"Hey, tell your friends it was nice to meet them, but I hope I never see them again."
In her earphones, there was a song sung by a female voice with a fresh and slightly gravelly tone, which gave the lyrics a unique depth, and the smooth background music complemented the dynamics perfectly.
However, what surprised Song Ziyin was not the music itself, but the feeling of familiarity she got from it. After thinking about it, she remembered a scene from a few days ago when two young girls recorded a song without a recording engineer.
"I think I've discovered something incredible," Song Ziyin's eyes sparkled as she looked at the spinning CD-style cover on her phone screen.
Today was the day TMY released their new single "Solo Dance," which was competing with The Rex's latest release. Song Ziyin had been following TMY for a long time as a fellow musician, and after listening to "Fox," she was attracted to TMY's unique approach to electronic music and was ready to pay more attention to the producer. After doing her vocal exercises this morning, Song Ziyin couldn't wait to listen to the new single online.
She loved "Fox" so much that she had to listen to TMY's new single immediately. There were two songs in total, "Solo Dance" and "Closer," and she clicked on "Solo Dance" first because it was the most anticipated one due to its status as the theme song for "Street Dance of China." TMY's use of fan-sourced audio for production had also raised expectations and exposure for "Solo Dance" far higher than "Closer." The higher view count supported that theory.
Before listening, Song Ziyin wondered if "Solo Dance" would be similar to "Fox" and had some doubts about whether it could outdo The Rex's well-prepared release of "The King of Street Dance?"
However, as soon as the first note sounded, the prelude began, and the first line of the song was sung, all of Song Ziyin's worries vanished. She no longer had any thoughts other than the music.
She was completely entranced!
Just like "Fox," "Solo Dance" had an intro that immediately hooked her. When the different electronic music parts came in, Song Ziyin gasped, and her whole body got goosebumps.
The subtle reverb on the vocals led right into the echos of a makeshift choir, and the beat was soft, slowly building to the chorus. Soft keyboard notes and clicks pulled the song along at a steady pace, as the synth began to pick up. The pre-chorus added a steady base, and she could feel the song ramping up.
Then the drop hit, and a modified flute took over the role of the melody, as the kick became more prominent.
Novel!
Unique!
The dynamics are on point!
Plus, it's very technically advanced!
"Solo Dance" has the same revolutionary structure and ability as "Fox", but without the "monotonous" characteristic that some people can use to criticize "Fox".
According to Song Ziyin, if "Fox" was likely a trial work for TMY to attempt a new electronic music style, then "Solo Dance" completely loses any comparability with traditional electronic music.
To Song Ziyin, if traditional electronic music is compared to it, it is like a three-year-old child fighting against a world champion in wrestling.
Next is the lyrics part, and the main vocal's voice is extremely pleasant to listen to, using the difficult Western singing style characterized by sustained dynamics, and complex lifts and falls at the end of notes.
Combined with the multi-voice chorus from TMY's fans, Song Ziyin found that her mood was already being lifted by "Solo Dance", especially the drum beats in the Drop section, which were almost one beat per drum, repetitive, but not monotonous, and had a heavy reverberating bass that put the last puzzle piece in place.
The melody is impeccable, considering "Solo Dance" is TMY's first attempt at vocal electronic music. Song Ziyin previously agreed with some mainstream opinions that TMY may show some clumsiness for the first time.
However, after listening to it, Song Ziyin really wanted to laugh.
TMY is clumsy? That's impossible, and after today, a lot of people's faces will be swollen from being hit.
"The game is over for The Rex. GG."
The main reason why Song Ziyin says TMY's control over melody is extremely terrifying is mainly that the vocal melody of "Solo Dance" and the drop section's melody are completely different, yet fit within the same song!
Yes, the vocal and electronic music are completely different melodies! However, the basic tonality and notes used to build the two melodies are the same, which results in a perfect fusion of the two melodies, pushing the entire single to a higher level.
If "Fox" embodies new techniques, and is an experiment with said techniques, then TMY's new single completely embodies the finished product and the result of her experimentation.
Finally, when Song Ziyin looped "Solo Dance" more than ten times, she couldn't help but sigh.
This is true "electronic music", it is the perfect song to pair with Street Dance.
She then moved on to "Closer", but as soon as she played it, she had an astonishing revelation. She'd heard this song before! It wasn't nearly as polished back then, but she clearly remembered those two girls who had recorded a song with no engeneer.
But realizing that, she pieced something together that shocked her even further, though due to her own status not as much as a normal person would be.
This TMY is a girl!!
- - - - - - - - - -
Many people are coming to the same revelation, though not in the same way. Most of them simply looked at the names on "Closer," and noticed only 2. They then played the songs, and had 2 distinct voices.
With 2 names on the song, that can only mean one thing.
One of these voices is TMY herself!
This of course, only assisted in heightening her popularity, but skewed her audience towards one gender in particular...
Even in another world, the internet stays the same...
- - - - - - - - - -
People all over China were beginning to take notice of TMY as time went on.
For example, at the headquarters of one of the major music platforms in China, Xing Music, a stout man quietly took off his headphones and said, "The wave is coming..."
In a club in the capital city, a figure quietly opened their computer, logged onto Weibo, and posted a new status: "A golden age for electronic music is on the horizon."
At this moment, new messages began to circulate on major platforms such as Weibo Hot Searches, Baidu Tieba, Baidu Baike, Baidu Hotspot, and Ezo News.
"Discussing 'Solo Dance' and 'Closer', discussing what electronic music is."
"After leaving the electronic music scene for many years, I heard a song today. I take back my previous statement that 'electronic music is dead' because the renaissance has come, and it won't fade quickly."
"TMY's growth trajectory, discussion: does electronic music have such a cool operation? Capturing the sound of a fox and the song of a fan."
"Compared to 'Solo Dance,' 'Closer,' which was severely underestimated before its release, has come back strong and has a higher Likes-to-Streams ratio than 'Solo Dance.'"
"Including a fan organization in the song credits, my mom asked me why I was praying while listening to the song. How can I join the fan club with such good benefits?"
"After listening to two songs, I think I've become a fan. I never knew electronic music could be this good before??"
"I went to listen to The Rex's song, and I have to say, what the hell is this?"
"If it were just an ordinary work, 'The King of Street Dance' would be a perfectly qualified excellent work, but the problem is that TMY's response this time is just too excellent."
"Looking back at a statement TMY made before: 'Everyone here is garbage.' This is the truth, and now it's proven that it's not because they look down on people or think too highly of themselves."
At this moment, regardless of whether they are TMY's fans or not, or whether they usually listen to electronic music or not, as China's authoritative music data website, the fact that TMY has climbed the charts in the electronic music category is certainly catching the attention of many people.
Under this kind of boost, more people naturally noticed the existence of TMY. They then went to listen to two songs, "Solo Dance" and "Closer," and were amazed and excited.
As more and more people learned that TMY was also a girl, things exploded.
- - - - - - - - - -
The Rex, who was recently hailed as the most promising producer, had a shocking moment on Weibo. His comment section was filled with accusations against TMY, claiming that there were scandals involved.
In a fit of anger, he posted the first thing that came to mind.
The Rex: [Tianyou Media was originally supposed to collaborate with me. They only chose TMY because of a scandal!]
Tianyou: [We did not discuss anything, and we did not collaborate.]
TMY: [Trash]
The Rex: [I am the foremost producer of new-generation electronic music.]
TMY: [Forgive my bluntness, but everyone here is garbage.]
The comments were so numerous and crowded that someone eventually discovered that The Rex had disabled the comments...
At this moment, in a high-end villa in Beijing, Wang Tianyi, who used the stage name "The Rex," clenched his fists with a grimace and suddenly grabbed the glass of water in front of him, throwing it violently into the distance.
With a loud bang, the glass shattered into pieces.
I updated chapter 12 to make it such that TMY signed with Light Cloud as an artist instead of being a freelance artist selling one song at a time.
Honestly, I should have done this initially, but the og author decided to skip that particular convention.
Though Light Cloud will still give her a bonus for each new song she releases as a way to incentivize innovation.
Anyway, it's like that now. Deal with it.
:)