Halsey and Suga of BTS Share Revamped ‘Lilith (Diablo IV Anthem)’ – Rolling Stone

Jasmine Safaeian*

The world Halsey created around her fifth studio album If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power was driven by chaos, a battle for some semblance of control, and a yearning for unreachable emotional intimacy. In the IMAX film she wrote and released alongside the record, the singer took on the role of Queen Lila, whose positioning on the throne lends itself to bloodshed and royal disruption. When the album’s deep cut “Lilith” appears in the movie, lyrics about being corrupted from the inside soundtrack her character’s downfall. Now, on the revamped “Lilith (Diablo IV Anthem),” Halsey revisits this chaos and corruption with some help from BTS’ Suga.

Lilith is a figure of Mesopotamian and Judaic mythology, and also appears in the new Diablo IV video game series as the daughter of Mephisto, or the Lord of Hatred, and the sister of Lucion. In Sanctuary, where the game is based, she’s known as the Queen of the Succubi. The battle for power and control that Lilith represents in the game is channeled into Halsey and Suga’s performance on “Lilith (Diablo IV Anthem),” directed by Henry Hobson.

“I am disgustin’, I’ve been corrupted/And by now, I don’t need no help to be destructive/I been gone, yeah, I been on this road too long,” Halsey sings as unseen creatures slash and claw at her skin. When Suga joins on the next verse, he makes his own grand return to deliver a message: “Step out of the moment that’s been trappin’ you in all this negativity of hatred and insanity/Don’t dwell on the past, it’s time to make a change/Look around, believe in what you see, I have returned to hell.”

Halsey and Suga first collaborated on “Suga’s Interlude,” a deep cut from Halsey’s fourth studio album Manic. Last month, during the BTS member’s solo show in Los Angeles, the singer joined him for the song’s live debut. With “Lilith (Diablo IV Anthem),” they were both able to expand their collaborative partnership. “We both grew up playing the games & I’ve always wanted to do a concept with SUGA with this type of dark mythology,” Halsey wrote on Twitter.

“This anthem for Diablo IV is a beautiful culmination of Halsey and Suga’s passion for the world of Diablo and what it represents,” Rod Fergusson, General Manager of Diablo at Blizzard Entertainment, shared in a statement. “Their re-interpretation of Halsey’s ‘Lilith’ from all angles — as a sound, as a piece of art, as a narrative — takes you right into the desperate world of Sanctuary and the resolute spirit it takes to fight your demons, whatever form they may take.”