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.

From ancient China to a Hong Kong diner, <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/music/jackson-wang-k-pop-interview-china" target="_blank" rel="noopener">L'OFFICIEL star Jackson Wang</a> carefully crafts the atmosphere and visuals for his music. For the <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/pop-culture/got7-fashion-evolution-jackson-wang-park-jin-young-k-pop" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Got7</a> member&rsquo;s latest solo release, &ldquo;LMLY&rdquo; (which stands for &ldquo;Leave Me Loving You&rdquo;), he returns to the same cinematic universe he introduced last fall with <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2EjxIQXBhlc&amp;ab_channel=JacksonWang" target="_blank" rel="noopener">&ldquo;Pretty Please,&rdquo;</a> his collaborative single with Galantis. Channelling the aesthetics of &rsquo;80s/&lsquo;90s Hong Kong movies, and a generous dose of the era&rsquo;s synth pop sound, the music video sees <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/music/jackson-wang-mirrors-k-pop-instagram-got7" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the Chinese pop star</a> as a busboy working at a diner who swiftly falls in love with a customer and fantasizes their relationship. Down to his clothes&mdash;the same blue jeans and white tee he wore in the &ldquo;Pretty Please&rdquo; video&mdash;the treatment delivers nostalgia. &ldquo;Growing up, I was inspired by Hong Kong movies and I wanted to make some retro feel, going back in time music,&rdquo; Wang tells L&rsquo;OFFICIEL.

Jackson Wang - "LMLY" 

Jackson Wang - LMLY (Official Music Video)

The multi-talented singer, dancer, <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/fashion/jackson-wang-new-collection-team-wang-got7" target="_blank" rel="noopener">fashion designer,</a> and creative director wrote the script for the video as well as co-directed it alongside 88rising&rsquo;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 &ldquo;LMLY,&rdquo; he wanted to create a love story in the same aesthetic code as &ldquo;Pretty Please,&rdquo; but whereas the previous release was &ldquo;more of a musical, &lsquo;LMLY&rsquo; is more like an action movie.&rdquo; Wang decided to leave out his usual choreography-heavy performance and focus on the cinematography.&nbsp;
&ldquo;We&rsquo;re using modern techniques to shoot our version of an &lsquo;80s/<a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/pop-culture/90s-movies-watch-stream-film" target="_blank" rel="noopener">&lsquo;90s movie</a>,&rdquo; 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 &ldquo;the raw camera movement&rdquo; in the narrow space of the diner&rsquo;s kitchen. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s very raw and edgy, so that it can make people curious like, How did they shoot that? How did it go through fire?&rdquo;

With each new project, Wang picks up more awareness of what he&rsquo;s working towards. &ldquo;I always write my own treatment for <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/pop-culture/fashion-music-videos-britney-spears-beyonce-miley-cyrus" target="_blank" rel="noopener">music videos</a>, and participate in every process of production,&rdquo; the singer says. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m there because I always want to know that I have exactly what I want.&rdquo; 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.&nbsp;
But it also means that Wang delivers music and visuals that are 100 percent him, and not managed by a larger label. &ldquo;When you&rsquo;re signed to a very structured K-pop label, they know everything,&rdquo; Wang says. &ldquo;Now I have my own company. I&rsquo;m running it at the same time I am the artist in the label, so I have to monitor everything by myself, and that&rsquo;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.&rdquo;

Wang&rsquo;s <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/pop-culture/what-is-k-pop-fashion-blackpink-bts" target="_blank" rel="noopener">K-pop group</a> Got7 decided to <a href="https://metro.co.uk/2021/01/20/got7-leave-jyp-entertainment-what-next-for-the-kpop-group-13878601/#:~:text=GOT7%20have%20decided%20to%20move,to%20embark%20on%20new%20projects." target="_blank" rel="noopener">leave its former label</a>, JYP Entertainment, in January 2021 after seven years with the company. Wang has <a href="https://www.nme.com/en_asia/news/music/got7-jackson-wang-jyp-promote-solo-korea-2884259" target="_blank" rel="noopener">assured</a> fans that more Got7 music will come, but for now, the seven members are focusing on their solo careers. For Wang, that&rsquo;s meant a marathon of projects, with four tracks released this March alone, plus a Mandarin single, &ldquo;Alone,&rdquo; debuted in January.&nbsp;
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&rsquo;s unveiling this August, the K-pop idol says that fans will &ldquo;get a bit of flavor for what the album will sound like&rdquo; from the forthcoming singles.

With his ambitious 2021 mapped out, it&rsquo;s clear Wang hasn&rsquo;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. &ldquo;A lot of people ask me what I do in my personal time and I say, &lsquo;This is my personal time,&rsquo;&rdquo; the singer admits. &ldquo;I wake-up, exercise, eat, take supplements, and talk with everyone on phone calls, work on songs, and sleep. That&rsquo;s it, that&rsquo;s my daily routine, and it&rsquo;s been like that for years, actually&hellip;This became my life, and I don&rsquo;t feel as if I&rsquo;m working every day because it&rsquo;s something I love and I&rsquo;m getting closer and closer to achieving my goals.&rdquo;

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

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