- 2 days ago
The global pop superstar joined NME in Paris for our latest In Conversation chat to discuss his “self-serving” new album ‘Magicman 2’, taking a year off, and what the future holds for him and his music.
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00:00If I can be at a certain point, a certain moment, I have something, I feel like I can, through hard work or, you know, through time, through another version of myself, a better version of myself, I can, I can, I can be able to climb back.
00:14Yeah, this is what I believe.
00:15Yeah.
00:15Touch wood, fuck.
00:16Hi, I'm Rianne Daly, and I'm joined by Jackson Wang for the latest in Enemies in Conversation video series.
00:32Hi, Jackson.
00:33Thanks for having me.
00:34A pleasure.
00:35All the way here, it's my pleasure.
00:38How's Paratreating you so far?
00:39Been here for two days already, but it feels like I've been here for two years.
00:44Yeah, but I think every single day I slept, like, two, three hours.
00:48Yeah.
00:48That's it.
00:49Crazy.
00:49I just landed and went to the party.
00:53Mm-hmm.
00:54Yeah, and Clips just had the album, the songs out.
00:58Yeah.
00:59Push just had one out.
01:01So being there for the, for the fam, you know.
01:04I guess that's keeping you busy, the Burner Boys Club event and collab.
01:07Yeah, yeah, yeah.
01:07It's so exciting, keeping you busy.
01:08Also, you have the new album, Magic Man 2, keeping you busy.
01:11You took a year off before making that album.
01:15Yes.
01:15What was it like, given that you are always so busy, always just doing everything, going everywhere,
01:21to kind of take your foot off of the gas pedal for that long?
01:24I felt like I really needed that.
01:25I really needed that, and, you know, for over 10 years in this industry, just running, running nonstop.
01:31I never had time to even think about what is the value, what am I doing, and what do I want to do,
01:38and do I like this or that.
01:39I didn't even know myself.
01:40So I felt like that's a moment that I needed, and I took the time to reflect, to just think about, like, what does everything mean to me?
01:50I didn't, basically, for more than 10 years, I didn't even have time to feel.
01:55I was just outputting.
01:56There's nothing coming in.
01:58Yeah, I just took the time off, and I think this album is definitely self-serving, and it's very personal to me.
02:03Obviously, it's from my personal diaries.
02:06It's one of those albums that, you know, just as a performer, as a singer, as an artist, I really need it in my life.
02:13Yeah.
02:13How would you say, kind of, taking a step back for a year, like, you kind of work through the thoughts and feelings that ended up on this album,
02:20and how that kind of helped change you as a person, I guess, maybe?
02:23I think definitely, you know, I think a lot of us, just living in society every single day, there's a lot of different standards, right?
02:32There's the reality of things, right?
02:35And a lot of the time, we, for me, I didn't know the person that was that, because for more than 10 years, just, like, do this, do this, do this.
02:45So, it almost felt like, am I the me that people know, or am I me?
02:51But that comes to the question, so what is me?
02:54And I just needed time to not escape from myself and get to know myself better, how I feel, how I feel about reality, how do I feel about society, how do I feel about humans, relationships, right?
03:06How do I feel about my family, and what means the most to me, you know?
03:11And I think that was the person that I was always, not intentionally, but always escaping from.
03:19Yeah, I faced it, and I faced it, and that's basically what the entire album is about.
03:25Why were you trying to escape that, do you think?
03:27No, it's just very unintentional, because back-to-back schedules for more than 10 years, obviously, since I was an athlete, you know, since an athlete, and then to, it's just practice, practice, competing tournaments after tournaments, becoming a trainee, and then debut as a group, and then pursue my solo career.
03:46It's just, what's next, what's next, what's next, what's next, but what does it even mean, you know?
03:51Is this something that I really want to do, or is it not?
03:53That's why, you know, a lot of people told me not to, not to take the break, because the people around me, you know, the industry people, because the reality is, it's just, if you stop, just, reality, you just go down, right?
04:08You know, whatever bubble that, aura that you had, is not going to, because you're not active anymore, right?
04:15So, but then, like I said, you know, at the end of the day, it's just a choice.
04:19It's just a choice that we make.
04:20Are we willing to lose something and gain something, but what you're gaining, is it more valuable to you?
04:28So, that I just chose what my heart was telling me, yeah.
04:32Was that a concern for you, or that you might lose the things that you've kind of built up over the last 10 years, if you took a long break?
04:39I think I definitely lost so much, but it's just another mentality, just I never had anything to begin with, so fuck it, you know?
04:46So, if I can, if I can be at a certain point, a certain moment, I have something, I feel like I can, through hard work, or, you know, through time, through another version of myself, a better version of myself, I can, I can, I can be able to climb back.
05:02Yeah, this is what I believe.
05:03Yeah.
05:03Touch wood, fuck.
05:06Hopefully you can just jinx yourself.
05:09Imagine this interview out, and this fucking fail as fuck.
05:13And then I'm like, hey, this is what I chose, though, you know?
05:15So, you just can't have everything in life, you know?
05:20And even my brand, T1 Design, TWD, like, it's all talking about personal stuff.
05:26Yeah.
05:26Life goals.
05:27Every launch, it's about, like, what, that stage of my life, what am I thinking, what's valuable to me, what vision is valuable to me.
05:36A lot of people think, oh, T1 Design isn't a merch, is it a brand or whatever, the thing.
05:40It's just my personal closet.
05:42Yeah.
05:42It's Jackson's closet.
05:43Any collaboration, it's just Jackson and Friends.
05:46That's it, you know?
05:47And, yeah, a lot of people, even the music, the album, people ask me, what's the inspiration?
05:52There's no inspiration.
05:52I think a lot of my output after that year of taking a break has just been what I experienced, how I felt.
06:05It's not exact, just music, boom, apparel or products.
06:10It's just, it's only based off of that.
06:13Nothing, nothing, no inspiration.
06:14It's not like, oh, I sit in the park and then I'm looking at the sky and then all of a sudden the inspiration came.
06:24No, fuck that.
06:24You described it earlier as a self-serving album.
06:26How do you think that making an album with that intention of it purely being for yourself has kind of changed the way that you are thinking about the way you're going to make music in the future or now?
06:36I think it's more comfortable and it feels from the heart and I understand that.
06:41But the flip side is it might not be what everyone wants.
06:46Yeah.
06:46Because everyone, honestly, in entertainment, everyone's having a hard time, right?
06:50In the world, so many unfortunate events happening.
06:54No one want to fucking hear how you feel.
06:57Everyone's struggling.
06:58Entertainment, you're supposed to entertain people and I get that.
07:01I just think that, but for this album though, it's for me.
07:04So that's it.
07:05I mean, I can, the reality is it's not ear candy songs.
07:11Yeah.
07:12And I think after this, I just needed to get it out.
07:15You know, and after that I can do candies all day.
07:19You know?
07:20Yeah.
07:20Yeah.
07:21Do you not think that people will be able to relate to this stuff in the songs on this album though, even if they haven't gone through like exactly the same thing that you went through?
07:28I think from what I was saying about the album is how I felt as the person that I was trying to escape from.
07:34And I'm just interpreting in a character.
07:37And that's a magic man.
07:38Yeah.
07:38Like I just let it rot for so many years.
07:41That's why it looks like that.
07:43You know?
07:43And I think, yeah, yeah, I just needed to, to, to, to, to get this out.
07:49How would you say making this album kind of helped you like process and move on from the things that you had experienced that you put into this album?
07:56Definitely a lot of different sides of myself that I didn't know.
08:01I didn't know what, what's very meaningful to me, you know?
08:04And, and is this what I want?
08:06It's choice, right?
08:07It's choice at the end of the day.
08:09Yeah.
08:09A lot.
08:09I learned about myself, a lot of different sides of myself.
08:14Yeah.
08:15What would you say is the biggest thing that you learned about yourself?
08:16Being able to admit my mistakes, being able to be comfortable with my flaws and, and learn from it.
08:26And, and also, because a part of the album is also about betrayal.
08:30Yeah.
08:31Right.
08:31From, from, from whoever that I really trusted and this and that.
08:35But also what I learned from it is I accepted and move on.
08:38Also understand the other side of the, the, the perspective.
08:44Bad people would never think bad people, they are bad people, you know, in, in their point of view, probably they're just hustlers.
08:51Yeah.
08:51Or they're this or they're that, you know, I learned that too.
08:54So just understanding the situation, I think that that's the entire process of me, me evolving and being, being, being, being able to accept it and move on with it and be okay with it.
09:05With the first Magic Man album, you've said that the songs on that album are kind of cool, but you don't really have like a personal emotional connection to them.
09:12I mean, some, some.
09:13Yeah.
09:13But it's like all over the place.
09:14I feel like that's my, also me evolving into like just finding a new sound and this and that.
09:20Cause the, at first Magic Man one, I'm always talking about find your magic, find your happiness, right?
09:24That's why blue and all these, like the emotions are there, but the fuck does blow have to do with the song blow have to do with find your happiness?
09:32You know, it's just, I was just like very messy, you know, but, but despite the fact that a lot of shows were very successful.
09:39Yeah.
09:40I just felt like in my gut, like, what does it even mean?
09:43And I feel like this album is a hundred percent.
09:47Everything is in one channel.
09:49Yeah.
09:50Right.
09:50Everything makes sense.
09:52Music, videos after videos, songs after songs, the chapters, the narrative.
09:56And even if it does, doesn't do as fine, touch wood, fuck.
10:00But I'm saying it's really meaningful to me.
10:04Yeah.
10:04And after that, I promise you, man, like people that's, the audience and my fans that's following me promise you I'm going to just do Candies.
10:14Make a song about lollipop.
10:16Make a song about marshmallow.
10:17All the sweets in the world.
10:21Yeah.
10:23But in terms of kind of making an album where you did feel kind of fully connected to every single song, I guess, did that feel different to you when you were working on it compared to the first Magic Man album?
10:33I think the first one was just more like sonically performance wise.
10:38Is it going to be dope?
10:39Or is it how can I, how can I shoot the visuals?
10:42Or how, how can I choreo the entire performance?
10:45But it was not really, what am I saying?
10:48And the narrative of the album is there.
10:51Yeah.
10:51But the songs, the arms and legs are not making sense.
10:54You know, so that's one of the things that I not regret.
10:58I think I learned.
10:59Yeah.
10:59Yeah.
11:00Would you change it if you could go back or would you kind of leave it as it is?
11:03I wouldn't change.
11:04I wouldn't change.
11:05I wouldn't change.
11:07I think I would.
11:08I learned.
11:09Yeah.
11:09I learned.
11:10Yeah.
11:10One song in my album, Magic Man 2, was the last song, the last track in the album called
11:15Made Me a Man.
11:16Yes.
11:16And it's about, hey, thanks for your research.
11:20Anyway.
11:20Yeah.
11:20It's talking about everything, the ups and downs and all these different emotions from,
11:26from, from dealing with it, losing control over it, realizing it, accepting it.
11:34Just everything that happened, good and bad, it made who I am today.
11:39Yeah.
11:39You know, all the bad and the good.
11:41What's good without the bad?
11:42What's bad without the good?
11:43Right?
11:44So, yeah, really learned a lot through that year of writing.
11:48Yeah.
11:48I wanted to ask about that song because it does kind of feel like you...
11:51Do you want to hear it a little bit?
11:52I'll show you a little bit.
11:53I mean, I've heard it, but yeah.
11:54Oh, you heard it already?
11:55Of course, I've heard the whole album.
11:56How?
11:57They sent it to me.
11:5888 sent it to me.
12:00Who?
12:01Who?
12:02That's what we do.
12:03We listen to things.
12:04Thank you so much.
12:04Which is, you say, the one you felt?
12:08Ooh.
12:10I mean, I know it's not like a, probably the obvious choice of like a song, but one time
12:15I really like just because of the...
12:17Oh, that's a skit.
12:18Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
12:19Exactly, exactly.
12:19Oh, yeah, that's when I was, that's exactly how I made it was, that's exactly where I was.
12:26I think I was touring, right?
12:29I was just thinking that moment while I wrote it, like probably the last leg of my tour
12:36for Magic Man 1.
12:38I was just in my room and just drinking by myself and just, I know it's corny, I know
12:45it's cringe, but it is what fucking happened.
12:47And I was just looking out the window and I just felt like, fuck, maybe what is love?
12:54You know, and have I felt it?
12:57I mean, obviously from the fans coming to the show, you know, supporters, but it felt
13:00here like when I'm alone though, you know, and it's, even if everyone's supporting my
13:08supporters, it's all online, you know, but I'm always alone, you know, so that emptiness
13:14inside me.
13:15So that was, that's why you can hear at the end of it, I fell down, right?
13:20Just all that, that was exactly what happened in those moments.
13:24Yeah.
13:24Yeah.
13:25But back to Magic Man, I was saying that it feels like you kind of have come to a point
13:29of kind of gratitude almost for all of the things that you've been through, even if they're
13:33things that you may be in an ideal world would not have experienced and gone through.
13:38Would you say that's accurate?
13:40I don't know.
13:41I think if people have so many misconceptions about idols, like idols actually mean like
13:49a role model.
13:50Yeah.
13:50You know, like how this shit became like you can't do this or this, but I think it's all
13:55about you and your supporters, you know, what's that culture?
13:59Yeah.
13:59Like every, every group, every single artist, every team is different.
14:03There's no such one strict rule across the universe of idols.
14:09I mean, Michael Jackson was, is my idol.
14:12Yeah.
14:12You found me so, so I just don't understand why is it making such a big deal?
14:16People say, oh, but it's an idol or is it an artist?
14:19Yeah.
14:20Come on, man.
14:21Doesn't matter.
14:21You know, just, just what, just why, why categorize?
14:24Yeah.
14:24You know, just, if it's good, it's good.
14:26If it touch, touches your heart, then it is good for you, you know?
14:32Obviously, if you're in a team and if you're in a corporate, right?
14:37A big company, big label, pretty much it just feels like I go to, I wake up, I execute and
14:44I'm done.
14:44Yeah.
14:45Cause, cause it's a group team effort.
14:48Everyone has a certain color.
14:50Yeah.
14:50Right.
14:51And an attitude, a personality, which means it's not about you.
14:54It's about the team.
14:57Yeah.
14:57How do we maximize everyone's weapon, right?
15:00And, and what, what role do you play?
15:03You know?
15:03So I think that's, it's more about that different, to me, that's, that's the only difference.
15:09And, and for solo and don't have a label.
15:12Yeah.
15:13You just have to do everything yourself.
15:14You'll be very surprised what I do by myself.
15:17Yeah.
15:17People don't believe that shit, you know?
15:19No, you do everything.
15:19People say, oh no, people don't believe it.
15:21Yeah.
15:22Yeah.
15:22What would you say are kind of the biggest pros and cons of doing everything?
15:26Like given the point and the level that you're at in your career right now?
15:29Oh, a hundred percent flexibility.
15:31You just do what you want.
15:33Yeah.
15:33And you, you see, you think about it.
15:35Is this what, if this is what you want, want to do, you make it happen.
15:40But how?
15:41You know, so that's all the, you have to be very strategic.
15:44Well planning.
15:46The preparation is always the hardest part.
15:49Yeah.
15:49You know, so, but versus if you have a corporate, a team or a label or whatever, you just got
15:56to do it.
15:56Yeah.
15:57The instructions are there.
15:58The menu's there.
15:59You know, so pros and cons.
16:01Do you feel like you wouldn't have been able to make the album Magic Man 2 as it is today?
16:06Like if you were on the corporate label, big corporate label?
16:09I mean, I still will, honestly, it's my personality.
16:14Yeah.
16:14Because if I do it independently, you can control the pacing.
16:18Yeah.
16:18And the speed, how efficient everything is.
16:21Because how much you care reflects on how everything moves forward.
16:25But I think corporate is more like, oh, it's 3,000 different divisions.
16:31Like, you get what I mean?
16:32Yeah.
16:32So many layers.
16:33Yeah.
16:33You know, just that's, that's, it is what it is.
16:36How would you say making Magic Man 2 has kind of changed your vision of who you are and
16:42who you want to be as an artist?
16:43I think it's also creating that and also passing 30.
16:47And I feel like I'm more neutral with everything now.
16:50I do exactly what I want.
16:52Yeah.
16:52You know, and not saying that I know, is it, is it good for me?
16:55Is it bad for me?
16:56Is it, is it, is it worth it?
16:59Not worth it?
16:59We never know.
17:00And I think I chose innovation.
17:02Just try stuff that, but, but innovation at the same time, if you really think about
17:06it, it's risk.
17:07Yeah.
17:07Innovation is only innovation when it succeeds.
17:10Right.
17:10But if it's not, then people think you're stupid as fuck.
17:13You know?
17:13So, but that's what I chose.
17:15You know, I can do maybe after 35 or 40, if I still have the opportunity, I would try
17:21to, okay, maybe whatever, I will see then.
17:24Maybe just stable, stability, right?
17:26But I'm saying at this age, in my golden time, in terms of my stamina, my energy, my passion,
17:33my motivation, it's just innovation for me.
17:35Yeah.
17:36Why do you think this point in your life is kind of the time to do that, I guess?
17:39If I'm 40 years old and doing Magic Man, do you think it's ridiculous, man?
17:44Why is that ridiculous?
17:45Why is it not ridiculous?
17:46I'd probably be a fat uncle.
17:49People are really calling me unk right now.
17:51You were saying that you have more of a neutral approach, I guess.
17:55Yeah.
17:55Is that to life generally, like your personal life as well, or is that just music and team
17:59wearing design?
17:59It's just everything.
18:00I think I'm more like very straightforward.
18:03I'm more straightforward.
18:04I'm more, this is what I want to do.
18:07I do it.
18:08Yeah.
18:08I try.
18:09Let me try, right?
18:11That's it.
18:12And all this thing, happiness, sadness, smooth, or any obstacles, I'm more neutral about it.
18:20Yeah.
18:20Like my, I think my emotions became, it's still, it's my 20s was this.
18:25Yeah.
18:25You know, and it's always about like, yeah, just my emotional level has always been this.
18:32But after 30, I think it became like this.
18:36It's still in that bar.
18:38Yeah.
18:40You mentioned earlier that the kind of narrative of the album and it being split into chapters.
18:44It's split into four chapters that kind of reflect different mindsets, right?
18:48It's the process when you're just dealing with anything in life, right?
18:53When a certain event happened or incident or a good or a bad, right?
18:58You have that, at first, everything is good.
19:03Then you start to realize, oh, it's not what I thought it would be.
19:06Then your emotions get you crazy.
19:10Yeah.
19:10You know, the loneliness, the sadness, the depression, dynamics.
19:15And then it goes into realizing, you start to realize a lot of things.
19:19You learn from it.
19:20And then at the end, what has been done can't be undone.
19:23You just accept it and move on.
19:24That's how the process of just dealing with life.
19:27And that's Magic Man 2 for me.
19:29Yeah.
19:30How I feel about this, how I feel about this, how I feel about everything.
19:33Why do you want to kind of show that kind of journey, I guess, in chronological order in the album?
19:39I think, oh, the order of the album?
19:41Like the chronological order of like going through the process, I guess.
19:46Everyone goes through the same thing in life, I feel like.
19:48Yeah.
19:49And it's just different aspects.
19:52And I'm just sharing my personal story.
19:54And I'm just sharing my thought of it's just life.
20:00Not good, not bad.
20:01But there's facts.
20:04Yeah.
20:04And everyone has their own version of that.
20:07You know, everyone has their own version of themselves.
20:10They might be escaping or they might not even know everything.
20:14You know, and being able to be comfortable with it and accept it so that this outside syncs with inside.
20:23Yeah.
20:23You get what I mean?
20:24Yeah.
20:25Yeah.
20:25What do you want people to take away from the album then when they listen to it?
20:28This is my personal story.
20:32Everyone needs their own version of Magic Man to grow.
20:34Yeah.
20:35And this is just life.
20:36We die.
20:37We're born.
20:38We die alone.
20:39But is it a bad thing?
20:40Is it a good thing?
20:41It's just facts.
20:42Just accept it.
20:43It's not bad.
20:45Yeah.
20:45And not good.
20:47I want to talk about the kind of visual side of the album.
20:51You're very hands-on with the music videos.
20:52You write the scripts, I think I'm writing.
20:54Treatments, yeah.
20:55Yeah.
20:56So already some of the videos have been very contrasting to each other.
20:59Like High Alone is very dark.
21:01Gbad is very kind of like cartoonish almost.
21:04Yep.
21:04What was the kind of visual world that you want to kind of create across the whole record?
21:08I think every time when I shoot music videos, what's consistent is the message and the character.
21:15Yeah.
21:15But what's different is just how, what kind of analogy am I putting in?
21:20High Alone, I just want to be as real as possible.
21:23But what kind of analogy, I just chose Water Tank and a magic show.
21:27You know, an audience as, it's, they're playing those characters, but they mean something else.
21:33You know, it could mean public.
21:35It could mean just industry.
21:36It could just mean reality.
21:38But Gbad, I'm like, it's make this fun.
21:41But the message is still the same and the character is the same.
21:44This is the same narrative that I'm talking about.
21:46Buck is more performance, right?
21:50But also the narrative is consistent just from High Alone to Buck and to Hate to Love.
21:56Yeah.
21:56You know, so everything, analogy.
22:00Yeah.
22:00Yeah.
22:01Are there more music videos coming for this album?
22:03Yeah, Made Me a Man.
22:04Made Me a Man, definitely.
22:06But the ending of Made Me a Man, I'm naked.
22:09Oh, really?
22:10Yeah.
22:10Okay.
22:11That's very different again, I guess.
22:13Analogy.
22:13Yeah, yeah, yeah.
22:14Reborn.
22:15Yes, nice.
22:16Yeah.
22:17I want to talk about High Alone as well.
22:20Like at the beginning, it starts with samples of things like a radio clip, a TV jingle.
22:26Oh, yeah.
22:26A bit of Wanderings of Sam Mao as well.
22:29Your research is next level.
22:34I was wondering what the significance...
22:35I don't even think my team knows that.
22:36Oh, really?
22:37Yeah.
22:37I mean, Troy knows it.
22:38Troy knows it.
22:39She was there.
22:40Yeah.
22:40But what's the significance of those samples and kind of how they tie into the song?
22:44Those are the moments when that meant happiness to me and that lives the sounds that lived
22:52and made certain very precious memories for me.
22:56You know, whether it's just like, it's not a specific, it is a specific sound, but it's
23:00almost like it's there and that gives me security in my heart and whatever.
23:05Like probably even when I was a kid, the songs are just playing like in the radio in my mom's
23:10room, my parents' room.
23:12But I kind of hear, it's just at the back is BGM.
23:15Yeah.
23:16You know, and just those kind of sound make me feel loved, you know, and make me feel
23:23calm in my heart.
23:25Yeah.
23:25And I just took all those moments and just piece it into the intro.
23:30Yeah.
23:30Why does that kind of work with Highline then and what the song is saying?
23:33Oh, the reason why I chose in the beginning was that's my safe zone in my heart.
23:41Yeah.
23:41But then I slowly get introduced into, I got brought into this reality of everything.
23:50Yeah.
23:50And this is what I face.
23:52But it's almost like sonically born, brought into the world in this safe space.
23:59Yeah.
23:59And then, fuck, this is what I have to accept.
24:02We talked about it a bit earlier, but one time as well, in it you say that you still believe
24:07in trust and love.
24:08Yeah.
24:09Even when you've been through things like betrayal.
24:12Love, trust, principle.
24:14Nice.
24:14Why principle?
24:16I feel like boundaries, you know, just as a human or as a, like, it depends on the relationship,
24:21right?
24:22If we're besties, there's certain boundaries that we don't cross and we mutually know it.
24:29We don't even have to set it.
24:30You know, just that's what I need in life.
24:33That's the three most important things that I need.
24:36Yeah.
24:36But back to one time, you said that you still believe in trust and love in the song.
24:40Even when you've been through things like betrayal, how do you kind of still keep the
24:44faith in those things?
24:45I think compared to before and now, the biggest change is probably I'm still open.
24:49I'm still willing to accept and I'm open for it.
24:55But at the same time, I will have my guard up a little bit more.
24:58Yeah.
24:58Because back then, back then, it was just too open.
25:01Your fans know you as someone who is always kind of going everywhere, being everywhere all
25:06at once, seemingly.
25:06But I feel like lately, you've been doing more kind of concentrated trips to places
25:10like Indonesia and India.
25:12Japan.
25:13And Japan, yeah.
25:13Yeah, yeah, yeah.
25:14It feels like kind of...
25:16It's never really been.
25:17Yeah.
25:18Yeah.
25:18But it feels like there's kind of something about this album and the way that you're sharing
25:21it with people and kind of traveling around, promoting it, is like aiming for like a deeper
25:25connection.
25:26A hundred percent.
25:26Because I feel like a lot of different artists, when they're traveling to a certain place,
25:30in and out.
25:31Mm-hmm.
25:32Right?
25:32And the people who know you, or their friends know you, would probably go to the show.
25:39Yeah.
25:40Right?
25:40But locals, everyone has their own ecosystem.
25:44Right?
25:45I want to learn, but also be able to share in those territories that I've never really
25:51been active in.
25:52Yeah.
25:53Yeah.
25:53So, yeah, that's why I chose.
25:55I want to go to Vietnam, too.
25:57Yeah.
25:58Yeah, Vietnam.
25:58What have those experiences been like in those countries that you've been spending more time
26:02in?
26:03Yeah, man.
26:04It feels like going into a different world.
26:07It's like a different server.
26:09Yeah.
26:09If it were an analogy, like in a game, it's like a different map.
26:14You know, the ecosystem is different.
26:16The culture is different.
26:16Definitely very inspiring, you know.
26:18And new ways of thinking about things.
26:21You know, and, oh, they prioritize that or they, there's a lot to learn and a lot, a
26:27lot of, a lot to share as well.
26:29Because, you know, as an Asian, as a Chinese, going into different places, probably they
26:34will have a perception about Chinese.
26:36Yeah.
26:36You get me?
26:36Just, they're just breaking those walls, you know, and, and, and, yeah, it was insane.
26:42Yeah.
26:42Yeah.
26:42Is that kind of an example of how your perspective on anything has changed from these trips?
26:46Being able to really talk about a place, you would really have to go there and see it
26:53and feel it and, and experience it.
26:56There's a lot of, so many information nowadays on social media, reels, clips.
27:03It's a part of it.
27:04Yeah.
27:05You get what I mean?
27:06And, and I think that shouldn't, I hope that doesn't justify everything.
27:11Yeah.
27:11Yeah.
27:12Yeah.
27:12I guess like the experiences you're seeing of other people on social media aren't necessarily
27:16going to be everyone's experience, either of a country.
27:19A hundred percent.
27:19Or a city or a place or a street or, yeah.
27:23Yeah.
27:23Exactly.
27:24So when you're touring Magic Man 2, are you going to be kind of doing longer stays in places
27:29as well?
27:29Or is it going to be typical tour?
27:30Oh, definitely longer.
27:32Yeah.
27:32Definitely longer, but also depends on like, that's why we're having the conversation with
27:35Choi.
27:36By the way, shout out to Choi, man.
27:38She's only two men team.
27:39And then, yeah, she's like back to back to back to back to back.
27:45So obviously then certain places I can't stay because she, yeah, she threatened me about
27:51the budget.
27:52Yeah.
27:52So I, which I understand.
27:53Reality, man.
27:54Yeah.
27:55Reality.
27:55It's a business.
27:56Yeah.
27:56So, so I understand.
27:58Yeah.
27:58I wanted to ask about the tour in terms of the show, because I think the first tour,
28:03the tour for the first Magic Man album was very dynamic, very kind of flashy in places
28:08as well, but the songs in this album are quite, kind of more down tempo and more mellow.
28:12How do you think that that is going to change the live show this time around?
28:15Yeah.
28:16This is the thing I didn't really focus on, I didn't really focus on this too much, as
28:21much in like prioritizing the, the, the, the sound of this album, you know, I think it
28:26was more because all the lyrics were from my personal diary, like completely, you know,
28:32and all the message or everything.
28:34And I just can't look back at Magic Man 1.
28:38Yeah.
28:39I don't know why.
28:40It's just, don't get me wrong.
28:41It's a great perform, great performance.
28:44But to me, just as, as Jackson, looking back, I just can't, I can't look back.
28:52Yeah.
28:52Yeah.
28:52I don't feel it as much as this.
28:55This is way different.
28:56Yeah.
28:57Yeah.
28:57How do you think it's going to feel performing these songs on stage compared to the first
29:01measurement album?
29:02I think definitely it would be a movie.
29:04We finalized the deck that what I want on stage.
29:08Yeah.
29:08What if we have a thrust, what is going to be on the thrust?
29:12Just the installations, not something crazy, but it's necessary.
29:16Yeah.
29:16What's suitable?
29:17It's kind of going to be, I guess, expanding the world that we've seen in the videos and
29:20the artwork into the stage as well.
29:22The narrative and everything will be the same.
29:25Yeah.
29:25But it will be something that you've never seen me doing, ever in my life.
29:29Yeah.
29:30Yeah.
29:30Exciting.
29:31Yeah.
29:31London, I'm coming.
29:33Yes.
29:34See you there.
29:35Yeah.
29:36Well, thank you so much for your time today, Jackson.
29:38It's great speaking to you.
29:39Thank you so much.
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