Cruel Santino is entering a new chapter with the announcement of his forthcoming album Kings Of The Bounce, unveiling two new singles, “International Collector” and “Oz.” The releases introduce the creative world surrounding the project while reinforcing Santino’s reputation as one of the most boundary-pushing artists emerging from Africa’s global music movement.
For Cruel Santino, an album has rarely been just a collection of songs. His projects exist as larger creative universes where music, film, fashion, and visual storytelling intersect, and Kings Of The Bounce appears poised to continue that tradition.
“International Collector” offers the first glimpse into that world through hypnotic production and a distinctly atmospheric sound. Santino’s understated melodic delivery floats over fluid percussion and spacious textures, creating a track that feels both intimate and expansive.
The song’s global perspective is particularly fitting for an artist whose work has consistently blurred geographical and stylistic boundaries.
“I started working on the song in 2022 and kept returning to it over time,” Santino explains. “I’m always creating across different mediums—music, film, visuals—and sometimes a song needs space to become what it’s supposed to be.”
That patience ultimately helped shape the record into something larger.
After connecting with producer Anatole Muster in 2025, Santino realized the track needed another dimension. The resulting production adds to its cinematic character, helping establish the atmosphere for the world he is building around Kings Of The Bounce.
The accompanying “International Collector” music video pushes the concept even further.
The visual opens with Santino dressed in futuristic body armor alongside armed guards in a shipyard before shifting into a chaotic boardroom scene where an interrogation unfolds nearby. Rather than explaining the narrative outright, the video offers fragments of a larger story, leaving viewers to piece together the world as it develops.
That cinematic approach has become an essential part of Santino’s creative identity, and the visual suggests that Kings Of The Bounce will be as much an audiovisual experience as it is a musical project.
Alongside “International Collector,” Cruel Santino has also released “Oz.,” reuniting with longtime collaborator and producer Vic Reagan while bringing Nigerian rapper Jeriq into the fold.
For Santino, “Oz.” reaches further back into the origins of his creative philosophy.
“‘Oz.’ represents one of the original foundations of what I call the bounce. It goes back to the sounds and energy that inspired this journey.”
The collaboration with Vic Reagan also carries a personal significance. The pair have developed a longstanding creative relationship, with Santino describing Vic as one of his closest friends. Adding Jeriq to the track provided the final piece of a collaboration that fans have been anticipating for some time.
“Vic is one of my closest friends, and having Jeriq on the record made it feel complete,” Santino adds. “Fans have been asking for this one for a long time, so I’m excited it’s finally here.”
Together, “International Collector” and “Oz.” provide two very different entry points into Kings Of The Bounce. One is atmospheric and cinematic, gradually revealing the project’s larger world, while the other connects directly to the sounds and energy that helped define Santino’s idea of “the bounce.”
Both tracks, however, point toward the same creative philosophy: Cruel Santino isn’t interested in being confined by traditional genre definitions.
Instead, his music exists at the intersection of African music, alternative sounds, hip-hop, electronic production, fashion, film, and visual art. That instinct to create entire worlds rather than simply follow existing musical categories has helped establish Santino as one of the most distinctive voices in Africa’s rapidly expanding global creative landscape.
With Kings Of The Bounce, he appears ready to take that approach even further.
“International Collector” and “Oz.” mark only the beginning of the new era, introducing the project’s sonic and visual language while leaving plenty of room for the larger story to unfold. More music and details surrounding Kings Of The Bounce are expected soon.
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