While K-pop queen IU dominates most of the music charts with her solo songs, her music collaborations with top artists like SUGA and V of BTS, are nothing short of cultural events in South Korea. Here we listen our way through some of the best music collaborations of IU.
Leading the list is her 2024 hit single “Love Wins Again” featuring V, aka Kim Taehyung. The song received massive commercial and critical acclaim and broke multiple records within 24 hours of release. According to Soompi, it became the fastest song by a female artist to top the Melon’s Top 100 chart since its renewal in August 2021.
Other iconic IU music collaborations include hits like “Palette” featuring G-Dragon, “Love Letter For You” featuring SHINee and “eight” featuring SUGA.
Talking about her music collaborations over the years, IU shared with Marie Claire Korea, “While there have been many cases where opportunities to perform, to work in collaboration with other artists, to film video content have fallen through because of a lack of space, I look forward to more such projects in the future.”
These IU music collaborations scream iconic
“Friday” (feat. Jang Yi-jeong)
Released on 20 December 2013, “Friday” is the lead single for IU’s repackaged album Modern Times – Epilogue.
One of the best IU music collaborations featuring the former’s labelmate Jang Yi-jeong, “Friday” is a pop ballad with a bossa nova tune and a medium-tempo melody. It is about the initial feelings of a couple who had just developed a crush on each other.
The track achieved #1 on both Gaon Singles and Download Charts in South Korea. It also topped the K-pop Hot 100 chart for two consecutive weeks and won Song of the Year at the 3rd Gaon Chart K-Pop Awards in 2013.
In 2014, “Friday” became the sixth biggest-selling song in South Korea. Furthermore, it sold more than 5,000,000 digital downloads in the country in 2020, becoming one of the best-selling singles in South Korea that year.
“Palette” (feat. G-Dragon)
Released on 21 April 2017, “Palette” is a song recorded by IU and BIGBANG’s G-Dragon for the former’s fourth studio album of the same name.
One of the best K-pop songs of all time, this piece of music was composed by IU herself with the lyrics written in collaboration with G-Dragon.
An instant commercial and critical success, Billboard described that the melody “belies a topsy-turvy world of self-satire, idiosyncratic sound effects and throwbacks to older eras.” Meanwhile, Billboard also listed “Palette” at number six on its Best K-Pop Songs of 2017 list.
Additionally, the song hit #1 on all the major South Korean music sites. According to Gaon, the song sold 207,139 downloads in the week of its release. “Palette” also became IU’s 16th #1 song on the Gaon Digital Chart.
“Love Story” by Epik High (feat. IU)
Featuring IU and Epik High — the first major South Korean act to play at Coachella, “Love Story” is considered one of the most impressive music collaborations of all time.
Released in 2017, the single is a part of Epik High’s ninth studio album We’ve Done Something Wonderful. Talking about the collaboration with IU, the group shared in a StarNewsKorea interview, “We truthfully have always had tracks that we wanted to feature IU in… Afterwards, we composed a track that would fit IU, and completed “Love Story.”
The song achieved a perfect all-kill by topping all the prominent music charts in South Korea, according to Soompi. Some of these charts include Melon, Genie, Bugs, Mnet, Naver, Soribada and Olleh.
“Soulmate” by ZICO (feat. IU)
This R&B Soul track was released on 30 July 2018 and revolves around the idea of finding a soulmate.
One of the most special collaborations between former Block B member ZICO and IU since their 2009 hit “Marshmallow”, the track garnered instant commercial success.
According to K-media outlet allkpop, the song topped all major real-time and daily music charts, achieving a certified all-kill in South Korea.
Talking to Billboard about the collaboration, ZICO said, “The recording session took a very long time. “It’s not because I wasn’t satisfied. IU did not come out of the booth until she was satisfied. I was very impressed by her being so professional and passionate and it made me regret and think that I should also try much harder whenever I get to collaborate with other artists, and reminded me why I had so much respect for her as an artist.”
“eight” (Prod & feat. SUGA of BTS)
This digital single by IU featuring SUGA of BTS was released on 6 May 2020 by the former’s music label EDAM Entertainment.
A nostalgic pop-rock song with lyrics by IU, SUGA and Korean songwriter El Capitxn, “eight” makes for one of the most popular IU music collaborations.
Talking about the process of making the song, SUGA had shared in one of his V live streams that “There wasn’t a lot of back-and-forth. Shortly after I sent the (song’s) beats to her, she sent it back with the melody.” Meanwhile, IU said in an interview that she decided to work with Suga because she wanted to deliver music that felt different from the style she had previously presented to fans.
The track debuted at #1 on the Billboard World Digital Song Sales chart (dated 16 May 2020). According to Forbes, the song’s entry on the US Digital Songs chart at #13, made it one of the highest-charting Korean songs in the chart’s history.
Agust D “People Pt.2” (feat. IU)
One of the best IU music collaborations, this song was released on 7 April 2023 as a pre-release single of Korean rapper Agust D’s debut solo album D-DAY.
Written by Agust D and songwriter El Capitxn, the hip-hop track talks about loneliness and effortlessly blends IU’s clean timbre with Agust D’s raw rap. The latter even revealed in one of his Billboard interviews that IU played a crucial role in making “People Pt.2” feel less intense and more pop-focused.
The song earned IU her 11th Top 10 entry and second number one on the World chart. She also debuted atop the Emerging Artists chart for the first time with “People Pt.2”.
Furthermore, it entered the Billboard Global 200 at #24 and #16 on the Global Excl. US. “People Pt. 2″ was also nominated for Song of the Year and won the Best Rap & Hip Hop Performance at the MAMA Awards in 2023.
“Love Wins All” (feat. V of BTS)
Released on 24 January 2024 as a pre-release single for her sixth mini album The Winning, “Love Wins All” is the 10th digital single by IU. According to the K-pop star, the song talks about her love for her “loved ones, especially fans,” and is full of themes of love, discrimination and freedom.
The track, featuring V of BTS, was an instant success, with the music video surpassing 13 million views after 24 hours of its release on YouTube. As of 31 January 2024, the music video has garnered over 35 million views and 3.8 million likes.
Considered one of the best IU songs, it debuted at #1 on Melon’s Top 100 only one hour after its release — a feat only achieved by BTS with their hit “Yet to Come.” It also reached #1 on the iTunes Top Songs charts in 30 regions, as of 25 January 2024.
On 2 February 2024, Instiz’s iChart officially announced that “Love Wins All” had scored its 100th all-kill certification, making it the first South Korean song released in 2024 to achieve the feat. Furthermore, it debuted at #4 on Billboard’s US World Digital Song Sales chart.
(Hero and featured image: Courtesy V/Instagram)
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
– How many songs does IU have?
Since her debut in 2008, IU has been part of numerous hit songs. While stating an exact number is difficult, she has to her credit five studio albums, ten extended plays (EPs), multiple singles, five single albums, two remake albums and two compilation albums. Some of her hit songs are Love Wins All”, “Palette”, “Gloomy Clock”, “Love Letter” and “Ice Flower.”
– What is IU’s music style?
IU is mostly seen releasing music that belongs to the ballad and R&B soul genre.
– What made IU famous?
IU is primarily famous for her musical endeavours. However, she became a household name after her acting debut with Dream High in 2011. Since then, she has gained popularity in Korean movies and dramas like Hotel Del Luna (2019), Broker (2022) and Dream (2023).
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Sushmita is a writer with a passion for crafting engaging and informative stories. An avid fan of K-pop and K-dramas, Sushmita mostly writes about Korean culture and entertainment. When not writing, you can find Sushmita dancing, reading, collecting books, learning about fashion, art, motion pictures, and appreciating BTS.
