Kpop Meets Jpop: Who Should Collab?

Arashi recently came back with Whenever You Call, an English track produced by Bruno Mars. I haven’t listened to them for a while, so I checked out this song. And, oh my god listening to the song reignited my love for them.

And then I suddenly thought I haven’t seen many Japanese artists collaborate with Korean artists, so I thought it would be interesting to explore who I think would make a great collaboration.

I will break this down to two parts with five mentions in each post.

Koda Kumi & BoA

So, apparently, this already happened… and I completely forgot about it until I looked it up. I guess this means I’m pretty good at this?

They collaborated on an R&B song called “The Meaning of Peace”. I’m listening to it as I write this, and the nostalgic feels hits strong. ╥﹏╥

Koda Kumi is a solo artist from Japan, who was popular around the same time as BoA. Apparently, Koda Kumi used to have a conservative and quiet image. I first heard of her when she adopted a more pop and funky image. Black Cherry and Juicy were two songs that I used to be obsessed with.

I think these types of things were the trend when they were first released. Juicy sounds so similar to Mariah Carey’s It’s Like That. Koda Kumi’s main music genres are Japanese Urban and R&B, but she explored other genres throughout her career.

Koda Kumi is a legend in the Jpop industry. She has a badass image that vaguely reminds me of the female Korean rapper, Jessi. I haven’t listened to any of Jessi’s music, but I have seen her on talk shows. They have the same vibe. If these two were to collaborate, that would be insane.

I first heard of BoA through Inuyasha; she sang the soundtracks for the anime and I had to Google it because I was a huge fan of Inuyasha back in the day. While I enjoy her ballads, I loved BoA’s dance tracks more, especially Brand New Beat and Shine We Are.

BoA also explored a lot with R&B, putting out songs like Love & Honesty and Rock With You back in the day.

I feel like a dance track by BoA and Koda Kumi would be legendary. Both are amazing dancers, and with the production nowadays, I wouldn’t be surprised if they just came at you with full force. The return of the queens.

Utada Hikaru & Younha

Besides BoA, these two artists were my entire childhood. I had at least five songs from them on my iPod playlist back in the day.

Utada Hikaru sang many soundtracks for Kingdom Hearts and dramas, including the famous Hana Yori Dango.

When I was younger, I preferred dance tracks to ballads or softer songs. However, Utada Hikaru was an exception. First Love and Flavor of Life were two slow songs that I still love. Her voice is amazing.

Fun fact: When I was younger, I thought Younha was Japanese, just like how I thought BoA was Japanese. I couldn’t tell the difference between Japanese and Korean. (－‸ლ)

Anyway, for Younha, I enjoyed her upbeat tracks like Houki Boshi and Password 486.

I love Younha’s voice, and her voice really shines in ballads. The Real Reason Why We Broke Up and Winter Flower are prime examples.

Younha’s voice sounds light and clear while Utada Hikaru’s sounds breathy and more soulful. It would be interesting to see how their voices would mix in a ballad. It could be something similar to Lee Hi and Suhyun’s I’m Different.

If Utada Hikaru and Younha ever collaborate on a ballad together, I bet it would be for a soundtrack for a tear-jerking drama or movie.

E-girls & TWICE

I forgot how I knew E-girls, but I remember that the first track I listened to them was Follow Me. And I loved it. I haven’t come across any of their slower songs, but I do enjoy their dance tracks. They have 11 members and have a few subunits.

TWICE is a popular Kpop girl group under JYP Entertainment. They are known for their catchy songs. I swear every single title track they have gets stuck in your head.

Maybe something like One More Time or Breakthrough?

TWICE seems like a little sister group to E-girls, but together they would produce one heck of a catchy dance track.

Generations from Exile Tribe & Stray Kids

Generations from Exile Tribe was formerly known as Generations. I’ll refer to them as Generations for the rest of this post. They are part of “Exile Tribe”, a collective group of artists under LDH Entertainment. They are a solid group of talented dancers and vocalists.

They even did a song for High & Low, an action-packed live action about district survival.

Their concepts and sound remind me of JYP artists. While I thought about SM artists like NCT and EXO at first, NCT has a stronger and more aggressive sound, and I think Generations and EXO gives off two different vibes.

Stray Kids is a group from JYP Entertainment. Their tracks are funkier than GOT7 and not too in your face like NCT. I also think their vibe matches Generations more.

Regardless of who collabs with who, it would be cool to see two boy groups from Japan and Korea come together.

DJ Okawari & IU

DJ Okawari is an independent Japanese DJ, and I adore his music. His style is instrumental hip-hop, piano, and electronic jazz. While most of his tracks are instrumental, he has collaborated with singer-songwriters like Celeina Ann artists like Emily Styler.

I love DJ Okawari’s style; his instrumentals are incredible, and it’s perfect for studying, working, or just chilling. I noticed that the collaborations he usually has are with artists with a softer voice.

IU is a popular singer-songwriter from Korea. Her voice is amazing, and her vocal range is mind-blowing. I think her voice would suit DJ Okawari’s tracks, and it would be out of this world.

IU has also done upbeat tracks like Blueming and The Red Shoes. And she can also pull it off like a boss.

I think Suhyun from AKMU would also be a great fit. Her voice is powerful, and she’s also versatile like IU. Maybe this should be a three-way collaboration. That would be legendary.

Final Thoughts

Honestly, talented people should just collaborate with other talented people, so us normal peeps can get quality content.

Stay tuned for part 2!