My Recommended Songs Featuring Guest Artists!

2021-11-10

今This time around, I’m going to introduce my song recommendations that feature guest artists! I have chosen them at my own discretion and according to my tastes so this may come across as quite biased, but they are all wonderful songs, so please read through to the end!

[“ROCK THIS WAY” SEAMO×SPYAIR]

The first song is “ROCK THIS WAY” by SEAMO×SPYAIR. This collaboration came to be because the rapper SEAMO and the band SPYAIR co-starred on the final day of the music festival Manatsu no Sanban Shobu [Road to Budokan] hosted by SPYAIR. The song begins with the rap sung by SEAMO in his characteristic voice and the distorted guitar sound that is unique to SPYAIR. SPYAIR’s vocalist IKE joined in the chorus to accelerate the excitement. In fact, the chorus that IKE mixes behind SEAMO’s rap in the second verse is the melody of SPYAIR’s song called “Rockin’ the World”, and fans who know this song will notice that “ROCK THIS WAY” is not just a collab song but it’s also a mashup. This playfulness is irresistible! Both songs are so cool, so please listen to them! Also, IKE recently sang SPYAIR’s popular song “Samurai Heart (Some Like It Hot!!)” for the Japanese YouTube channel The First Take. This channel hosts singers who record a song in one take, and this song has gained popularity again. The song is the theme song of the anime Gin Tama. As the view count rapidly increased, as of October 28, 2021, the song was ranked at second place in the YouTube trending rank.

“ROCK THIS WAY (Short Ver.)” SEAMO×SPYAIR

[“Underdog feat. JESSE (The BONEZ/RIZE)” MY FIRST STORY]

This next one is a collaboration between MY FIRST STORY and JESSE. MY FIRST STORY is a Japanese rock band who found success in their headlining concert at Budokan despite being an independent record label band, and they are still unstoppable. JESSE is a vocalist of bands The BONEZ and RIZE who can also be said to be a pioneer of mixture rock. The legendary JESSE raps in his husky voice that speaks to men with his pumping beats and clever rhyming. HIRO, the vocalist from MY FIRST STORY, has amazing high note vocals and he makes the mood of the song even more gorgeous! While you can get a glimpse of the revival of mixture rock, this song is a wonderful work that sounds both mainstream and new due to the sound with a taste of the latest popular EDM scattered everywhere in the song.  

“Underdog feat. JESSE (The BONEZ/RIZE)” MY FIRST STORY Official Music Video

[“2002” Anne-Marie & Ed Sheeran]

Unlike the previous two songs, this recommended song is an English song! Anne-Marie is a British singer-songwriter who has become known for the unforgettable title that brings a punch with her debut single “Karate”. The reason why she named her debut single “Karate” was because she had been taking Shotokan karate lessons since she was nine and became a world champion in 2002. Karateka Anne-Marie collaborated with Ed Sheeran because she is a big fan of Ed. In the recorded version of this song, all parts are sung by Anne-Marie as the main vocalist and Ed sings backup, though we cannot hear his part well. However, in this live video uploaded onto YouTube, Ed has his own main vocal part. I personally recommend watching this version of “2002” rather than just listening to the recorded version! The reason is that you can see the good friendship between Anne-Marie and Ed, and it’ll make you feel that you are a part of their music making. I think that the reason why I can enjoy the excitement felt from the simple performance of just guitar and vocals is not only how good the song is, but also because both Ed and Anne-Marie put their love for music into the song! Take a few minutes to watch and listen to “2002” so you can see these two musicians just enjoy the music. It will definitely be fun for sure!