To be honest, Old Zhang's departure didn't affect Jiang Hua much.
But it did have some impact.
The new person in charge started urging Jiang Hua, as he had signed a contract for two albums per year.
At the time, Jiang Hua was poor and didn't think much of it. Besides, two small albums seemed easy.
But when he got busy, there really wasn't much time for albums.
Now it was different. The new album had higher requirements. It couldn't be like the first album with just audio recordings.
It needed matching MVs.
With the other side pushing, Jiang Hua couldn't be bothered to make elaborate MVs. He just sent the audio to them.
This time, due to lack of time, he only made 8 songs.
He directly released three opera-style ancient-flavored songs.
And it was Jiang Hua's own opera singing. Mainly because everyone was busy, and he couldn't gather his colleagues to record.
These were recorded when he was in Beijing for a show, along with two English songs during his spare time.
The three songs were "Hard to Refuse", "Searching for Him in the Western Chamber", and "Along the River During the Qingming Festival".
For the other songs, Jiang Hua was quite casual. After all, it was just to complete the task. This time he had no desires or expectations.
He simply included "Flower Sea", "The Seventh Chapter of the Night", "Those Risky Dreams of Yours",
"It's Just Love for You", "Mistaken in the Flower Fields".
He also re-recorded "Exaggeration" and "Hometown" to make it 10 songs in total.
In terms of consistency, this album definitely didn't qualify.
After all, the styles were too different.
Jiang Hua could have made a consistent style, but he was too busy.
On NetEase Cloud's side, they didn't need any preparation this time, directly promoting it on all platforms.
It had been half a year since Jiang Hua won the Best Crossover Singer award, and he was still being questioned.
The new album attracted unprecedented attention, and Jiang Hua had also attended a concert before the New Year.
It was the time when he was most topical.
....
"Babies, it's unbelievable! I was watching the Spring Festival Gala at home, bored, when NetEase Cloud sent me a notification. That stubborn Jiang Hua has released an album. Quick, let's go!"
"Jiang Hua's work is always excellent. I bought the whole album with my eyes closed. It's amazing, breathtaking. Can you believe this is from the Best Crossover Singer? Haha, it's laughable."
Jiang Hua didn't have an official fan organization. They were all spontaneously organized by fans. According to incomplete statistics,
There were dozens of large groups with over 2,000 fans.
In an instant, the fan groups that had been quiet for a while exploded. Group admins were calling out in the groups.
"Quick, go buy Jiang Hua's new album. I can already foresee it's another masterpiece. It's a dimensional strike!"
"Yes, yes, I just listened to two songs. My mom asked why I was listening on my knees. I'm truly impressed."
These long-term lurkers, who had been battling with life, logged into their long-unused NetEase Cloud accounts.
They bought Jiang Hua's new album without hesitation, even though the price had increased.
In an instant, this album exploded across the entire Chinese music scene.
According to the default rules, to become a top-tier singer, one needs at least three excellent albums and thirty popular songs.
Now Jiang Hua wasn't far from this goal. At this rate, being a top-tier singer was far from Jiang Hua's endpoint.
The main thing was how terrifying it was. One album covered such a wide range.
As long as the next album maintained quality, even if it was a bit worse, he would still be a top-tier star, possibly directly becoming a superstar.
Keep in mind that not long ago, Jiang Hua had just won Best Crossover Singer.
This award seemed more like an insult.
The Best Album was "Just Because It's Beautiful", the Best Original Singer was Lu Lu.
The Most Popular Male Singer was Fa Shi.
How ridiculous.
If we consider purely from a traffic perspective, we indeed lost.
But that was before. Now let's compare again.
The Free Guru who triggered a wave of resignations, how much traffic does he have now? Hangzhou will give you the answer.
How many people use Hangzhou as their starting or ending point for travel?
How many people drive on Highway 318, listening to Jiang Hua's resignation anthem?
How many new fans are frantically looking up Jiang Hua's encyclopedia entries?
Finding their idol in their hearts.
Although this idol doesn't promote himself or hype himself up.
But so what?
An idol isn't someone you talk about all day. As long as you can gain energy from them, everyone can be an idol.
...
Jiang Hua's album directly ignited the Chinese music scene in the New Year.
It caught many stars who were prepared to release albums off guard.
How to deal with this? Jiang Hua's album was too strong, consistently delivering high quality.
Especially for Huayi Entertainment.
Their music department was prepared for a final push. If there was still no improvement, their entire department would be dismantled.
Everyone's jobs were at risk.
But even their diva had left. They could only pin their hopes on Wang Kai. Wang Kai's first album was completely overshadowed.
But look at who he was competing against.
Huayi had invested heavily in him, acquiring several good songs.
He did achieve some success.
It's just that Jiang Hua was too dazzling, overshadowing his light.
But compared to other singers releasing songs at the same time, his performance was not bad.
After all, he ran into the overpowered Jiang Hua.
This time was different. Huayi's music department was preparing for a final push.
They prepared their trump card, contacting several top composers.
Top lyricists, wanting to replicate Jiang Hua's success.
But Jiang Hua was too unreasonable. He released a new album before the New Year was even over. How shameless.
Every song could be a hit single.
No wonder the music circle didn't like him. When he comes out, he doesn't let others live.
At this moment in Huayi's music department.
Everyone looked worried. They were urgently called back before the New Year was even over.
The boss was even more furious.
"Where are the lyricists and composers you contacted? Is there any news now? The new album must be released as soon as possible, preferably in a month."
Someone below stammered: "Boss, the people I contacted are fine, but they said Jiang Hua is a god, unpredictable, with diverse music styles. Every song is a classic, and the lyrics, music, and arrangement are all top-notch."
"They suggested we lay low, preferably release songs in about three months."
This advice was very pertinent, and everyone present agreed.
But did they have a choice?
A young person who seemed to have just joined spoke up.
"Why don't we collaborate with Jiang Hua? He could definitely create music tailored for Wang Kai."
Everyone believed this. For a top original singer like Jiang Hua, writing songs was really simple.
As soon as this was said, the entire office fell silent.
Only the sound of people breathing could be heard.
This was all caused by the big boss. Letting the tiger return to the mountain, now they're suffering the consequences!
The ban was working well. For the sake of so-called face, you let him out.
There's no possibility of reconciliation between Jiang Hua and Huayi.
And now Jiang Hua has grown to the point where he doesn't need to consider anyone's face.
"Let's discuss this later. I'll ask Xiao Qi about it."
...