It's looking to be yet another year filled with great music collaborations. Just this January, Korean composer and producer Code Kunst with singer-songwriter Lee Hi came out with a follow-up to “X”—a collaboration they worked on two years ago. And we just can't emphasize this enough: Code Kunst and Lee Hi is a collaboration that keeps on giving.

Titled “XI,” the song has a mellow tempo as it tells a story of falling in love with a person that everyone seems to disapprove of. Lee Hi sings of a girl who has fallen for a guy she sees as a hero, her John Wayne. But the song is also about the realization that while love entails romance, it’s a double-edged sword. Love is capable of leaving one hurt, of fostering sadness. The digital track “XI” documents this harsh realization, a reality to every single one who has experienced being in love and loving wholeheartedly.

But there is more to it than just being bittersweet. The kind of love story “XI” tries to tell is one of rebellion—going against all forms of rationality, motivated by the exhilarating feeling of breaking judgements. The music video features a struggling couple, and emphasizes that while opposites attract, it’s bound to result to friction and unhappiness.

Lee Hi and Code Kunst, dubbed as “CoHi” by their fans, wrote yet another song about relationships. Featured in “Muggles’ Mansion” was “X,” a track where Lee Hi’s powerful yet sweet vocals could be heard once again. Even with a snappy groove, it was meant as a goodbye message of an unapologetic girlfriend tired of her relationship.

Both tracks sing about love the way it is, the way the two artists know it to be. It can be toxic. It can be destructive. It can be a source of pain. It’s this daring approach to song lyrics that listeners, and not just fans of the artists, could really appreciate and relate to. These are songs that admit to heartbreak, but with words we never had the courage to speak out loud.


Photo from last.fm