon hearing Xu Yuan's words, Song Mo would have suspected that the old man was an undercover agent if Bi Xiaoshi hadn't remained silent.

Seeing Song Mo frown, Xu Yuan calmly continued, "When I say arrogant, I don't mean you should smash your guitar or argue with reporters like Nicholas Tse."

He paused, then pointed to the teacup in front of Song Mo: "Do you remember what you said when you first met us? Lao Bi said there was no precedent for this, and you immediately replied, 'From now on, there will be.' Don't you think you were being arrogant?"

Song Mo was taken aback.

"A bar singer who hadn't even debuted yet," Xu Yuan said slowly, "opened his mouth and asked for a contract and copyrights. Do you know what I was thinking at the time?"

Song Mo looked at him.

"I think this kid is either really capable, or he's just incredibly arrogant," Xu Yuan said, his eyes gleaming.

Bi Xiaoshi chuckled beside him.

Song Mo smiled too.

"But those three demos proved that you have real talent," Xu Yuan couldn't help but sigh.

If it weren't for those three songs, he definitely wouldn't have gone to such lengths to persuade Ocean Butterflies headquarters. In Xu Yuan's view, those three songs, despite their different styles, were all of exceptionally high quality, enough to prove Song Mo's musical talent.

"So what you mean is..." Song Mo looked at him.

"We're not asking you to be a troublemaker," Bi Xiaoshi continued, "but rather to extract the spirit from your bones and make it your musical style and personal characteristic."

He stood up, walked to the whiteboard, picked up a marker, and wrote a few words.

"In today's Chinese music scene, there is no future for perfect singers; only those with unique characteristics can break through the competition."

"Look at those currently popular stars, each one has a very clear positioning," he said as he wrote. "Jay Chou is a cool and aloof genius, not much of a talker. Nicholas Tse is a rebellious idol, of course, that path doesn't work now. A-Do is a tragic man, his voice is his trademark. Stefanie Sun is a genuine girl, her smile is like a girl next door."

After writing down these names, he turned around and looked at Song Mo.

"What is Song Mo?"

Song Mo remained silent.

Bi Xiaoshi leaned against the whiteboard and tapped the table with his fingers: "We've been observing you for a long time. You have a confidence in your bones, even if this confidence sometimes seems a bit arrogant. That's your greatest characteristic."

Song Mo was silent for a moment, then suddenly laughed: "Teacher Bi, after all this going around in circles, you just want to say I'm arrogant, right?"

Bi Xiaoshi was taken aback by his words, then laughed.

"There's a difference between arrogance and confidence," he said. "Arrogance is unfounded, while confidence is based on solid ground. Where does your confidence come from? From your talent, from your ability."

Xu Yuan added from the side, "We absolutely believe in your musical talent and that it matches your confidence."

Song Mo finally realized that the two of them meant to portray him as an extremely confident, or rather arrogant, musical genius.

It's a bit like that guy Bin from the LPL, who can shout to anyone, "I'm the best top laner in the world."

To be honest, Song Mo has always had some reservations about things like character settings and positioning.

Having witnessed too many celebrity scandals in my past life, I know that the higher one's public image is established, the harder they fall.

But now, he suddenly finds this persona quite appealing.

I think I'm the best in the world? Isn't that perfectly normal?

If you don't have that kind of ambition, why did you even enter the entertainment industry?

Besides, this character isn't some perfect gentleman or a rich young master in the music industry.

If that's the case, he would definitely refuse outright.

This persona is purely a hindrance to becoming a friend of female celebrities.

"So what are you planning to do?" he asked.

Bi Xiaoshi and Xu Yuan exchanged a glance, a hint of joy flashing across their faces. They had originally thought it would take them a long time to persuade Song Mo.

I didn't expect Song Mo to accept it so quickly.

Bi Xiaoshi looked at Song Mo and said, "First of all, we will hold a signing ceremony for your contract. We will combine this ceremony with A-Du's autograph session in Yanjing. You just need to make an appearance. Maintain a certain level of mystery before the release of your first album."

"In the subsequent publicity, we will portray you as a born musical genius. At the same time, we will gradually release information about your signing process, your experience of writing songs in a basement in Yanjing, and the details of your negotiations with Ocean Butterflies. We will gradually build up your fearless and daring personality from various dimensions so that the public has an initial expectation of you, so as to prevent you from rushing into the public eye and causing a strong backlash."

Bi Xiaoshi continued methodically, "Going forward, we will guide the public to transform the issue of personality into admiration for strength."

Although the mainland entertainment industry is not lacking in celebrities with strong personalities, such as Nayoung, Dou Wei, and Tian Zhen, those are all established stars.

Public opinion is less forgiving of a newcomer, especially in the still somewhat conservative mainland music scene.

If a newcomer appears with the image of a fearless newborn calf, then the backlash from public opinion will undoubtedly be exceptionally fierce.

Xu Yuan and the others naturally understood that it was very risky to let Song Mo set this persona.

However, while the risks are high, the rewards are equally high, because this type of singer is unique and not found in mainland China, nor even in Hong Kong and Taiwan.

Especially now that Nicholas Tse has faded into obscurity.

Song Mo was amused to hear that his autograph session was scheduled to be held together with A-Du's; it seemed he still had to ride on his senior's popularity.

He certainly wouldn't object to this, since they had already said he would just make an appearance.

As for the latter part, he wasn't really worried. It wasn't that he was confident in Ocean Butterflies' marketing, but rather in his own abilities.

If you have enough strength, everything else is irrelevant.

At this point, Xu Yuan chimed in, "Xiao Song, don't worry, we won't ask you to do anything outrageous, like provoking others or being disrespectful to your seniors. What we want is an attitude of arrogance towards music. To put it bluntly, just be yourself. After all, your usual demeanor is arrogant enough... confident enough."

Song Mo glanced at Xu Yuan speechlessly. Why didn't he feel that he was being arrogant?

However, in the entertainment industry, being yourself is the most luxurious thing.

Many people put on masks in front of the camera, and once they start wearing them, they can't take them off.

If you can truly be yourself, that would be great.

"Okay," he nodded, "then we'll do it your way."

Bi Xiaoshi breathed a sigh of relief, smiled, and patted him on the shoulder: "Now we can talk about the album."

When the topic of the album came up, Bi Xiaoshi and Xu Yuan both became serious. After all, personas are just abstract concepts; ultimately, it's the music that matters.

Song Mo's confidence and arrogance, without the support of music, would just be that of a clown.

The two of them naturally understood this principle.

Bi Xiaoshi leaned back in his chair, tapped his fingers lightly on the table twice, and said, "Xiao Song, R&B has been the absolute king these past two years. We've all listened to your three demos, and they all incorporate R&B elements. Is your idea to focus on R&B, adding hip-hop and dance music to balance it out and make the whole album more trendy?"