"Cruel" is a song by British production duo
Snakehips featuring English singer-songwriter
Zayn. It was released as a single on 15 July 2016 by
Sony Music UK
Sony Music Entertainment (SME), commonly known as Sony Music, is an American multinational music company owned by Japanese conglomerate Sony Group Corporation. It is the recording division of Sony Music Group, with the other half being the ...
and
. The song was written and composed by Oliver Lee and James Carter of Snakehips, along with
Cass Lowe
Cass Lowe is a British songwriter, record producer, musician and singer, best known for his Grammy Award and Ivor Novello-winning collaborations with Jesse & Joy, Snakehips and Chance the Rapper. He is based in London and collaborates with art ...
,
Erik Hassle
Kaj Erik Persson Hassle (born 26 August 1988) is a Swedish pop singer and songwriter. His career started in 2008 with his first single, " Hurtful", which eventually reached No. 11 in Sweden and peaked at No. 2 in Denmark. His most successful sin ...
and Zayn. "Cruel" received critical acclaim, with ''
NME
''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...
'' ranking the song at number 50 on their "50 Best Tracks of 2016" list, and ''MuuMuse'' ranking it at number 88 on their "Top 100 Singles of 2016" list.
Music video
An accompanying music video for "Cruel" premiered on
YouTube
YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...
on 9 August 2016 and stars Zayn as he sings the song inside a building in an Asian town.
The video was directed by Alex Southam.
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Certifications
Release history
References
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2016 singles
2016 songs
Snakehips (duo) songs
Songs written by Cass Lowe
Songs written by Zayn Malik
Songs written by Erik Hassle
Sony Music UK singles
Columbia Records singles
Torch songs