Steve Aoki’s latest music is receiving national praise for its all Asian cast.
The video is for BTS’s first English-language track, Waste It On Me, which Aoki produced. According to Hello Giggles, the popular K-Pop group did not appear in the video. Instead, the group enlisted the help of an Asian American cast and crew.
According to Variety, Joe Hahn, who is best known as a DJ for Linkin Park, directed the video. It stars Ken Jeong, Ross Butler, and Jamie Chung. The supporting cast includes Leonard Nam, Jimmy O. Yang, Vincent Rodriguez, and many more. Aoki’s half-sister and model, Devon Aoki also makes an appearance.
Variety reports that learning Waste it On Me was the number one song in the world on Apple music inspired Aoki to produce a music video with an all Asian cast.
“When I found out that ‘Waste It On Me’ was the number one song in the world on Apple Music I realized that this track represented more than just me and BTS,” said Aoki. “It’s bigger than music, it represents a Korean band and one Asian American DJ that can show other Asians that are also apart of the global commercial musical landscape. I feel so deeply about the Asian footprint in music culture that I wanted the music video to have an entirely Asian cast and director.”
Aoki released the music video on Monday. It already has 3.3 million views.
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