Become A Music Monster Overnight! [EN]: Chapter 133

38. European Tour

It was more cinematic than a movie; something truly incredible had happened.

Jamie had conquered the Billboard charts with her debut, and all the American media outlets showered her with praise.

Arguably, her impact in America alone was even greater than when I collaborated with Marvin and topped the Billboard charts for 18 weeks.

I scratched my cheek, realizing I had played a part in creating this social phenomenon.

“I talked a big game, but I didn’t expect it to go this well.”

Indeed.

I hadn’t anticipated it would be this successful.

I had said she would become America’s favorite female singer, but that was something I envisioned for the distant future.

So, for this debut album, it would have been enough for her to simply show that potential.

Even that would have been unbelievable, considering the massive American market. I only dared to hope for it because it was Jamie.

But the world always defies expectations.

Jamie effortlessly shattered the highest expectations and became America’s favorite female singer.

No, beyond just being a singer, she was receiving overwhelming support, surpassing even actresses and models.

In less than a month since her debut, the cosmetics she used and everything she wore sold out.

The impact was so significant that the stock prices of the brands that had sponsored her during her trainee days had already tripled.

For domestic brands, the signs were even more promising, with stock prices soaring.

All of this happened because Jamie’s past trainee photos forced her to advance into the American market.

The company was analyzing the reasons behind this insane situation.

There were many theories.

Some said her sensual looks captivated Americans, while others suggested her songs, reminiscent of Karen Carpenter, provided healing in a market dominated by stimulating music.

Others claimed her songs appealed to all generations.

However, Taylor, the head of the American branch, pointed out an unexpected factor.

“The fact that she’s a native-born American. I think that played a big role.”

“Her nationality being American is the biggest factor?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

I was so surprised that I had to ask again, but Taylor firmly insisted it was the case.

It wasn’t just me who found it surprising; other employees at headquarters felt the same.

In any other country, the employees would have agreed with Taylor’s idea and brought it up first.

But this was America, wasn’t it?

America is a country with so many immigrants that it’s often called a nation of immigrants.

The fact that approximately 14 million immigrants had arrived in the decade after 2000 alone shows this.

No, even without mentioning recent immigrants, it has been this way historically.

To develop its vast land, America accepted people of all ethnicities.

Starting with about 400,000 British immigrants in the early 17th century, America has accepted numerous immigrants, divided into four periods: the mid-19th century, the early 20th century, and after 1965.

America is a place with so much racial and religious diversity.

That means they are very open to foreigners. If Japan is a very closed culture, America is on the opposite end.

“…Isn’t that strange? America’s history isn’t that short anymore.”

Recently, they have been implementing policies to exclude immigrants and enhance the rights of their own citizens.

In that regard, Jamie’s nationality, as Taylor suggested, likely had a significant impact on creating the current social phenomenon.

“We should hold YC Revolution auditions in America too.”

Now that I knew Jamie’s American nationality was a major factor in her success, it seemed like a good idea to create a group composed of Americans.

‘The problem is that they’re hard to control.’

The question is whether American teenagers, who value freedom and individualism, will follow instructions like Asian kids.

“…No. No matter the country, those who are going to cause trouble will cause trouble anyway.”

The answer is to extend the trainee period and weed out as many potential troublemakers as possible.

In fact, since a K-pop style group made up of Americans is guaranteed success, it’s right to prioritize character over talent.

I decided to talk to Taylor about this separately and got up from my seat.

Due to Jamie, who was causing such a huge sensation, Black Tiger’s album release was postponed.

As a result, the European tour schedule was also adjusted, causing chaos within the company.

But as Black Tiger’s producer, I was happy about it.

The extra time meant we could further improve the quality of the band’s sound.

“Damn it! Don’t you know what satisfaction is?”

“…You devil!”

“My fingers are about to fall off. See these fingers? I’m old now, so I don’t recover well.”

“You guys. You’re whining in front of your nephew.”

“Whining? Si-young, you shouldn’t be saying that! I have a video of you whining about how hard it was on my phone.”

“Yeah. Who do you think you are, acting all high and mighty because you got a passing grade by yourself! Should I leak it on Revolution [a fictional social media platform]?”

“Just try it! I’ll leak your embarrassing pasts too.”

“Let’s all die together! Yeah, let’s all die!”

“Sigh~”

After grumbling for a bit, my uncles, as always, started blaming and fighting each other. I sighed and slipped out of the practice room.

‘They seem more stressed than I thought.’

It seemed like there was a limit to how much more we could improve the quality.

Well, honestly, it was already at a satisfactory level.

‘No, it’s a luxury to even say it’s satisfactory. I didn’t think they could pull off this much.’

It’s like they’re aging in reverse; their skills improve every year, and watching them makes my heart race.

“Are they really going to make something big happen?”

Especially Uncle Park Si-young’s guitar playing is beyond reproach now.

If he keeps going like this, he can really hold the position of main guitarist.

That means my uncles can achieve the level of greatness that Marvin achieved.

“Goodness! A band made up of such masters!”

That would be so enjoyable to even think about.

Maybe by then, the world would have no choice but to acknowledge it.

They would have to say that no band other than Black Tiger could be placed in the position of the greatest band of all time.

Time passed, and we made our comeback, nearing the last week of October.

-Black Tiger’s 3rd full album title track ‘reason for existence’ reaches #1 on Billboard Hot 100 upon comeback!-

-Black Tiger lining up on the Billboard Hot 100?-

-The god of rock has returned! YC America branch’s stock price hits an all-time high!-

-Returning to the roots of rock. ‘reason for existence’ shows the essence of heavy metal!-

-Classic metal music from the past is receiving attention again due to ‘reason for existence.’-

Black Tiger’s 3rd full album, like the title track ‘reason for existence,’ was themed around the reason for existence.

It was a declaration to approach the roots of rock, and thus, the entire album was filled with heavy metal music, the most rock-like element.

If the previous album focused on popularity, this one focused more on musicality.

So, I didn’t expect much in terms of results, but it was a huge success upon comeback, beyond my imagination.

By the second week, we were seeing the miracle of lining up in the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100.

“It feels like we’ve returned to the heyday of heavy metal.”

It seemed like I wasn’t the only one who thought we had returned to the 70s and 80s when rock was mainstream.

“Wow~ Did you see the Red Zeppelin [likely a reference to Led Zeppelin] hyungs’ songs back on the Billboard charts?”

“A masterpiece transcends time, but this is really amazing?”

“It’s been a long time since heavy metal music has received this much attention since the Queen movie [referring to the biographical film ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’].”

“As expected of Young-chan. He shows us more than we can imagine!”

“My heart is pounding.”

“…That might be because of your heart condition. You should go to the hospital.”

“Th… surely.”

I chuckled at Uncle Il-beom, who was terrified despite thinking it was a joke. Considering his age, it was funny to see him worry like that, even though he had a health checkup for the European tour not too long ago. Uncle Il-beom was always the same.

“By the way, this is a record-breaking initial sales, isn’t it?”

-Black Tiger’s 3rd album sells 7.8 million copies in the first week. Record-breaking sales! Diamond (10 million copies) is already reserved for this album.-

-Popularity is getting hotter and hotter! Already sold out in all offline stores!-

-Return to the past? People are buying albums at a premium.-

Unlike in the past, when music can be listened to anytime on music sites, there was a reason for buying albums at a premium.

The album cover had a special key number lottery ticket.

The winning special key number gave priority access to ticket purchases for next year’s American tour.

This event was prepared not only to prevent some of the tricks of last year’s brokers.

As mentioned earlier, this album focused on musicality, so we thought sales would be low, so we added this commercial element.

However, contrary to expectations, this album was a huge hit, and naturally, the special key number lottery event, which was added as a commercial element, caused album sales to hit a record high.

Even though it was a lottery, the ratio was 10:1, so there were almost 1 million winners.

In other words, a third of the 3 million seats for last year’s All Stadium Tour were pre-sold.

In the end, before the 4-week promotion was over, the 3rd full album was certified as a double diamond album.

-‘reason for existence’ achieves 9 weeks at #1 on Billboard Hot 100!-

-‘reason for existence’ Unfading popularity! Will they challenge a new record?-

With that, we started our European tour amidst still-hot interest.

The first place we visited was none other than England.

England, where numerous legends including the Beatles came from, was a place that any rock fan dreamed of visiting.

In fact, I also took a vacation in England to see my younger sibling.

-Waaaaah!-

-YC! Young-chan~ I love you!-

-The god of rock has come! No, the god of music has descended upon England!-

Perhaps because it was such a country, England, which I visited for the first time as a musician, welcomed us more enthusiastically than I had imagined.

They shouted my name, which was difficult to pronounce, and someone even held up a huge electronic display showing my uncle’s and my name in Korean.

‘How did they bring that?’

While thinking that it was amazing to lift that heavy thing, I was relieved that the security guard made them take down the display before an accident happened.

Anyway, the entry itself was really amazing.

The security staff at London Heathrow Airport couldn’t handle it, so we could barely get out with the help of the London police.

After that, *sasaeng* fans [overly obsessive fans who stalk or invade the privacy of celebrities] who seemed to be of the 3rd rank followed us around, causing trouble here and there.