Domination in America, Starting from being a Boxing Champion

"How does it feel to attend the Grammys for the first time?"

In their seats, Taylor asked him, holding his hand.

"A bit nervous. I just messed up two words on stage, did you notice?"

"No, but there are cameras here. I’ll watch the TV broadcast later, I should be able to spot it."

Taylor pointed at the several camera positions at the edge of the stage and laughed.

Link felt helpless, which meant that the mistake he just made on stage would be broadcasted on TV and criticized by many people.

"It’s okay. It’s already pretty good for you to perform like this in front of so many professional singers for the first time. I was very nervous just now," Taylor softly consoled him.

Link nodded. He had enough courage to sing and dance in front of several hundred top singers in the music industry, which was a decent mentality indeed.

"...Link, you should apologize to Kanye," Taylor said.

Link was chatting with Taylor below the stage when suddenly he heard a wave of gasps around them, and then the people in the audience turned their attention to them, making him and Taylor the center of attention.

Link and Taylor exchanged a glance, both somewhat baffled.

"Link, Lil Wayne said you should apologize to Kanye," Lady Gaga said, pulling on his sleeve and pointing to the black singer on stage holding a golden gramophone trophy.

In his twenties, wearing a white short-sleeved shirt, with black dreadlocks over a foot long, and arms covered in blue tattoos, even more exaggerated than Dino’s tattoos.

This man was Lil Wayne, a famous rapper who started writing songs at 8 and released his first album at 15, selling over 400,000 copies.

Last June, he released his sixth studio album "Tha Carter III," which debuted at number one on the Billboard album chart with approximately 1,005,000 copies sold in the first week.

Additionally, he won four trophies at this year’s Grammy Awards with this album.

It was rumored that he had a good relationship with Kanye West and was among those who criticized Link’s album as being too stereotypical in the media last time.

What Link did not expect was that this guy would, while delivering his acceptance speech, thank Kanye and demand an apology from him.

This kind of behavior made Link quite uncomfortable. The other party was on stage, and he was below; it was not appropriate to make a scene in a public place.

"Link Baker, you shouldn’t attack Kanye’s condition; I think it’s very impolite, and you should apologize to him," Lil Wayne said into the microphone.

Link smiled and shook his head, giving him a thumbs up, and then turned it upside down.

He initially wanted to give him the middle finger, but considering he was a youth idol with a public image to maintain, he switched to thumbs down instead.

Lil Wayne cursed "fuck" and wanted to continue speaking.

The host Allen stepped forward to persuade him off the stage.

Lil Wayne went off the stage cursing, and a few black singers sitting in the back row also cursed at Link.

Link couldn’t be bothered with them. The Grammy stage was for the winners, and he was an invited guest. It wasn’t polite to start a commotion in such a setting.

"Honey, don’t mind them, you did nothing wrong," Taylor said, tightly holding his arm as if afraid he would stand up and hit someone.

"Don’t worry, I’m not that impulsive," Link reassured.

At that moment, Kanye West walked back onto the front stage to receive the Best Rap Song Collaboration award. Holding the microphone, Kanye addressed the audience, "Hey, Lil, I told you not to mention that kid..."

Link whispered a few words to Taylor, fastened his buttons, and then stood up to leave the audience seats, walking towards the exit.

Oh!

The venue erupted into a noisy buzz of conversation.

By leaving during Kanye’s speech, Link clearly showed his disdain and disrespect.

The black singers at the venue immediately started making a fuss, hurling insults at Link, and then were asked by the venue staff to leave.

The award ceremony was thrown into disarray for over three minutes before it continued with the other awards.

—

"Mr. Link Baker, may we interview you for a moment?"

"Mr. Baker, please wait, we have a few questions to ask you."

As Link walked out of the Grammy Awards ceremony, reporters waiting outside the Hilton Hotel swarmed towards him with their interview tools, surrounding him as camera shutters clicked incessantly.

Link stopped, looked at his watch, and said, "Gentlemen of the press, I have things to do. Please ask your questions quickly."

"Mr. Baker, why did you leave the ceremony early?" a reporter from Entertainment Weekly shouted.

Link frowned and said, "If you all don’t even know the reason, I think this interview is unnecessary."

"Mr. Baker, Lil Wayne and Kanye West demanded an apology from you during their acceptance speech, how do you view their actions?" asked a reporter from the Los Angeles Times.

"I’m disappointed. The Grammy Awards should be a sacred, or at least a serious, temple of art for musicians. Yet in such a solemn setting, they chose to publicly criticize me, a guest who was invited to attend, over some personal grudge?"

Link shook his head, looking at the reporters, "Furthermore, I’m disappointed with the Grammys. For musicians, a Grammy is a great honor, and those who win should be true artists. But today, I saw them hand out several awards to two rude, uncultured individuals. Such Grammys are indeed disappointing."

Upon hearing his direct criticism of the Grammys, the reporters got agitated. "Mr. Baker, do you think Lil Wayne, Kanye shouldn’t have won Grammy Awards?" shouted a reporter from the Hollywood Reporter.

"I don’t know if they should or shouldn’t win the award. If the Grammy selection committee thinks that the process should only consider the quality of songs and not the singer’s character and morals, I have nothing to say," Link said with a shrug.

"Mr. Baker!"

"Lil Wayne has asked you to apologize to Kanye. Will you apologize?" shouted a reporter from American Express.

"Yes, not long ago Kanye, Lil Wayne, and others publicly spread rumors that my album sales were fraudulent. My legal team has gathered evidence of their slander and filed a lawsuit with the Manhattan District Court. The case will soon go to trial. I believe the ones who need to apologize are them, not me."

"Mr. Baker, Kanye previously said that you attacked him at a press conference to use his popularity to sell your albums. Do you agree with this view?" asked a reporter from USA Today.

"That’s even more ludicrous. My album sales are higher than theirs. Why would I need to borrow their popularity? On the contrary, it is they who are taking advantage of the situation. Through today’s events, I can confirm Kanye West is sick, and so is Lil Wayne. They’re both suffering from an arrogant illness.

They think just because the current President is African American, America is theirs? That’s ridiculous."

Wow!

When they heard him turn the tables on the occupant of the White House, the reporters present were momentarily stunned. Then, collectively their brains seemed to overheat, eyes reddened, as they started yelling at him. Your next read is at empire

"Mr. Baker, are you saying they are criticizing you at the Grammys because the new President is African American?"

"Mr. Baker, are you expressing dissatisfaction with the new President?"

"Mr. Baker, who did you vote for in this election?"

"Mr. Baker, are you a Democrat or a Republican?"

The reporters yelled loudly.

Link, however, no longer answered, leaving the scene through the security passage and getting straight into the business van parked by the road.

"Link, you were too impulsive. You should not have criticized the Grammys, and you definitely should not have mentioned the President. Now that African Americans are proud of Obama for moving into the White House, you’ve turned this into an issue involving him, and this will surely provoke discontent among the black community," said Mrs. Andrea in the car.

Link leaned back in his seat, shrugged nonchalantly, "Don’t worry, they can’t do anything to me. Whether they attack me through public opinion or try to suppress me in other ways, I have means to deal with it. If they go too far... I could just emigrate temporarily. With my capabilities, I’ll flourish anywhere I go."

Mrs. Andrea frowned, recalling this guy wasn’t just a singer but also a world boxing champion, an Olympic gold medalist, an athlete who had won honor for America. If this incident led to his emigration, the new President would probably face considerable criticism.

"You will lose the support of your African American fans," Mrs. Andrea said after a moment’s thought.

"African American fans?"

Link thought about it. Did he even have African American fans?

"Anne, do you think those people who listen to hip-hop, rap, and Hip-hop all day would like my songs?"

He didn’t believe he had many African American fans, and if he did, they likely wouldn’t be many, just like Taylor’s fans, where the majority were from lighter-skinned demographics, and those were the people mostly supporting her.

The root of her and Kanye’s conflict lay in entertainment factions, political struggle, and racial tensions.

His actions today were also like playing with fire.

"Link, I support your actions. Lil Wayne and Kanye criticizing you, a guest, on the award stage—no matter how the media spins it, the ones in the wrong are them. You handled it correctly," said Ms. Mandy.

Mrs. Andrea shook her head, "Still, it was too extreme, Link. The news describes you as intelligent. You could have handled it in a more delicate way, not this aggressive, no-room-for-backtracking way."

"Yes, there is that way, but it’s too slow. I confronted them directly and blew up the issue. Now they either have to reconcile with me, or they’ll continue to suppress me in the media and in my career. If they choose the second method, it’ll only make the situation bigger, embarrassing us both.

I don’t think the person who just moved into the White House wants to see this happen either," Link explained.

Mrs. Andrea still thought the issue was blown out of proportion and that it wasn’t a good thing.

"It’s also good this way; it simplifies things. If anybody attacks Link, people will think of Kanye, and maybe even the White House. To avoid escalating the situation, they’ll be reluctant to target Link deliberately. Also, Link’s fans will likely support him even more, and those who dislike Kanye and his ilk might even switch to supporting Link because of this," said Ms. Mandy.

Mrs. Andrea thought for a while and gradually came around. Link, being from a lighter-skinned demographic, could indeed rally a large number of liberal whites with this approach. But the political risks were significant.

"Be careful, Link. They won’t be easy to handle," Mrs. Andrea warned.

Link nodded, aware that the risk was real. In America post-2008, whether in sports, entertainment, or politics, the African American community’s influence was on the rise, and his actions could easily make him a target.

But to make a name and stand firm on the world’s musical stage, how could he not take some risks?

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