Jackson Wang Is Directing His Own Story—Quite Literally
The artist, director, and independent force gets candid about finding meaning in movement, collaborating with Diljit Dosanjh, and what it really takes to love and protect yourself
It’s early evening in Mumbai, and Jackson Wang has spent the day fielding questions from pretty much every news organization in the country when we meet. Yet, his energy is infectious. “I want to just meet people, be in the community, be in the market, just smell, feel, look,” he says, grinning. “I want to do that. So that’s why… also, what is the nightlife here?”
This isn’t the Jackson Wang fans may be used to seeing on stage or in tightly choreographed music videos. Over the course of our conversation, the multi-hyphenate artist peels back the many layers of his life: the creative control he craves, the burden of being an independent artist, the emotional weight behind his new music, and the moments of humanity he clings to amid global fame.
Wang has long been known for his visuals and polished production style, but it turns out most of those have come straight from his own brain. “I shoot everything myself. All the videos that I have in my solo career—the majority of them—I direct myself. I write the treatment, I write the script, the entire thing,” he explains.
It’s a deliberate process. Wang doesn’t simply direct because he wants control—he does it because he feels there are few people who truly understand his vision. “Especially when you’re doing something unique, it’s never really been done. So to me, it’s not about the best director or the most famous director. I think it’s more about the right one.”

The process changes depending on the music video’s tone. For his recent single “Buck,” which features Indian superstar Diljit Dosanjh, Wang was crystal clear on what he needed. “If a video is like ‘Buck’—the one with Diljit—it contains a lot of movements. That means the DP (Director of Photography) is so important. He would need to know framing and camera work, camera movement, and at the same time, musicality, because it’s connected.”
Wang says he mapped out the entire video two and a half weeks before the shoot. He choreographed it with his team and even shot an iPhone draft to help the DP understand the pacing and feel. “My DP is from another team. So is my crew, the lighting, and even the set designer. Everyone’s coming from different places, which makes it really hard to lock in time when everyone’s available.”
The collaboration with Dosanjh was years in the making. “We got connected three years ago when we were playing Coachella. We were both on the Sahara Tent, and he was the closing act. I was the one before that. And when I finished, I rushed to the stage.” He adds, “All my writers, producers, all my friends, my circle, designers—they’re all fans of Diljit. I watched the set and I’m like, ‘this is crazy.’ I wish one day I could work with this guy.”
Interestingly, “Buck” was born through a DM. “I just slid into his DMs. I said, ‘Hey, I want to make music. Hey, champ. This is the song. If you vibe with it, do it. If you don’t, all love.’” Dosanjh liked it and delivered his part within two weeks. “He showed me a lot of love, support. And yeah, just as a senior artist, as a person, he inspired me a lot. He took good care of me. And yeah, a lot to learn from him.”
Wang’s sense of control extends to his upcoming album, MAGICMAN2, released on July 18. Unlike earlier work, this album is intensely personal. “The entire album is about the first time I’m writing songs for myself. Because in the majority of my career, I feel like people can connect with me more than my music. Because when I’m being me, just on TV or whatever, I’m being me. But my music was not really about me.”
He took a year off to write over 60 songs, picking 11 that truly captured the essence of his emotional journey. “At first, you think everything is fine. Then, shit happens. You react to it—you go crazy—whether it’s depression, whether it’s just any kind of emotion, you react to it. But then later on, you calm down. You start to realize a lot of things… It ends with, hey, whatever it is—the good and the bad—it had to happen. It made you who you are today.”

The song “Gotta Be A Dick” is an example of that reckoning. “Sometimes in life, we always love everyone, we show love, we show positive energy. But a lot of times when people take advantage or step over the boundary, yeah, you have to be assholes. Straight up. Not to be a bad person, but to protect your own will.”
His new single “Hate to Love” reflects his outlook on humanity. “It takes more effort to love than to hate… It’s not good. It’s not bad. It’s just facts.” He says another track, “High Alone,” was born from his internal struggles. “I always feel lonely. I always feel alone, even if I have so many people around me… I think everybody has that version of themselves.”

As an independent artist, Wang says he embraces freedom, but it comes at a price. “You just basically have to do everything yourself. Versus a label—a label is good. You don’t have to care about shit. You just show up and you leave… But the flip side of being with a label is, a lot of big corporations—it’s still a business to them… They don’t do a lot, they don’t take too much of a risk.”
That risk-taking is what defines Wang’s new era. But fame, he says, hasn’t made things easier. “The more I go, the more I age, it just becomes lonelier and lonelier.” He’s also lost friends to manipulation and public image. “They know that you can’t do shit because they know you’re a public figure… They know that nobody knows who they are… So they can take advantage of that.” Still, he’s grateful for those who come up to him. “It’s a blessing to be able to have people come up to you and take pictures, because I feel like while you have it, appreciate it… It’s not forever.”

As he wraps up his trip to India, Wang is hopeful he can return for a tour. “I hope I can perform in India, you know, after my album is coming out—MAGICMAN2, [released on] July 18… I’m thinking about a world tour concert, including Mumbai.”
“Hey, pump that—pump me in that group,” he jokes when I mention that India’s music industry is super tight; they all might be in the same WhatsApp group at some point. But it doesn’t feel like a joke. Wang is earnest. He wants to be here. He wants to connect. And as he explores local cricket grounds and nightlife spots in Mumbai, it’s clear that for Jackson Wang, art isn’t just about performance—it’s about presence.
Listen to MAGICMAN2 below.