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

When Jinsha left Song Mo's office, she felt a mix of emotions.

Her junior colleague is handsome, can write songs, and his album is already in the works.

Unlike me, who spends every day at the company learning vocal music and practicing vocalization, with the official release of an album still a long way off.

People are really different.

After seeing off Jinsha, who was full of envy, Song Mo closed the door, sat down, and began to seriously analyze the lyrics and music of "Runaway".

This task didn't take him too long. The melody was already in his head, and the chord progressions were clear to him. All that was left was to write down the lyrics word by word.

The lyrics and music for the whole song were finished in about an hour.

As for the arrangement, that's not something he can do alone in a short time; he has to go into the recording studio and work on it slowly.

After finishing "Run Away", he didn't rush to record a demo. Instead, he leaned back in his chair and began to seriously consider the song distribution for the album.

After he transmigrated, he naturally acquired the standard equipment for transmigrators: a memory palace.

In his past life, he could recall any song he had ever listened to, any drama he had ever watched, and any TikTok video he had ever scrolled through, as long as he wanted to.

He picked up a pen and started writing and drawing on the paper.

First up are R&B songs.

After much deliberation, Song Mo decided to include three R&B songs in his new album.

In the first decade of the new century, R&B songs were incredibly popular, and countless singers rose to fame through R&B music.

Before them were David Tao, Jay Chou, and Wang Leehom; after them were Khalil Fong, Gary Chaw, and Nicky Lee.

By 2002, R&B songs had become mainstream in the music scene thanks to the pioneering work of David Tao and Jay Chou. Therefore, if he wanted to make a splash, his work had to be of high quality.

His previous demo, "Love Song," had a great feel to it, but its audience was relatively limited. It was better suited to be developed slowly than to be a main track.

He needed to find a few more widely sung songs to increase the song's popularity. First, he ruled out Gary Cao's songs, as most of his songs were tragic or even melancholic.

After thinking about it, he decided to try to get some inspiration from Khalil Fong. Among Khalil Fong's songs, the one with the highest popularity and the most universal emotions is "Special Person".

The song has a clean arrangement with a piano base, simple strings, and light drum beats. There aren't many fancy vocal techniques, which adds a touch of sophistication and makes it more listenable.

At this point in time, it would be a bombshell.

For the other song, he decided to choose Lee Ji-hoon's "Summer".

This song has a light, sweet, and sunny style. It was also composed by Jay Chou, so it shares a similar feel with "Seven Mile Fragrance".

Moreover, since its release, "Summer" has automatically returned to the top of various music charts almost every year from June to August, making it a seasonal hit.

Later, when Li Jiuzhe participated in "Call Me By Fire" (a popular Chinese reality show), this song also triggered a wave of nostalgia.

Having mastered R&B, next up is Chinese style.

Song Mo picked up his pen and wrote the two characters "Jiangnan" on the paper.

"With the hit song 'Jiangnan' as its foundation, Chinese-style music should be able to compete with 'Dongfeng Po'," he muttered to himself.

Jay Chou's amazing album "Ye Huimei" will be released next year. The style of this album is actually quite chaotic. The previous song was a medieval-style song like "In the Name of the Father", and the next song turned into a heavy metal rock style song "Coward". However, "Dong Feng Po" is really strong. Fortunately, this album only has this one Chinese-style song.

As I said before, the Chinese style is still in its early stages, and no one is sure how well the market will accept it.

Jay Chou will only include two Chinese-style songs in his next album, "Seven Mile Fragrance".

Song Mo was determined to imbue his album with a Chinese style, so it's impossible for it to only have one Chinese-style song, "Jiangnan".

He had an impulse to write four poems.

"Jiangnan", "Luzhou Moon", "Rain on Qingming Festival", "Snow on the Broken Bridge".

Four songs, enough to make up a "Jiangnan" series.

From misty rain to moonlight over Luzhou, from drizzling rain during Qingming Festival to lingering snow on the Broken Bridge, the imagery of Jiangnan is laid out all at once.

But this impulse is indeed a bit extravagant. Squeezing four Chinese-style songs into one album is not only too many, but also seems wasteful.

Good songs should be used sparingly, like a slow and steady stream.

He hesitated for a moment, then thought about it again.

What's there to be afraid of wasting? It's not like we'll run out of songs to copy later.

If you're going to gild it, it has to be heavy enough.

If they release four songs at once, it'll be obvious who the true promoter of Chinese style music is then.

Having thought it through, Song Mo didn't hesitate any longer. He picked up his pen and added "Luzhou Moon," "Rain on Qingming Festival," and "Snow on the Broken Bridge" after "Jiangnan."

These three early representative works by Xu Song, placed in 2002, were not actually considered ahead of their time.

The reason is still the same as before: the Chinese style hasn't been finalized yet.

These three songs can also be considered foundational works of Chinese style.

With this, the album now has seven songs. On the surface, there are more Chinese-style songs than R&B songs, but "Jiangnan" also incorporates R&B elements, so it's at most a 50/50 split.

"Let's start with hip-hop; folk and rock are just filler."

Song Mo first wrote down "Happy Worship". This song, which is considered Pan Shuai's representative work, is actually a cover of "Come On" by the Korean group Turtle, which will be released next November.

Although many people mock Will Pan as the "King of Sinicization" because his hit songs are all covers, such as "I Have to Love You," "My Microphone," "Gecko Walk," and "Tell Me."

But Song Mo didn't think that covering songs made you inferior, as long as you credit the composer.

If we're really being serious, in the 1980s and 90s, Miyuki Nakajima single-handedly carried half of the Chinese music scene.

Teresa Teng, Faye Wong, Richie Jen, Christine Fan, Sammi Cheng, and dozens of other top superstars have all covered other artists' songs.

But now, even if I become a Korean singer, so be it, since the original song probably hasn't even been released yet.

After settling on "Happy Worship", Song Mo naturally didn't let go of "Reversing the Earth".

This song aligns well with his self-image, which is to encourage young people to use their imagination to overturn the dull world.

The chorus line, "Turn the earth upside down, go crazy with me," is a declaration when placed in the album.

As for "My Microphone," he didn't take advantage of Will Pan, so he had to leave something for the hip-hop king.

But his gaze soon fell on Jay Chou.

There was no other way; after discussing the positioning with Bi Xiaoshi and the others, Song Mo had to include the song "My Territory" in the album no matter what.

The soul of this song is the assertion of sovereignty and extreme self-confidence.

"In my territory, you have to listen to me."

This domineering, self-assured attitude is exactly the persona Song Mo needs right now.

The three hip-hop songs each have their own characteristics, and all fit his persona perfectly.

He's already chosen rock music: "Run Away".

Folk songs, however, presented him with a bit of a challenge.

After thinking it over, he wrote down the four characters "Southern Girl" on a piece of paper.

Many folk songs don't quite fit his current image; they're either too depressing, too niche, or they give off an air of "the whole world doesn't understand me."

But "Southern Girl" is different.

It is warm, slightly melancholic, and carries a simple, genuine feeling.

Most importantly, this song, while seemingly about a girl, is actually about people working hard away from home.

In Song Mo's case, it would be writing about his experience as a migrant worker in Beijing.

Living in a basement, rushing between karaoke gigs, being chased for rent by the landlord, spending an entire afternoon in an internet cafe...

He's been through all of these things, so when he sings this song, he doesn't need to project his own experiences; it's just him.

All twelve songs are complete.

"Love Song", "Special Person", "Summer", "Jiangnan", "Luzhou Moon", "Rain on Qingming Festival", "Broken Bridge and Lingering Snow", "Happy Worship", "My Territory", "Reverse Earth", "Run Away", "Southern Girl".

Three R&B songs, four Chinese-style songs, three hip-hop songs, one rock song, and one folk song.

"Brush, ink, paper, and inkstone, eighteen kinds of martial arts." He recited it once, "Alright, it's settled then."