Music

L'OFFICIEL Exclusive: Jackson Wang Creates a Retro Love Story for New Single 'LMLY'

With the release of the Chinese K-pop idol's fourth single out this month, Got7 member Jackson Wang gives L'OFFICIEL a special look into "LMLY" and its nostalgic, cinema-inspired music video.

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Jackson Wang photographed by Huang Jiaqi for L'OFFICIEL Hommes Fall 2020.

From ancient China to a Hong Kong diner, L'OFFICIEL star Jackson Wang carefully crafts the atmosphere and visuals for his music. For the Got7 member’s latest solo release, “LMLY” (which stands for “Leave Me Loving You”), he returns to the same cinematic universe he introduced last fall with “Pretty Please,” his collaborative single with Galantis. Channelling the aesthetics of ’80s/‘90s Hong Kong movies, and a generous dose of the era’s synth pop sound, the music video sees the Chinese pop star as a busboy working at a diner who swiftly falls in love with a customer and fantasizes their relationship. Down to his clothes—the same blue jeans and white tee he wore in the “Pretty Please” video—the treatment delivers nostalgia. “Growing up, I was inspired by Hong Kong movies and I wanted to make some retro feel, going back in time music,” Wang tells L’OFFICIEL.

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Jackson Wang - "LMLY"

The multi-talented singer, dancer, fashion designer, and creative director wrote the script for the video as well as co-directed it alongside 88rising’s Mamesjao. Since embarking on his solo career and starting his own label, Team Wang, in 2017, Wang has had a hand in all the behind-the-scenes work that goes into creating his hits. For “LMLY,” he wanted to create a love story in the same aesthetic code as “Pretty Please,” but whereas the previous release was “more of a musical, ‘LMLY’ is more like an action movie.” Wang decided to leave out his usual choreography-heavy performance and focus on the cinematography. 

“We’re using modern techniques to shoot our version of an ‘80s/‘90s movie,” the artist shares. An example of this is his decision to film the opening sequence with a race drone, equipment that Wang says is usually used outdoors, but that he chose to capture “the raw camera movement” in the narrow space of the diner’s kitchen. “It’s very raw and edgy, so that it can make people curious like, How did they shoot that? How did it go through fire?”

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With each new project, Wang picks up more awareness of what he’s working towards. “I always write my own treatment for music videos, and participate in every process of production,” the singer says. “I’m there because I always want to know that I have exactly what I want.” This artistic license also came with a learning curve as he built Team Wang from the ground up, working on tight budgets and figuring things out as he went along. 

But it also means that Wang delivers music and visuals that are 100 percent him, and not managed by a larger label. “When you’re signed to a very structured K-pop label, they know everything,” Wang says. “Now I have my own company. I’m running it at the same time I am the artist in the label, so I have to monitor everything by myself, and that’s why I am super insecure and sensitive and stressed, but at the same time it becomes a mixture where everything is right and makes sense.”

 

Wang’s K-pop group Got7 decided to leave its former label, JYP Entertainment, in January 2021 after seven years with the company. Wang has assured fans that more Got7 music will come, but for now, the seven members are focusing on their solo careers. For Wang, that’s meant a marathon of projects, with four tracks released this March alone, plus a Mandarin single, “Alone,” debuted in January. 

In all, Wang shares that he has 40-plus new tracks releasing this year, including an English album, a Chinese album, and a number of different collaborations. Leading up to the English record’s unveiling this August, the K-pop idol says that fans will “get a bit of flavor for what the album will sound like” from the forthcoming singles.

With his ambitious 2021 mapped out, it’s clear Wang hasn’t let the pandemic put anything on hold. Currently back in China quarantining, the artist brought his studio gear with him so he could continue working while in isolation. “A lot of people ask me what I do in my personal time and I say, ‘This is my personal time,’” the singer admits. “I wake-up, exercise, eat, take supplements, and talk with everyone on phone calls, work on songs, and sleep. That’s it, that’s my daily routine, and it’s been like that for years, actually…This became my life, and I don’t feel as if I’m working every day because it’s something I love and I’m getting closer and closer to achieving my goals.”

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