This article was written by The Zillennial Zine’s senior fall editorial intern Maggie Lardie. Find her on Instagram at @maggielardie. If you would like to share an article with The Zillennial, send us an email at thezillennialzine@gmail.com.
Seeing as 2023 is almost at an end, it’s only fitting that we talk about how huge this year was for the music industry! So many major and upcoming artists released music this year, and we don’t know about you, but we definitely think everyone has stepped up their game. It only takes one glance at the recently announced Grammy nominations list for this year to understand how crazy it was in terms of album releases. While we’re all excited to see who will take home the prize in the other categories, there’s one in particular that we wanted to focus on: collaborations. 2023 has absolutely been one of the biggest years in terms of musical collaborations, so we thought we’d take a stroll down memory lane and take a look at some of the best 2023 music collabs.
Northern Attitude – Noah Kahan ft. Hozier
Although it’s a late addition to the list of collabs that were released this year, it quickly became one of the best! Originally released on September 16 of 2022 as a single for Noah Kahan’s album Stick Season, “Northern Attitude” grew in popularity online over the last year. Kahan posted a tiktok at the beginning of this month, telling listeners to stop streaming “Northern Attitude,” just because a new version with Hozier would be released on November 10. Now that it’s out, we can’t imagine going back to the original! There was already a lot of overlap between the artists’ fan bases, but after the release of this song, it seems impossible to be a fan of one without being a fan of the other.
Karma – Taylor Swift ft. Ice Spice
Karma is that girl like… what more can be said? First released on October 21 along with the rest of Midnights, the carefree, upbeat style of “Karma” quickly made it a fan favorite. The remix featuring Ice Spice, however, didn’t come out until May 26 of this year as part of Midnights (Til’ Dawn Edition). On the night the remix was released, Swift brought Ice Spice onstage to sing with her during that part of the Eras Tour. She also announced the music video featuring Ice Spice would be released (you guessed it) at midnight.
America Has A Problem – Beyoncé ft. Kendrick Lamar
This track from Beyoncé’s 2022 album Renaissance wasn’t given a remixed version until May 19 of 2023. The solo version of the song had already become popular in its own right, gathering a lot of attention on tiktok as fans created their own dances to it. The remix itself was a surprise drop, but Kendrick Lamar contributed an additional element of surprise when he began rapping his verse right out of the gate. Beyoncé also brought Lamar out during her performance of the song on September 4 during her Renaissance Tour.
Barbie World – Nicki Minaj and Ice Spice (with Aqua)
It’s only right that we feature a track from 2023’s biggest movie of the year! Nicki Minaj and Ice Spice revamped Aqua’s 1997 track “Barbie Girl,” giving it a new beat and some clever lyrics. Barbie: The Album came out on July 21, the same day that the film was released, but the song and music video for “Barbie World,” were released on June 23 to help promote the movie. The music video allowed for Nicki Minaj to finally assume the role of Barbie, something the internet had been waiting for for a long time.
What are the best 2023 music collabs in your opinion? Let us know in the comments!
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