Jackson Wang spilled the tea exclusively to Billboard News on his upcoming album MAGIC MAN 2, hitting the stage with Ciara at Coachella and more in a new interview on Friday (May 9).

Speaking to Billboard‘s Tetris Kelly, the K-pop idol opened up about how a much-deserved year-long break inspired the sequel to his 2022 solo album MAGIC MAN, which is set to be released on July 18. “I was like, ‘Hey, you know what? I haven’t actually made a song for myself,’” he said.

“When I was in my youth, I’ve always wrote songs or produced songs trying to show everyone, ‘Hey, I can do this, I can dance, I can sing, I can perform,” Wang continued. “But what about me? What do I want to say as a person? So took that year off and I just start[ed] writing diaries and converted them into music.”

After dishing on the album’s lead single, “GBAD” and his visual approach to crafting music videos, the Hong Kong-born superstar also spoke about working with Ciara on their 2023 collaboration “Slow” and joining the R&B star at Coachella.

“I’m very grateful to be able to work with the queen,” he said. “She’s very dope and she’s very human, and she taught me a lot — on and off stage.”

Wang then revealed that he actually asked the “Goodies” singer if she’d mind not wearing heels during their performance together (“You know, she’s so tall!”) before adding, “So I’ll admit, I put something in my shoe, too. Hey man, reality!”

Watch Wang’s entire conversation on Billboard News above.