Two long-awaited first-time collaborations are paying off on the charts, with Epik High and Davichi’s joint single and Crush’s new single featuring IU both climbing YouTube Music and domestic rankings, EDaily reported on October 26.
Epik High and Davichi released ‘Mise-en-scène’ on October 13. As of October 26, it ranked third on YouTube Music’s rising popular music chart, while on the October 16-22 weekly YouTube popular songs chart it climbed seven places to fourth. The song frames the moment of accepting a breakup like a scene from a film, pairing Epik High’s rap with Davichi’s vocals, with Silica Gel’s Kim Han Joo taking part in writing, composing and arranging.
Crush’s digital single featuring IU, released on October 21, moved even faster. It ranked second on YouTube Music’s rising popular music chart, entered the October 16-22 weekly YouTube popular songs chart at No. 25, and reached No. 14 on Melon Top100 and No. 2 on Melon Hot100. Its music video, starring both singers in a romantic, dreamlike setting, previously topped YouTube’s daily popular music video chart and had passed 6.75 million views.
What sets both projects apart, EDaily noted, is how hands-on they were. Rather than exchanging files remotely, the artists met in person and appeared in each other’s videos: Epik High and Davichi shared follow-up videos on their own channels, while Crush and IU filmed a live clip and a studio teaser. An industry figure quoted in the report said the effort matched the care put into their own title tracks and helped bring their separate fan bases together.
Crush said through P NATION that he invited IU because he believed only her voice suited the song, and was surprised by how well their vocal colours blended. The song depicts a clumsy, stumbling romance, and Crush took part in writing and composing it.
The pairings were years in the making. Epik High (debuted 2003) and Davichi (debuted 2008) had never released a song together, although Davichi appeared on Epik High’s YouTube series EPIKASE last October, a video that drew more than 4 million views. Crush and IU had also never released a song together, despite guesting at each other’s concerts in 2019 and Crush’s appearance on IU’s Palette in 2022.
With both songs still charting, the question now is whether either collaboration leads to further joint stages or follow-up releases, or remains a one-off meeting of established acts.
