Zico has returned with a duet project, which isn’t unusual for him. Most of his recent success has been through pairings with female artists. Duet links him up him with YOASOBI’s Ikura (credited as Lilas) and straddles the line between K-pop, J-pop and global pop. In other words, it should be right within my wheelhouse!
Before talking about the song, I feel it’s necessary to discuss YOASOBI. For my money, no single artist has had a greater influence on modern J-pop than them. Sure, the industry’s many rock bands continue to dominate, but that’s always been the case. When it comes to poppier efforts, YOASOBI’s fitful, hyper-busy production style has become so ubiquitous that I hardly enjoy it anymore. I was never a huge YOASOBI fan to begin with, but now that everyone is peddling their own version of the sound it feels like J-pop as a whole has lost its sense of musical diversity.
This brings me to Duet, which is a pretty ‘down the middle’ fusing of Zico’s and YOASOBI’s core sounds. The overall style is “quirky” in a way that’s not quirky anymore because we’ve heard it so often. Zico’s flow is fast-paced and full of character. Ikura adds a similar energy, though her tone is much different. What we end up with is two dynamic characters speak-singing at a rapid pace over a lively bed of chopped percussion. It’s not my thing at all, but I’m happy if it’s yours!
| Hooks | 8 |
| Production | 8 |
| Longevity | 7 |
| Bias | 7 |
| RATING | 7.5 |
The Bias List // K-Pop Reviews & Discussion 
Insanely mid
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A lifeless intro, a muffled sound throughout, and verses and choruses with no real character. Even Ikura from YOASOBI feels like a superficial gimmick here—nothing interesting. The “wasshoi” call-and-response, and the sight of kids dancing while swinging their arms back and forth, is honestly really unpleasant to watch.
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I am huge fan of YOASOBI and enjoyed Lilas Ikura last album too, but this duet seems more like meme song for SNS with its reliance on ‘quirky’ element.
For a supposedly rap style song (?), the beat do not hit hard enough and the verse do not leave lasting impression except the wasshoi hook part (barely). Such a shame that the collabs between , 2 big names ended up with a so-so song.
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This song sounds like it wants to be easy-going, and at the same time it doesn’t…very weird spot to be caught in. There’s no real hook or instrumental shift to come back to, leaving no real impression. Kinda sad since ZICO and Ikura are great performers.
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