Do you remember when you heard a duet for the first time? Maybe you remember how cool it was to hear their individual voices mesh together? Over time, I’m sure you’ve developed a taste for how you think duets should sound. Let me demonstrate what I personally look for in a duet using “I Want U Around,” a song Yugyeom of GOT7 released featuring DeVita.
Duets are all about balance.
I like when a song is split evenly between duet partners, but I’m usually lenient if one of the artists is only featuring. Yugyeom does indeed sing more in “I Want U Around” than DeVita, but only by a little. On top of that, the song only has two verses and two choruses, so there isn’t that much of the song to share. Again, because DeVita only features in the song, I can excuse her not having as many lines as Yugyeom.
Another duet pet peeve of mine is when one duet partner is confined to one section of the song, namely the chorus. Technically, they still get half of the song, but it feels like they didn’t contribute much. If you think about it, they really only got one part. As a result, one partner doesn’t get a chance to show off more of what they can do.
Yugyeom and DeVita bring their own style to the song.
Speaking of contributions, I like how DeVita’s part in the second verse differs from Yugyeom in the first verse. She sings some of her part in English then switches into Korean. Also, while Yugyeom’s voice is mostly laidback, DeVita shows off her vocal range with an R&B flourish. And even when they sing together, their voices mesh together without one person dominating the harmony. These are all things I look for in duets.
There have been duets in the past that I didn’t enjoy much because I didn’t like the combination of their voices. Other times, if their voices aren’t distinct enough, I question whether a duet was even necessary. One person could have sung the entire song and it wouldn’t have made much of a difference. An easy way to get around this is to have one vocalist and one rapper. Overall, if two artists can contribute their style into a song and give equal spotlight to both partners, then the pairing is a match made in heaven in my eyes.
Honourable Mention(s): ONEWE – Rain To Be (headbanging intensifies)
If you like this song, check out: Shinhwa – Touch (2018), Block B Bastarz – Help Me (2019), NCT 127 – Punch (2020)
People have said that Yugyeom’s solo music is reminiscent of Jus2, the GOT7 subunit he’s in with Jay B. I’m looking forward to what else he puts out in the future. What do you think of “I Want U Around” or Yugyeom’s other solo songs? Let me know in the comments!