"Cruel" is a

pop rock Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre and form of rock music characterized by a strong commercial appeal, with more emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than standard rock musi ...

track by

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

singer

Dane Rumble Dane Aaron Rumble (born 9 February 1982) is a New Zealand recording artist. He is a former member of New Zealand hip hop group, Fast Crew. Background Rumble was born in Kirwee, Canterbury, and received his secondary education at St Peter's Colle ...

. "Cruel" is the third solo single by Rumble, which was released as a digital download single on 23 November 2009. "Cruel" became Rumble's third consecutive top 20 hit in New Zealand, peaking at #3 on the Official New Zealand Singles Chart. The single was certified Platinum on 22 March 2010, selling over 15,000 copies.

Single information

Rumble announced he had shot the music video for his new track on Tuesday 6 October, a week later he confirmed that the title would be "Cruel" and would be added to radio stations over the next few weeks. It was sent to Australian

contemporary hit radio Contemporary hit radio (CHR, also known as contemporary hits, hit list, current hits, hit music, top 40, or pop radio) is a radio format common in many countries that focuses on playing current and recurrent popular music as determined by the Top ...

on 21 February 2011. Rumble previewed "Cruel" on the C4TV Weekend Countdown. The artwork for "Cruel" was shown on Dane Rumble's official

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page on 17 November. After eight weeks on the singles chart, on 20 January, "Cruel" climbed to #5, making it Rumble's first solo top 5 hit in New Zealand. On 27 January, "Cruel" further climbed to #3 and was certified Gold, selling over 7,500 copies. On 15 February, Rumble released the Starving DJs remix of "Cruel" with alternative cover art. On 22 March 2010, "Cruel" was certified Platinum for selling over 15,000 copies throughout New Zealand.

Music video

The video was directed by Ivan Slavov, who also directed "Always Be Here" and "Don't Know What to Do". It was released at the iTunes Store on 14 December 2009. The music video is about a man who left the girl of his dreams behind on earth. Through the video he declines every way she tries to contact him. At the end of the video when the girl arrives on the space ship she finds the man fleeing. In between these clips Dane Rumble and his band are seen singing and playing the instruments in space.

Chart performance and certification

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cruel (Song) 2009 singles APRA Award winners Dane Rumble songs 2009 songs Warner Records singles