Bazzi Tells Us About The Enchanting Love Story In His 'Beautiful' Video With Camila Cabello

Bazzi and Camila Cabello got the week began on a most magical note on Monday (October 15) with the release of their long-awaited cute video.


The stunning visual, directed by Jason Koenig, takes the pair to New Orleans for a whimsical Cinderella story. Cabello's dressed like the pretty, pretty, pretty, cute angel" Bazzi sings about — wings all — and so they take to the city's French Quarter for a cat-and-mouse game that ends on a bittersweet note. Speaking to MTV News about the visual, Bazzi explained that they wanted to put a "1930s, 40s twist" on the "classic, pristine" scenery in New Orleans.


"We wanted to create something that felt very classic and something that puts you in a different world, visually — sort of like what the song does, sonically," he explained. "We knew being in New Orleans, it'd really capture that elegant aesthetics that the song holds. It just felt perfect."


Originally the 13th track on Bazzi's Cosmic album, pretty got revamped back in early August, once Cabello contributed a new verse to her former tourmate's track. Before that, Bazzi had released a video for the original version, which was packed with religious imagery and epic CGI effects. The new vid, nevertheless, puts "a different perspective on the song," Bazzi mentioned. It's one that's more grounded in reality, though there really are some supernatural elements, as seen in the climactic scene where Bazzi and Cabello finally come face-to-face on a ballroom floor that transforms into an enchanted forest.


The new version also takes heavy cues from Baz Luhrmann's Romeo + Juliet. Bazzi mentioned the video is fully inspired" by the 1996 flick, particularly in his preference scene: the fish tank meet-cute — a.K.A. One of the all-time love-at-first-sight scenes — which Bazzi and Cabello gorgeously recreate.


"The fish tank scene was really, really memorable and cool to me," Bazzi mentioned. "It's the opening time we visualize each other in the video. It's just so magical — the moment on camera was so brilliant. It didn't take any finessing."


The pretty video was shot in one "very, very long day," nevertheless it marked a welcome reunion for Bazzi and Cabello, who remain good companions soon after he opened on her Never Be the Same tour earlier this year.


"She's such a good friend and she's so cool, and it's really fun shooting with someone like that all day," he mentioned. "She brings such a high level of efficiency in her acting. It almost pulls you up to a certain level. It's like, if she's there and she's competing at that level, I'm going to be, too."


The result is a visual that Bazzi admits may be his preference he's ever done. "It might rank as number one," he mentioned. "Everything looked astonishing and thus tidy and pristine. It felt so iconic."