Chapter 453: Overcoming Opinions

Chapter 453: Chapter 453: Overcoming Opinions

Not long after Britney arrived, the remaining three heavyweight coaches also arrived at the studio one after another. The lineup of four coaches with distinct styles covering all tracks of the music industry was finally fully assembled and officially in place.

The four coaches finalised by Irene for the first season of The Voice US precisely covered the three mainstream music tracks of rock and blues, pop ballad, and hip-hop rap, with clear divisions of labour and complementary styles, comprehensively encompassing the listening aesthetics of the American public and covering audience groups of different ages and social circles.

Except for Britney, the pop diva well-known to the public, the other three coaches were all powerhouse performers in the music industry and annual cutting-edge benchmark figures.

The first was Steve Winwood, a legendary musician who had spent decades deeply rooted in rock and blues. He had a weathered and mellow voice, a musical style full of a sense of story, profound stage foundation, and heavy industry qualifications.

Having cultivated the music industry for decades, he witnessed The Best Years of Our Lives of European and American rock, possessed countless classic works, and his audience was mainly middle-aged and senior music fans. Bringing his own national popularity and industry credibility, he could steadily lock in senior circle viewers for the show.

The second was Bonnie Raitt, a powerful female singer who mastered both rock and pop tracks. Her musical style was gentle, delicate, and yet powerful; her lyrical works had an extremely high sing-along rate; her stage style was calm and imposing; and her public relation was excellent.

Her audience covered all age groups, allowing her to balance the show’s style, neutralise the toughness of rock and the flamboyance of hip-hop, and make the show’s aesthetics more diverse and inclusive.

As for the last one, who was also the most controversial initial coach finalised by Irene by overriding all objections, it was none other than Kanye West, the leading figure of the new generation of hip-hop rap.

During the initial screening stage for the coach candidates, great divisions had once appeared within Irene’s team.

Compared with Steve Winwood and Bonnie Raitt, who had profound qualifications and had been deeply rooted in the music industry for decades, Kanye West at that time was simply too young. His music resume seemed thin, and his debut time was extremely short, failing to meet the industry standards for becoming a coach at all.

He did not officially step into the music industry until 2000, silently accumulating experience and polishing his production skills as a behind-the-scenes producer.

It was not until 2003 that he released his first solo single, "Through the Wire," officially stepping into the public eye as a singer. The year 2004 was the peak inaugural year when he completely erupted and swept the music industry, and it was also a critical year for him to truly secure his seat as a top musician of the new generation.

In February 2004, Kanye West released his debut studio album, "The College Dropout." The album received explosive acclaim and made a dark-horse counterattack in sales.

With a brilliant first-week sales volume of 441,000 copies, it powerfully secured the runner-up position on the US Billboard album chart, breaking out of the encirclement of veteran singers and making a stunning debut.

In the same month, his collaborative single "Slow Jamz" with Twista and Jamie Fox reached the top of the Billboard Hot 100 chart, securing his first US number-one single and sweeping the entire internet with its popularity.

Since then, Kanye’s award-season harvesting path officially began. He won awards soft in his hands throughout the year and swept major music festivals: in June, he won the Best New Artist award at the BET Awards, breaking the award-winning record for new-generation singers

In September, he won the Best New Male Artist award at the World Music Awards, stepping onto the international stage; in October, he swept two heavyweight awards at the MOBO Awards—Best Hip-Hop Artist and Best Producer—with both his rap strength and production skills recognised by the industry

At the Billboard Music Awards in December, he won four major awards in one fell swoop, including the Artist Achievement Award, becoming one of the biggest winners of the year.

Not only was his personal debut his peak, but his behind-the-scenes production capabilities were also top-notch.

Throughout 2004, he led and spearheaded the production of John Legend’s debut album, "Get Lifted." Relying on his extremely meticulous production standards and avant-garde musical aesthetics

He helped the newcomer singer successfully break through the circle, which was sufficient to show that he was not only good at performing in front of the stage, but even better at discovering newcomers, polishing works, and shaping stages, perfectly adapting to the core duties of a variety show coach.

What truly made Irene completely finalise the candidate and suppress all doubts from the team was the 47th Grammy Awards that concluded in February 2005.

At this Grammy, Kanye West set an astonishing record by winning ten nominations in one fell swoop, becoming the musician with the third most nominations that night, enjoying unmatched limelight.

Ultimately, he powerfully won two major rap awards: Best Rap Album for "The College Dropout" and Best Rap Song for "Jesus Walks." At the same time, relying on Alicia Keys’s single "You Don’t Know My Name" which he co-wrote, he won the Best R&B Song award, spanning both the rap and R&B tracks, and his strength was completely deified.

As the most credible and highest-content award in the American music industry, the Grammy completely verified Kanye West’s absolute strength and made Irene even more convinced that her choice was not wrong.

What she valued was precisely his avant-garde musical aesthetics, top-notch professional ability, unique vision for discovering newcomers, and the popularity and topicality that no one else in the current new generation could match.

When Kanye himself received the coach invitation from The Voice US, he was already deeply interested in Irene’s original new talent show model of blind audition revolving chairs, coach grabbing, and team duels, feeling that this competition system broke the stereotypical rules of traditional talent shows and was extremely innovative and watchable.

After learning in detail about the coach lineup of the three top music industry seniors—Steve Winwood, Bonnie Raitt, and Britney—he did not hesitate at all, immediately finalised the cooperation, and gladly joined.

For him, being able to sit alongside music legends on the same stage and learn from each other, while using a national variety show to expand his national popularity and break down the barriers of the hip-hop circle, was an excellent cooperation with extremely high cost-effectiveness.

For the show, Kanye’s joining could also perfectly fill the blank of the hip-hop track, attracting massive young audiences and street culture enthusiasts, achieving complete coverage of the show’s audience.

In April this year, Kanye West was successfully selected as one of Time magazine’s annual "Time 100 Most Influential People in the World."

To top the Time 100 with just a few years of debut time and the identity of a new-generation rap singer was enough to prove that his industry influence, social popularity, and times value had long surpassed the vast majority of veteran musicians who had been deeply rooted in the music industry for many years.

At this point, no one in the team questioned Irene’s unique vision anymore, and everyone completely recognised this young hip-hop coach.

With all four star coaches with distinct styles, clear divisions of labour, and both popularity and strength fully in place, plus the chief planner and show founder Irene presiding over the scene, the core creative lineup of the first season of The Voice US was completely assembled.

Everyone gathered in the exclusive meeting area of the studio and officially started the seminar on the first round of recording procedures.