The Art of Features on Songs

Dominic Fike has found himself featured in more than twenty songs over the years, ranging from working with pop sensations like JENNIE in ‘Love Hangover’ to up-and-coming artists, like Kenny Mason, whom he most recently worked with on ‘FIND GOD.’ Yet it wasn’t until I stumbled upon the TikTok below, which echoed my sentiment to most of his features, that I realised just how many he had done, leading me to think about the role of features in music in general.  

Fike is a singer who does features well, to the point where his voice is distinct enough for the listener to recognise him without it being explicit:  take the introduction of ‘Peach’ by Kevin Abstract as an example. The release back in 2019 also made their 2025 duo, Geezer, come as no surprise – they’ve been friends for a while. The variety in his features and the ability to either adapt to another’s technique (ie, Remi Wolf’s ‘Photo ID’) or bring in his own (like on Isaiah Rashad’s ‘CAMERAS’) are incredibly satisfying. 

And not to continue citing my favourites, but Aminé should also be mentioned when talking about features. I find that the songs he hops on are always so unexpected, like, I never knew I needed him on a track with Mac Wetha and beabadobee until it was given to me. He definitely branches out of his genre when doing so, whether it’s knocking on pop’s door in Bea Miller’s ‘FEEL SOMETHING DIFFERENT’ or partying in Disclosure’s rave-esque ‘My High’ alongside slowthai. Meanwhile, some prefer to stay within their genre or related genres, like SZA, who mostly brings her harmonies to rap or other R&B tracks. 

I like to think that the music industry is definitely more well-connected than it may appear to outsiders – insiders already know amongst themselves who’s rising to fame. I think of features as also a form of trust: you’re lending your voice, but you’re also vouching for someone’s vision. When Lady Gaga wanted Beyoncé on ‘Telephone,’ producers had to slightly alter it to get her to agree, so that the piece would fit both of their aesthetics. Today, I can’t even imagine a version of ‘Telephone’ without her. And that’s when you know a feature is. ‍

In my current ‘Liked Songs’ playlist, ⅙ of it is made up of works that contain features or collaborations, and that’s just a ballpark estimate. There’s just something about discovering new artists through artists you already love, or even seeing artistic interaction between two creatives you admire, fusing their styles together. Of course, it’s impossible to ignore the marketing aspect of it; artists will also collaborate to reach each other’s audiences, as we saw in the 2010s where pop music featured rappers that, if we’re honest, sometimes seemed out of place. But hey, that’s also how we got graced with Snoop Dogg’s iconic verse on ‘California Girls.’

Cross-genre features are particularly interesting in that they allow for the respective artists to stay in their genre, yet reach other audiences they wouldn’t have been able to reach without said collaboration, all without diluting their own brand. Academics like Peterson talk of reaching both ‘omnivore’ listeners who tap into variety and multiple genres and ‘loyalists,’ those who, as the name suggests, usually stick to their genre of choice. Following this logic, Ordanini et al. hypothesise that hybrid songs can increase popularity and audience size. In their research, they even find the following:

“Songs that feature a guest artist from a different genre are more likely to enter the top 10 of Billboard’s Hot 100. More importantly, the greater the distance between the genres, the more likely the song is to achieve extraordinary success by making it into the top 10.”

And this makes sense, when the picked genres are so jarringly contrasted next to each other, yet manage to blend, the song becomes even more interesting, exciting even. It even reaches another level when languages are blended.  This train of thought could also explain why sampling in songs is so popular, too; it allows for mixing and matching between genres you would think would never interact with each other. 

We’ve also seen a shift from ‘featurings’ to ‘co-billings.’ Billboard explains this phenomenon clearly, but in essence, due to the way that Spotify classifies songs, artists have preferred co-billing instead, in order for the work to appear on both artists' pages. When a song uses the feature function, it will only appear on the primary artist’s profile. Co-billing thus ensures visibility for everyone.

Some artists have gone their whole career with little to no featuring on someone else’s songs: Adele, Olivia Rodrigo, or even Harry Styles, to cite a few. And there isn’t really any explanation for this; it could be for a variety of reasons. Influence can be present in people’s works, as well as input we may not even be aware of. 

Features act almost as an artistic dialogue, a push-and-pull of tension between different musicians and their styles that seem to rile audiences (including me!) up. It also reflects the fluidity of music genres today, erasing any singularity or barrier between them. A feature can launch a career, it can connect genres, and tickle your ears.

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