Lately, the rate of collaborations between K-Pop idols and western artists has been increasing rapidly, even though the practice began several years ago. here have been phenomenal collaborations between BTS and Nicki Minaj, Red Velvet’s Wendy with John Legend, BLACKPINK with Dua Lipa, and many more! Do you want to know more about it? Through this article, Channel Korea has introduced you some of magnificent collaborations from K-Pop idols and western artists, here we go!
JYJ & Kanye West
First of all, we have an incredible collaboration between the boy-group JYJ and the famous Kanye West! They released a hip-hop song with the title Ayyy Girl, in October, 2010, through their first studio album, The Beginning. The album itself was released on October 14, 2010. Not only that, JYJ was also working on their latest album at that time with Kanye West and Timbaland. Moreover, they went abroad to work on the album in Kanye West’s studio, and recorded the album in Los Angeles along with Timbaland. Previously, JYJ has held some music showcases overseas, especially in U.S, and finally they made it to release their first debut in the U.S music market! One of the main reasons behind their collaboration was because Kanye West and his team were interested with Asian music, and that’s kind how all of that was started, according to Yoochun. Kanye West also said that JYJ was working hard on their collaboration and he was looking forward to another upcoming project with the group! After its release, the song hit the top of the charts, such as hitting #1 on the Monkey3 chart! Even though they didn’t release an official music video, you can take a look at the fan-made music video of Ayy Girl here:
Wonder Girls & Akon
Next, there’s Wonder Girls and Akon’s collaboration! They released a single with the title Like Money, along with a music video which was released on July 10, 2012! The song was kind of a mix of dance-pop and synthpop music. In one of the interviews, Akon revealed that he wanted to have a collaboration with Wonder Girls after he saw their performance in Las Vegas. Even though the music video was released in July, the filming process of that music video had been done since early in 2012. Since the first release, Like Money got a lot of attention! In the K-Pop Billboard Hot 100, the song started at #14, on the Gaon Single Chart it started at #11, and many more! Not only that, Like Money also became one of the best-selling English songs in South Korea, after their latest download chart hit more than 583,000 times! Wonder Girls and Akon were performing the hit single directly at the 2012 Green Groove Festival in South Korea, on July 21st 2012! Let’s take a look at Wonder Girls music video featuring Akon, Like Money, here:
PSY & Snoop Dogg
Next is another awesome collaboration between PSY and Snoop Dogg! They released a hit single along with the music video with the title Hangover on June 8th, 2014, through a live broadcast on Jimmy Kimmel Live! in the U.S! In January, 2014, YG Entertainment confirmed that PSY would release a collaboration with Snoop Dogg, and it was revealed that 2NE1’s CL also appeared in the music video, afterwards. The music was produced in January, during Snoop Dogg’s visit to South Korea, and it was made in only 18 hours around various places in Incheon. The music was was electro and hip-hop genres, which matched with both PSY and Snoop Dogg. After the first release, Hangover successfully entered a music charts in many countries, such as Belgium (Ultratip Wallonia), Czech Republic (Singles Digital Top 100), France (SNEP), US Billboard Hot 100, US Hot Rap Songs (Billboard), US Hot Dance/Electronic Songs (Billboard), and many more! Even it got the number one spot on the US Hot Rap Songs and US Hot Dance/Electronic Dance! Hangover was even used in the Marvel Studio film Black Panther in 2018, through the Busan casino scenes! Let’s take a look at PSY’smusic video featuring Snoop Dogg, Hangover, here:
EXO’s Chanyeol & Far East Movement, Marshmello, and Tinashe
This one might be one of the awaited collaborations for EXO-Ls, the magnificent collaboration between EXO’s Chanyeol, Far East Movement, Marshmello, and Tinashe! They released a great song with the title Freal Luv on October 14th, 2016, along with the music video. This became part of SM Station, a special project from SM Entertainment, EXO’s Chanyeol’s agency. The song was also included on Far East Movement’s album, Identity, which was released on October 21st, 2016. The music video of Freal Luv was filmed in Seoul and Shanghai, where Chanyeol and Far East Movement showed off their strong rap, meanwhile, Tinashe’s voice carries along the entire song. One of the fun facts about this collaboration is that EXO’s Chanyeol was also involved in composing the song and writing the lyrics, showing that he wasn’t a typical rapper! Since its first release, Freal Luv was a hit single, entering some of music charts overseas. One of them was through 39th rank in Billboard music chart! Let’s take a look at Far East Movement, EXO’s Chanyeol, Marshmello, and Tinashe’s music video Freal Luv here:
BTS & Nicki Minaj
Another phenomenal collaboration between K-Pop idols and western artists, BTS and Nicki Minaj! Since BTS has been one of the phenomenal boy-groups all around the world, this collaboration is pretty phenomenal as well! They released a hit single called IDOL, along with the music video, on August 24th, 2018. The song has two different versions, the one with Nicki Minaj on it, and another one just with BTS. How did they got the collaboration? RM revealed that BTS thought that the song would be incredibly great if there was Nicki Minaj’s rap on it, and eventually they asked Nicki Minaj’s management. Lucky them, the management approved it! After the song released, Nicki Minaj also supportively promoted their song through her social media. Since the first release, IDOL successfully entered a lot of music charts, such as Finland’s Digital Song Sales (Billboard) and Sweden’s Digital Songs (Billboard), where they got the 1st rank, and other charts such as the KPop Hot 100, Gaon, US Billboard Hot 100, Billboard Japan, and many more! Let’s take a look at BTS and Nicki Minaj’s music video IDOL here:
