**Chapter 171: The Young Man**

When Link arrived at the Link Music studio, he saw Mars busy in the recording room with two young assistants, one white and one black.

According to Mars, the white guy was named Philip Lawrence, a technician responsible for providing equipment, sound segment selection, and references. The black guy was Ali Levin, wearing glasses and handling harmonies and accompaniment.

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

Link recognized the two from Mars's music videos; they were his right and left hand men.

This was even better—buy one, get two free. He decided to call Ivaka later to poach the whole group.

"Mr. Beck, 'Lighters' has a lot of spoken parts. Would you like to try them yourself, or should we collaborate with another rapper?"

Mars asked while sitting on the sofa.

Philip and Ali sat on either side of the armrest, like two sidekicks.

Link shook his head slightly. He also wanted to handle the spoken parts himself, but there were too many words in the song, and within such a short time—three to four minutes—he couldn't deliver the lyrics fluently and rhythmically.

He had tried a few times, but his tongue would get tangled towards the end.

"I initially planned to collaborate with Eminem. However, because of my feud with Kanye, Eminem declined. Bruno, do you have any suitable candidates?" Link asked.

Mars had heard about the conflict between Link and Kanye but didn't care much. He wasn't black, and after being dropped by Motown Records, he kept his afro hairstyle, trying to blend in with the rap scene but failed.

He was skilled in R&B, funk, soul, and pop music, and while he knew a bit about rap, he wasn't an expert.

Mars scratched his head and thought for a moment. "Mr. Beck, 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 rapping skills are quite good, and I think he's a good fit."

"Great, let's bring him in for a try!" Link nodded.

Mars made a call, and within an hour, the rapper B.o.B arrived at the studio. He was a black man in his twenties from North Carolina, not very connected with East Coast rap, and had released a single last year as a newcomer.

With B.o.B's arrival, recording in Studio 3 began.

Link was in charge of singing the chorus of "Lighters," while B.o.B handled the rap parts. 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

战士坚守战斗,燃起伱的打火机吧,让火光直指天空

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

我做了一个梦,梦里的我是王者,梦醒过后,我仍然是王者

"Mr. Beck, you don't need to sing these lyrics too forcefully. If you bite the words too hard, the voice will sound less smooth, and the rhythm will slow down."

Mars advised.

"OK!"

Link gave a hand signal and sang the part again.

While they were recording, Lana Del Rey came to visit the studio. Seeing a short, afro-haired young man at the mixing console, she asked curiously, "Hello, are you the new producer at Link Music?"

Mars, wearing headphones and listening to music, suddenly smelled a fragrance and turned to see a classical beauty with long reddish-brown curls and fair skin, standing beside him. She was even taller than him.

Mars scratched his curly hair and said, "Hello, miss. Yes, I'm the new producer."

"You look very young."

Lana smiled, examining him from head to toe.

"Miss, you're not old either. I mean, miss, you're also very young, even younger than me." Mars awkwardly explained.

Lana didn't mind his slip and pointed to the headphones, asking, "Can I listen?"

"Of course!"

Mars handed over his headphones.

Lana smiled, took an available pair of headphones, and put them on.

As Mars saw her listening to the music, he secretly took a snapshot of his own head, feeling very dissatisfied with his earlier performance. He was incoherent and flustered, acting like a shy boy who had never met a beautiful woman before. It was quite embarrassing.

His partners, Philip and Ali, also looked at him with disdain.

Mars felt his face burning under their gaze. He rolled his eyes at them and pointed to the recording studio, urging them to focus.

"This song is great, Mr. Producer. Who wrote it?" Lana asked as she removed the headphones.

"It's written by Mr. Beck. I'm Bruno Mars, but you can call me Bruno."

Mars replied.

"Mr. Beck writes rap songs too? He's amazing."

Lana admired Link through the soundproof glass.

"Yes, Mr. Beck is very impressive."

Mars shrugged, secretly envious. It was normal for girls to like someone like Link, who was tall, handsome, strong, and talented.

"Mr. Mars, I'm Lana Del Rey, a signed artist at Link Music. Since we'll all be working at Link Music, I look forward to working with you."

Lana politely smiled.

"Sure, Miss Del Rey. I look forward to working with you as well."

Mars responded quickly.

Lana smiled, waved to Mars and his assistants, and left Studio 3.

Mars watched her skirt flutter as she exited the studio and couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

"Bruno, you're so embarrassing, acting like you've never seen a woman before."

Philip teased.

"Yeah, seeing his reaction reminds me of when I first fell in love at thirteen. So immature."

Ali grinned, showing his white teeth.

"Shut up!"

Mars wiped his face, feeling a bit hot. He decided not to argue with them and focused on guiding Link and B.o.B with their duet.

Despite rehearsing more than a dozen times, there were still some issues.

Link and B.o.B's voices didn't harmonize well. Link's voice was too bright, while B.o.B's was too raspy.

Their cooperation wasn't smooth, and since this was Link's single, he would have to find another rapper to replace B.o.B.

Link also noticed some issues during the recording. After leaving the studio, he listened to the recording twice with headphones and felt that he wasn't suitable for the song.

"Bruno, how about you give it a try?"

Link suggested.

The original version of the song was a collaboration between Mars and Eminem, with Mars singing the chorus and Eminem handling the rap parts. Their collaboration was quite good.

Considering Mars would join Link Music in the future, it would be nice to let him have a go at this song.

When Link created Link Music, he had two goals:

First, to become famous. After gaining fame, participating in boxing matches would attract more attention and indirectly promote the sport.

Second, to make money, which was also Ivaka's goal. After Mars joined Link Music, he would be part of the company. Letting him sing this song to gain early fame would be beneficial.

"Mr. Beck, you want me to sing?"

Mars was surprised.

Although he wanted to sing, he was currently a producer.

"Yes, you and B.o.B are familiar with each other. Your cooperation should be better."

Link said, holding a water bottle.

Mars looked at B.o.B and nodded. The two of them entered the recording studio together and sang the song again.

Link listened from outside with headphones and felt that Mars was indeed better suited for this kind of music, and more fitting for the song.

"Philip, Ali, do you think their cooperation is better than mine?" Link asked his assistants.

Both nodded. Mars and B.o.B had collaborated before, so their cooperation was smoother. Additionally, Mars was skilled in funk music, which was a type of black music, and had a more relaxed rhythm.

After Mars came out, Link chatted with him and asked if he was interested in singing this song.

"Mr. Beck, you want me to sing? But I'm not a singer." Mars was puzzled.

"Your voice suits this song better than mine."

Link paused and then asked, "Also, Bruno, I've heard your compositions and can see you're very talented. I'm very optimistic about you. I'd like to know if you're interested in developing at Link Music."

Mars was stunned. "Mr. Beck, do you want to hire me as a full-time producer at Link Music?"

"Not just that. There's also a singing contract. You have a great voice, and I appreciate it." Link said.

Mars was ecstatic and scratched his afro, uncertainly asking, "Is it a contract for this single?"

Link waved his hand. "Of course, it's not just for this one song. If you're willing, Link Music can offer you a contract for at least five albums."

"I'm willing."

Mars was about to say 'I'm willing' when he suddenly remembered that he was still under contract with Atlantic Records for another two years. Switching now would breach the contract, requiring a penalty of $500,000.

He hesitated for a moment and mentioned this to Link.

"You don't need to worry about that. As long as you're willing, you can start working at Link Music tomorrow."

"Great! Thank you, Mr. Beck!"

Mars stood up excitedly and suddenly thought of something else. He pointed to his two companions outside, who were part of a production team. If he left, the team

 would disband.

Link smiled gently and indicated that they could also buy out their contracts.

"Thank you, Mr. Beck!"

Mars shook his hand and quickly ran out to share the good news with his partners.

Link shook his head. Mars was still too young, getting so excited over a piece of good news. It would be good for him to go out and gain some experience and learn a bit.

He called Ivaka again, updating her on Mars's situation. Ivaka promised to have it sorted within three days.

(The End of This Chapter)