Domination in America, Starting from being a Boxing Champion

"Keep On Movin'" was released in its fourth week, with domestic sales of 389,000 copies, claiming the Billboard 200 album chart title for the second time.

"The Blueprint 3" ranked second, with sales of 232,000 copies this week, directly trailing "Keep On Movin'" by 150,000 copies.

Media analysis suggested the first reason for this was Link's gold disc giveaway event last week, which gained extensive exposure.

On the other hand, Jay-Z's promotional activities were boring and lacked highlights, and additionally, Lil Wayne, Drake, and others were often late to events, showing a negative attitude.

The second reason was the style and quality of the album.

"Keep On Movin'" featured rock, pop, and electronic styles, appealing to a broader audience.

The songs on this album were also great, similar to "give me reason" and "Believer," with high, stirring melodies, intense rhythms and music, paired with Link's impactful voice, making them very uplifting.

"The Blueprint 3" was also good, rated as the best rap album of 2009 by the hip-hop magazine "XXL," and Jay-Z salvaged his declining reputation and popularity in the music industry with this album.

But rap music is less popular among light-skinned people.

This also caused "The Blueprint 3" to have a narrower audience than "Keep On Movin'."

Also, although the album had two chart-topping singles, the overall quality of other songs couldn't match "Keep On Movin'," nor could their popularity match some of the songs from Link's second album.

The "Los Angeles Times" cited a third reason related to the artists themselves.

Compared to Jay-Z, a chubby 41-year-old black middle-aged man, Link was 21, young, handsome, tall, strong, and had a good public image as a youth idol.

One was a seasoned male star, the other a rising new star.

When it came to influence and appeal among young people, Jay-Z was far behind Link.

This was also why "The Blueprint 3," despite its continuous promotion, still lagged far behind.

However, there was some good news for Jay-Z this week— "Empire State of Mind" remained at the top of the Billboard singles chart for the third week, with "Believer" falling to fourth place.

This time, it was a chart rivalry between Link and Jay-Z.

In terms of album sales, both Link and Jay-Z each claimed two weeks at the top of the album chart, but Link was victorious in total sales.

On the singles chart, "Keep On Movin'" had only one top single "Give me reason," which was number one for a week.

"The Blueprint 3" had two, topping the singles chart for four weeks.

But Link had more songs ranked on the charts.

The "New York Post" commented that the two had wins and losses in their chart battle, ending in a draw, and suggested they make peace.

People in the music industry felt the same, seeing it as a tie and better to propose peace during this even match, as continuing the rivalry would stall the sales of other artists' albums released at the same time.

But for Jay-Z and the East Coast rap crew, a draw was a hard result to accept.

They were all top-tier in the music industry; Jay-Z was a veteran top-tier, the king of New York's music scene. If several of them together, working overtime on promotions, only managed a draw against Link—a newcomer with just two albums—that was a loss, a group losing to one person.

"Is there any other way?"

Jay-Z asked.

Kanye and the others shook their heads together. The album had been released for four weeks, similar to a movie, with the highest data in the first month, and sales would decrease afterward. A high-quality album would sustain longer with long-tail effects, leading to higher cumulative sales.

"The Blueprint 3" was of decent quality but not top-tier; the record company predicted total sales in the United States would be under 2.5 million copies.

Continuing promotion wouldn't make much difference.

They had no better strategies to reverse the disadvantage.

"I suggest making peace."

Beyonce leaned back on an Italian sofa, legs crossed, swirling a glass of Bordeaux wine, and said, "Rihanna and Katy Perry talked it over; Link isn't interested in competing with you guys. It's only because you kept pushing to top the charts that he felt compelled to react. Maybe it's better to propose a truce while it's still a draw."

"Bullshit! His statement outside the Grammy Awards, saying we became aggressive and domineering after a black individual took office, filled with hostility towards us, and then suddenly releasing the rap single 'I'm the One' as a deliberate provocation; he dares say it was forced? Bullshit!"

Jay-Z cursed with a stern face.

"So, do you have any way to beat him?"

Beyonce asked with a smile, looking over Jay-Z, Kanye, and Lil Wayne.

Lil Wayne, eyeing Beyonce's legs with envy, said, "Jay-Z, we haven't lost. Initially, we were only competing with Link for the rap chart champion, but the media hype led us astray, shifting the battleground to the album chart."

"Now, we just need to use the media to refocus everyone's attention back to the rap charts and continue to battle with Link for the top spot on the charts,"

Seeing everyone looking over, Lil Wayne laughed excitedly and said, "Currently on the rap singles chart, 'Empire State of Mind' is the champion, and 'The Blueprint 3' has 12 songs in the hot 40.

Link's 'I'm the One' has been squeezed out of the chart long ago, and 'Lighters' is only ranked 16th. Link and Link Music have completely collapsed in the rap arena, so this time in the chart battle, we have a great victory and Link is utterly defeated."

Everyone thought about it, and it really seemed to be the case.

Initially, they only competed with Link on the rap charts.

It was only because 'Give me reason' seized the number one spot from Jay-Z's promotional single 'D.O.A. (Death of Auto-Tune)' on the singles chart, that everyone shifted their focus from the rap chart to the singles chart.

Led astray by the media promotions, the battleground shifted from the singles chart to the album chart, and that's where Link's albums defeated them.

If they had not changed battlefields initially, staying in the realm of rap, Link, a rap newcomer accompanied by three greenhorns from Link Music, would definitely not have been a match for several top-notch rappers.

Slap!

Jay-Z, with a stern face, heavily smacked the arm of the sofa.
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"We've been tricked! We fell for Link's cunning plan. That damn bastard knew he was no match for us in the rap field, so he used tricks to lure us out of it and then compete with us in other areas. This bastard is too deceitful."

Upon reflection, everyone agreed that Link was indeed very crafty.

Perhaps his attacks on Kanye at the press conference early in the year were deliberate provocations, meant to ignite conflict and blow the situation up to gain more attention and increase the exposure and sales of his debut album.

The fact that his debut album as a newbie sold Double Platinum in America speaks volumes about the success of his tactics.

He lay low for two months, then, before releasing his second album, he sparked up the feud again with a rap single, leveraging everyone's popularity to create a flood of news for himself and his second album.

Seeing a new kid being bullied by a bunch of top rappers, a young pretty boy being pushed around by a bunch of black guys, the public and media would surely empathize and support him.

And then he succeeded, his album sold like hotcakes.

"Damn you, Link! You're really riding on my coattails,"

Kanye West exclaimed furiously, kicking the table. The marble table didn't budge, and he immediately gasped in pain, cradling his foot as he collapsed on the couch, calming down.

Others, having realized this point, looked furious, almost wishing they could shoot Link dead.

"Is Link really that formidable?"

Rihanna, sitting next to Beyonce, asked incredulously.

Initially, it was Kanye, Lil Wayne, and 50 Cent who targeted Link, forcing Link to fight back. If this had been Link's promotional strategy from the beginning of the year all the way to now, that would be terrifying.

"Rihanna, the news says Link is a boxing strategy master, winning many matches through cunning and deceit.

During his amateur boxing days, he was very adept at leveraging other boxing stars' fame for his hype. Right from the start, his fame surpassed even that of second-line boxers, all these pointing out that Link is a shrewd guy," Chris Brown added.

Rihanna snorted softly, not buying it.

Hearing Chris Brown's words, Kanye felt even more assured that Link had been leeching off his fame, furiously kicking the couch several more times.

"We should hit back," Lil Wayne shouted angrily.

"How do we hit back?"

Jay-Z and the others turned to Lil Wayne, known for his many braids and sharp mind.

Lil Wayne scratched his braids, "How about we plant some drugs and guns in his car?"

"Link is no ordinary man; such methods won't work on him," Jay-Z said, frowning.

T.I. chuckled and suggested, "Hey, how about we send him a woman? He's strong in that department for sure, and he must be going out often to meet women. We plant one, then accuse him of harassment and rape. His reputation would surely be destroyed."

Jay-Z stroked his chin, liking the idea because it targeted Link's weakness.

But it was challenging to execute; they needed to find a beautiful woman firstly, and secondly, Link had to be willing to accept her. Such a plot couldn't be completed in a few days.

Jay-Z thought for a while, "First, let's control the media to shift public attention back to the rap field. Make everyone know that we are the kings of rap music, unbeatable in this field. We'll settle other scores later."

Everyone nodded in agreement, liking the idea.

Beyonce and Rihanna exchanged looks and shook their heads, finding the men utterly trivial, always fixated on battling one another.