Reset Life with Infinite Talents - Chapter 201

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Infinite Talent Reset Life Episode 201

52. Prom Party

Kyaaaaaaak!

Waaaaaaak!

The Grammy Awards, revisited.

Johann walks the red carpet listening to the cheers of fans and reporters, entering the den of beasts.

“Yo! Little Jefferson!”

A short black man wearing only a purple vest and jacket with a rope-like golden chain necklace around his neck approaches with his hand raised, causing Johann to open his mouth.

“…Willy Wonka?”

“No way!”

“Oh, my God. Someone shut up that real little guy who’s exposing himself when he’s not even feeling well.”

Bruno Mars wearing nothing under his vest.

“This guy… Mmph?!”

“Puhahahat!”

“You always pick fights you can’t win?”

“Mmph! Mmmph!”

Johann approaches Bruno Mars, who is struggling while being held by the members.

“Long time no see, Gene. Long time no see, Mark.”

“Yo-.”

Mark Ronson, composer and DJ of Uptown Funk.

A talented composer who worked with Bruno Mars even before Uptown Funk.

“Puha! …You bad little guy.”

Bruno Mars had been grumbling every time they met since entrusting the producing to Will.i.am. He even posted about betrayal on social media.

“You don’t know rap.”

“Why wouldn’t I know!”

“Better than Will?”

“That’s… no. Tch!”

“Alright. I’ll entrust the next album’s producing to Gene.”

“Who said I’d do it?! …What about the songs?”

“I wrote about five songs, and they turned out amazing.”

He’s thinking of pop ballad as the title genre.

“…Follow me. I’ll introduce you to some people.”

“You know I’m doing the opening performance, right?”

The first stage performance of the awards ceremony. And the most important opening at that.

Honestly, he didn’t even have time for this.

“Don’t worry. It’ll be over quickly! Ms. Cabello should get to know people at this opportunity too. Oh, there he is! Hey, Adam!”

“Peter!”

‘Oh?’

Adam Levine waves back with his hand raised.

Maroon 5, a rock band that continues the lineage of rock from the 2000s onwards along with Coldplay.

“Say hello. This is…”

“There’s no way I wouldn’t know. I enjoyed Music Chapel. Adam Levine, call me Adam, Wolf Knight.”

“It’s an honor to meet someone who expanded the wedding song playlist. Please call me Johann.”

SUGAR, one of the most successful songs of 2015, which could be said to have aimed for wedding songs from the music video content of secretly going to wedding venues and holding surprise events to the lyrical content.

If it weren’t for Bruno Mars’ Uptown Funk, the first half of 2015 could have been said to belong to Maroon 5, it’s such a good song.

“Hahahahat! Embarrassing?”

“Hey, kid.”

“…Joe?!”

Not just Joe Walsh. All of the Eagles were approaching.

Everyone around them holds their breath.

“How did you come?”

Since they weren’t active last year, he’s curious. Even their stiffly hardened expressions.

“To commemorate Glenn.”

“Ah…”

Glenn Frey, one of the founding members of the Eagles who died recently.

A great artist who was a co-composer of Eagles classics like Desperado, Hotel California, One of These Nights, and as the Eagles’ co-lead vocalist and frontman, led the band’s musical direction together with Don Henley.

“I pray for the deceased’s soul.”

“…Thank you.”

“Nice to meet you for the first time, Mr. Bernie Leadon.”

Bernie Leadon, one of the founding members of the Eagles and the guitarist who was later replaced by Joe Walsh.

“So you’re the friend Joe bragged about so much. Nice to meet you.”

“Hey! Br… o?! My God. I’m a fan!”

Will.i.am and rappers like Kendrick Lamar who were approaching widened their eyes upon discovering Joe Walsh and Bernie Leadon.

The Eagles, a legendary band that turns even those who are idols to countless others into young girls.

“I hear familiar voices? Who is it?”

“…My God, Mr. Stevie!”

“Oh, my God!”

Stevie Wonder, a legend who needs no words. He’s approaching with people supporting him.

Johann’s eyes sparkle as his mouth falls open.

“Hik?! Hik?!”

Johann patted the back of Camila, who was gasping for breath beside him.

‘Calm down. He won’t eat you.’

This year too, it was a breathtaking Grammy Awards where every single person was nothing short of great.

* * *

-Wow. Why are there so many familiar faces?

Hahahahahaha!

Behind the stage where LL COOL J’s banter, who’s hosting the awards ceremony again this year, echoes.

‘First stage performance…’

His first awards ceremony stage performance in his life.

He’s nervous because it’s a stage that only successful stars recognized by the public can stand on.

Even with all the preparation, his breath catches.

He looks back on 2015.

‘Was there anything lacking.’

‘Did I give it my all.’

He traces back the album activities that started in September.

‘Definitely… it’s a bit regrettable.’

Because small regrets like “what if I had done this then” or “what if I had done that” come to mind rather than what he did well.

‘That’s why I absorbed Rachmaninoff and Tupac simultaneously…’

He thinks it’s a song sufficient to blow away the inadequacy and shortcomings the public might have felt, but that’s only his own thought.

“Will the public understand my heart…”

Tremble tremble tremble!

Johann feels the distracting thoughts rising in his head disappear at the sight of Camila trembling pale with fear.

“Pfft! Why are you shaking so much? Are you scared?”

“How can I not be scared!”

Thinking that legends like Kendrick Lamar, Bruno Mars, the Eagles, Stevie Wonder, Taylor Swift, Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber, who she can’t even dare to look at, are watching her stage makes her want to run away right now.

“It’s okay. Camila can do it.”

“Are you crazy?”

At the look that says ‘what kind of nonsense are you spouting,’ Johann bursts into laughter, and Camila, whose tension eases slightly at his expression, gets some color back in her face.

“You gave it your all.”

“…Yes, I did.”

The journey since July flashes through Camila’s mind.

The days of meeting Johann for a featuring, switching companies, and touring North America to promote the album.

Days of crying and laughing, sometimes even feeling threats to her life.

Johann smiled gently as he watched her expression grow firm.

“Let’s show them.”

That we too were the best of 2015.

That we fully deserve to enjoy today’s glory.

“…Yes!”

“You can go up now!”

They took the stage, and Johann made eye contact with Esa-Pekka Salonen, who was looking at the LA Philharmonic while holding his conductor’s baton.

‘Please, Teacher.’

‘Don’t worry.’

It will be the greatest collaboration that will remain in history.

At that moment, the curtain was drawn back and Esa-Pekka Salonen’s hand swept grandly.

Murmur murmur.

“This atmosphere… it’s been so long.”

The Grammy Awards, filled with the scent of beasts who smile at each other but inwardly look down on others, thinking they’ve won.

Bernie Leadon looks at Joe Walsh, who had been here most recently among them.

“Who do you think will take the General Field, Joe?”

“Well…”

He’d like to say Johann, but there are too many excellent songs.

Songs and singers that the public went crazy for, though they’re incomprehensibly difficult for someone as old as himself.

“There’s that rapper friend Kendrick, Bruno Mars, Maroon 5… oh, there’s that young man Ed Sheeran too.”

2015 was so fierce that it wouldn’t be strange if any of the singers, who were laughing and chatting among their seated members and acquaintances while trembling with anticipation and anxiety, won an award.

The more he sees them like this, the more despair seeps into his chest. That he can no longer make music that can communicate with them.

“Oh, aren’t you going to mention your kid?”

“Johann… Hah. It’s too obvious, so I’m not mentioning it. You heard it, right?”

“…I heard it.”

Music Chapel, which spoke of competition and harmony, was the essence of modern rock.

Perhaps because of Johann’s age of 17, it was a song that touched the heart even more.

That’s why he was dissatisfied. Because that song had quite a bit of Joe Walsh’s feel to it.

‘Of all people, this guy…’

Joe Walsh, who replaced Bernie Leadon himself, or rather, grabbed the back of his neck and pulled him in to join the Eagles.

The guitarist who thereby made the Eagles legendary.

Naturally, he had many complaints and wanted to kill him.

Though those feelings have all disappeared now, the dissatisfaction that still remained made it impossible to fully savor Music Chapel.

“It’s decent enough to listen to…”

“Oh, it’s starting.”

Johann’s first award ceremony stage performance.

As the curtain begins to rise, Joe Walsh’s eyes light up.

“Orchestra? Tsk. Has he gotten pretentious?”

Because collaboration between a popular singer and orchestra requires certain qualifications.

Because you need something universally acknowledged as a foundation.

Because just one or two successes are nowhere near enough.

Bernie Leadon clicks his tongue, but Joe Walsh has expectations.

‘Johann, you didn’t collaborate with an orchestra just because it’s your first award ceremony performance.’

He believes. That Johann will accomplish something he himself couldn’t think of.

It was at that moment of thinking this.

Boom boom boom boom!

The sound of timpani being struck like raindrops the moment Esa-Pekka Salonen’s hand sweeps grandly.

‘Th-this is?!’

Shocked, Joe Walsh looks at Kendrick Lamar and other rappers.

Them sitting up with wide eyes, staring intently at Johann. He can almost hear the cries stuck in their open throats.

‘It’s classical! No, it’s hip-hop!’

It’s not simply arranging and performing hip-hop with an orchestra.

‘Hah. So violins can make sounds like this too.’

The violin speaks. The faces of those walking dirty streets.

The cello projects. The city stained ash-gray outside the window.

The trumpet cries out the dissatisfaction lodged in the chest, and Johann’s voice sings bitter regret.

When heard up close, every instrument cries out hip-hop, but when heard from afar, it’s grand and bitter classical music.

“That crazy kid again…”

Joe Walsh intuited it.

Just as Saint Rock was born in rock, a new genre was born in hip-hop too.

The creator of Saint Rock had created new hip-hop.

That they were together with a great musician.

Joe Walsh’s raised lips trembled.

* * *

The war of countless stars.

Even the Grammy Awards had its shortcomings.

“Why can’t we eat food in the audience seats?”

“…You’re really crazy, bro.”

Will.i.am presses his temples at the nonsense spouted by the great musician who just overturned the world – many rappers who participated in this award ceremony, all those who love hip-hop, musicians, no.

He has a lot to say, but postpones it.

Contrary to Johann’s words, refreshments and drinks can be enjoyed in the reception room, but most people just don’t bring them to the audience seats.

Because they can’t show the foolish sight of eating food when they’ve dressed up so much for today.

“Do you know how many categories you’re nominated in?”

Three in General Field: Song of the Year, Album of the Year, and Record of the Year.

And in genre fields: Rock Song and Alternative Music Album in Rock, Best Rap Song, Rap Song Performance, and Best Rap Album in Rap.

Opera Recording, Contemporary Classical Composition, and Classical Compendium in Classical.

Finally, Producer of the Year (Classical) and Engineered Album (Classical) in the Producer & Engineer & Composer & Arranger category, making 10 in genre fields.

A total of 13 category nominations.

“I think I’ll naturally win the classical ones…”

Classical album sales exceeded an amazing 5 million copies worldwide. Streaming was more than ten times that.

This was the album with the highest sales in 10 years.

Rock is the same. He’ll win either Rock Song or Alternative Music Album.

But…

“General Field is uncertain…”

Johann points to a tall woman in the distance.

“1989, Taylor Swift.”

Taylor Swift’s 1989, one of this year’s most successful albums.

“Bruno Mars with Uptown Funk. Maroon 5’s Sugar, Ed Sheeran’s Thinking Out Loud, the obvious Kendrick Lamar, The Weeknd.”

There’s also Robin Joel, who waves when their eyes meet.

Johann waves back.

“Why? You could aim for Best Rap Album or Best Rap Song.”

There are also rap song performances that include both rap and vocals.

“What? Puhaha!”

Camila also bursts into laughter.

“The rap field that only Black People have won so far, except for Eminem? You’re not being serious, are you?”

“Ugh.”

Since Johann was even a mixed-race Asian, just being nominated in the rap field was already amazing.

Hip-hop is a culture that originated from Black People, music that contains the pain they experienced for being black.

Like Eminem did, unless you go beyond perfectly understanding their history and life, living like them and looking together at what they’re gazing at with longing, you can never perfectly capture their emotions.

That’s why the genre field rap category has been entirely dominated by Black People until now.

‘But…’

Although Johann had spoken pessimistically to Will.i.am, he was secretly hoping for an award.

Johann’s songs, having absorbed ‘2PAC, Tupac Amaru Shakur’, perfectly contained their soul.

In fact, people on the internet even praised Johann as an honorary black person.

Even so, if he didn’t win, it would simply be because Johann wasn’t black.

If the Grammy Awards judges were people who evaluated based on skin color rather than music, would there really be a reason to continue participating in the awards ceremony?

‘I think I know what you’re thinking.’

Will.i.am, who had lived and made music with Johann for the past few months, could now read emotions even from Johann’s expressionless face, and he snorted.

‘When I see you like this, you really seem Japanese.’

Japanese Student who hide their true feelings by wrapping them in the word humility.

Although Johann never hesitated to reveal his inner thoughts, he only showed that side at times like this.

‘Are you really not Japanese?’

The still unresolved controversy about Johann’s roots.

After such idle thoughts, what arose was guilt and anticipation.

‘No, bro. You can definitely become like Eminem too. Because your music also contains soul, just like Eminem’s did.’

He didn’t know how Johann, who had no black blood mixed in and had never experienced their lives, could capture their sorrow in music.

What mattered was that Johann’s music was definitely overflowing with hip-hop’s unique sensibility, and he had even elevated it to popular appeal.

Still, this year might be difficult.

Breaking a framework that had been fixed for a long time wasn’t easy.

Even Eminem didn’t win awards immediately after releasing his album.

But like Eminem, when his reputation builds up and he shakes the world like last year, he’ll receive recognition.

Will.i.am believed in that future without doubt.

-Kendrick Lamar!

“Oh!”

Clap clap clap clap clap clap!

The expected Best Rap Album award, if you could call it expected.

Will.i.am applauded while listening to his acceptance speech, then looked around the Audience Seats wondering who would win the Best Rap Song to be announced next. He needed to know their locations so he could immediately stand up and applaud when they won.

‘The most likely candidate would be…’

-Best Rap Song! The winner is… Wow. What kind of upset is this!

‘Oh! An upset? A young guy…’

-Congratulations! Mr. Johann Jefferson!

Waah!

Clap clap clap clap clap!

“Huh?”

Startled, Will.i.am looked at the screen in front.

‘Is that right?’

The screen was showing Johann gazing dreamily at the Stage. And himself next to him with a stupid expression.

‘Crazy!’

Poke! Poke poke poke!

Will.i.am urgently nudged Johann.

“Ah, why?”

‘Look over there! Look over there!’

“Why are you suddenly…”

Johann turned his head following Will.i.am’s finger urgently pointing at the Stage without words, discovered something strange, and tilted his head.

“Huh? Why am I up there?”

In Best Rap Song, which had been exclusively for Black People except for Eminem.

“Oh, Camila. You’re up there too…”

Camila with a stupid expression also appeared on screen.

“Why? Why?”

“…Puhahahaha!”

“Ahahahahaha!”

“There you go again!”

Bruno Mars’s shout to shake them back to their senses.

-It’s you guys, so come out quickly!

The MC’s urging shout.

“…Wow?”

His dazed expression contorted like last year.

His eyes met Camila’s.

“Waaaaah!”

“Kyaaaah!”

He, they had made history today.

Puhahahaha!

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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