Jackson Wang shares fiery music video for ‘Cruel’, latest single from upcoming album ‘Magic Man’

nme.com:

Jackson Wang has released a music video for ‘Cruel’, the latest single from his upcoming album ‘Magic Man’.The song was released on July 29, alongside an announcement that ‘Magic Man’ will drop on September 9.

In the video, Wang arrives in an alternate reality and proceeds to battle an army of soot-covered soldiers using his fire-breathing powers.He then approaches the queen for combat, which plays out through choreography by Wang himself and Vinh Nguyen.“I’m coming back to you / So I really hope that you don’t mind / I know you want me, too / Even though you’re not mine / You got that look in your eyes,” the GOT7 singer-rapper sings on the track.In a press statement, Wang called ‘Cruel’ “a very special record”, as “it really set the precedence for where the narrative of the album needed to go and sound.“We were working on many records before this one, but we were struggling to find a clear direction. ‘Cruel’ is like a manifestation of the environments and hurdles we had to overcome at the time.

Every time we felt we were getting close, something slips past us and it all felt so far away. Once ‘Cruel’ came into our hands, it all made sense for us, it was like a beautiful mental breakdown.“‘Cruel”s grunge and raw sound is exactly the perfect representation of the distorted and warped story that I am trying to unfold.

It is the opus to a wild yet beautiful symphony.”‘Magic Man’, produced by Wang, Daryl K, and Henry Cheung, will feature 10 tracks, including ‘Cruel’ and previous single ‘Blow’, which was released in March.Wang debuted ‘Cruel’ live at 88rising’s Head in the Clouds Forever showcase at this year’s Coachella.Wang previously reunited with his group GOT7 in May for the release of their self-titled 12th.