Chapter 171 This Young Man

When Link came to Link Music Studio, he saw Mars busy in the recording studio, accompanied by two young people, one white and one black.

According to Mars, the white guy named Philip Lawrence is the technical staff among the three, responsible for providing equipment, segment selection and reference; the black guy Ali Levin, wearing a pair of glasses, serves as the harmony and accompanist wait.

The two were his colleagues at Atlantic Records, and because of their good relationship, the three of them formed a production team called The Smeezingtons.

Link saw that these two people looked familiar. They seemed to have appeared in Mars' music video and they were his right-hand men.

This time it was even better, buy one and get two free. He decided to call Ivaca later and poach the whole gang.

"Mr. Baker, "Lighters" has a lot of talking parts. Do you want to try it yourself or find other rappers to collaborate?"

Mars asked, sitting on the couch.

Philip and Ali sat on the armrests on both sides, like two generals.

Link shook his head slightly. He also wanted to finish the part he said himself, but there were too many words. A song only lasted three or four minutes. He couldn't finish the lyrics skillfully and rhythmically in such a short time. arrive.

He also tried it a few times and ended up getting tongue-tied by the end.

"I was initially planning to ask Eminem to collaborate because Kanye and I had conflicts. Eminem declined. Bruno, do you have any suitable candidates?" Link asked.

Mars has also heard about the conflicts between Link and Kanye, but he doesn't care. He is not black. After being terminated by Motown Records, he wore a black hairstyle and tried to blend in with the group of rappers. Unfortunately it didn't work out.

The types of music he is good at are rhythm and blues, funk, soul music, and pop music. He can also rap a little, but he is not proficient in it.

Mars scratched his hair and thought for a while, "Mr. Baker, do you know B.o.B? Last year he released a single "I'll Be in the Sky", which ranked 15th on the Billboard Rap Singles Chart. His His rap skills are very good and I think he is a good fit.”

"You can invite me to try!" Link nodded after hearing this.

Mars made a phone call, and within an hour, singer Bobby B.O.B. Jr. came to the recording studio. He was a black man in his twenties, from North Carolina, and had little to do with East Coast rap. He had released a single last year. , is also a new rapper.

After Little Bobby arrived, recording began in Studio Three.

Link was responsible for singing the chorus of "Lighters", Little Bobby was responsible for speaking the lyrics, and Mars and his two assistants stood at the mixing console, responsible for mixing and sound effects.

Fighters keep fighting' put your lighters up' point em' skyward

Soldiers, keep fighting, light up your lighter, and let the flames point directly to the sky

uh Had a dream I was king' I woke up' still king

I had a dream. In the dream, I was the king. After I woke up from the dream, I was still the king.

"Mr. Baker, you don't need to sing these lyrics too hard. If you enunciate too hard, your voice will not be smooth enough and the rhythm will slow down."

Mars said.

"OK!"

Link made a gesture and sang again.

When they were recording a song, Lana Del Rey came to visit the class and saw a short boy with an afro standing on the mixing desk, and asked curiously: "Hello, are you the new producer of Link Music? "

Mars was holding headphones and listening to music when he suddenly smelled a fragrance. When he turned around, his heart was pounding.

He saw a classical beauty with long reddish-brown curly hair and fair skin standing next to him, a little taller than him.

Mars scratched his curly hair and said, "Hello, Miss, yes, I am the new producer."

"You look so young."

Lana looked him up and down and smiled.

"Miss, you are not old either, no, I mean, miss, you are also very young, younger than me." Mars explained clumsily.

Lana didn't care about his slip of the tongue, pointed at the headset and asked, "Can I listen to it?"

"sure!"

Mars handed over his headphones with both hands.

Lana smiled and waved her hand, picked up an empty earphone and put it on her head.

Seeing that the other party was listening to the song, Mars secretly patted his own head. He was very dissatisfied with his performance just now. He was incoherent and hurriedly acted like a little boy who had never seen a beautiful woman before. It was so embarrassing.

"."

And his partners Philip and Ali also looked at him with disdain.

Mars' face heated up when he saw it. He rolled his eyes at the two of them, pointed to the recording room, and asked them to pay more attention.

"This song is great, Mr. Producer, who wrote this song?"

Lana asked, putting down her headphones.

"It was written by Mr. Baker, and my name is Bruno Mars. You can call me Bruno."

Mars said.

"Does Mr. Baker write rap songs too? He's awesome."

Lana looked at Link behind the soundproof glass and admired.

"Yes, Mr. Baker is very powerful."

Mars shrugged his shoulders, secretly envious of him. For a tall, handsome, strong, and talented boy like Link, it was normal for girls to like him.

"Mr. Mars, I am Lana Del Rey, a signed singer of Link Music. We will all be members of Link Music from now on. Please give us your advice."

Lana smiled politely.

"Okay, okay, Miss Dre, please give me some advice."

Mars responded quickly.

Lana smiled slightly, waved to Mars, Phillip, and Ali, and left Recording Room Three.

Mars couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief when he saw the hem of her skirt floating out of the studio.

"Bruno, you are so embarrassed, you look like a woman you have never seen before."

Philip teased.

"Yeah, seeing this guy's look reminds me of when I was thirteen and first fell in love. I was so naive."

Ali grinned with white teeth.

"Shut up!"

Mars wiped his cheeks and found that his hands were a little hot. He simply stopped talking to the two of them and carefully gave instructions on how to sing Link and Little Bobby's chorus.

After rehearsing more than ten times, there are still some problems.

Link and little Bobby's voices don't match each other. Link's voice is too bright, and Bobby's voice is too hoarse.

The cooperation between the two was not tacit enough. Considering that this song was Link's single, he could only find a new rapper to replace Little Bobby.

Link also noticed some problems during the recording. After leaving the recording studio, he listened to the song twice with headphones on and felt that he was not suitable for the song.

"Bruno, why don't you give it a try?"

Link suggested.

The original version of this song was a collaboration between Mars and Eminem. Mars was responsible for singing the chorus and Eminem was responsible for the speaking part. The two worked very well together.

Considering that Mars will join Link Music in the future, it would not be a bad idea to give this song to him.

He originally created Link Music for two purposes.

The first is to become famous. After becoming famous, participating in boxing matches will attract more attention and indirectly promote the sport of boxing.

The second purpose is to make money, which is also Ivaca's purpose. After Mars joined Link Music, he became a member of the company. It would be good to give him this song to sing and make him famous earlier.

"Mr. Baker, do you want me to sing?"

Mars said puzzledly.

Although he would also like to sing, he is now a producer.

"Yes, you and Bobby are acquaintances, so your cooperation should be better."

Link said holding the water bottle.

Mars looked at Bobby, nodded, and the two entered the recording studio together and sang again.

Link took his headphones and listened outside. He found that the other party was indeed better at this kind of music than him and was more suitable for this song.

"Phillip, Ali, do they cooperate better than me?" Link looked at Martian Brother's two assistants and asked.

The two nodded. This was not the first time that Mars and Bobby had collaborated. The two of them worked together more tacitly. In addition, Mars was good at singing funk music, which is also a type of black music and is more free and relaxed in rhythm.

After Mars came out, Link found him for a chat and asked him if he was interested in singing this song.

"Mr. Baker, you want me to sing? But I'm not a singer." Mars said in surprise.

"Your voice suits this song better than mine."

Link paused, looked at the other person and asked, "Also, Bruno, I have listened to the songs you have written, and I can see that you are a very talented person. I am very optimistic about you, and I would like to ask if you are interested. Come to Link Music Development.”

Mars was stunned, "Mr. Baker, do you want to hire me as a full-time producer of link music?"

"Not only that, but there is also a singer contract. You sing very well and I admire you very much." Link said.

Mars was ecstatic, scratched his afro, and asked uncertainly: "Is it the contract for this single?"

Link waved his hand, "Of course it won't be just this song. If you are willing, Link Music can sign a contract with you for no less than five albums."

"I wish."

Mars was about to say "I do" when he suddenly remembered that he was still with Atlantic Records and had a two-year contract. Changing his job at this time would be a breach of contract and he would need to pay liquidated damages of US$500,000.

He hesitated and mentioned this to Link.

"You don't have to worry about this. If you want, you can come to work at Link Music tomorrow."

"Okay! Thank you Mr. Baker!"

Mars stood up excitedly. Suddenly he remembered something and pointed to the two companions outside. They were a production team. If he left, the team would break up.

Link smiled softly and said that he could also buy their contract.

"Thank you Mr. Baker!"

Mars grabbed his hand, shook it, and ran out quickly to tell his two companions the good news.

Link shook his head. Brother Martian is still too young now. He will jump with joy at the first bit of good news. If he has the opportunity, he will go out to experience and learn.

He called Ivaca again and talked about Mars' situation, and Ivaca said it would be done within three days.