For whatever reason the guest verse/solo/background vox doesn’t happen that often in guitar music. Conversely, in hip hop, it’s rare to find a record without a guest on it.

The benefits to a having a friend contribute to a track can be big. At the very least if the track is good, you’ll have another person helping promote your music. What’s even more likely is that your musical collaboration could lead to much better things down the line.

Your guest could ask you to return the favor. They could ask you to play a show or even go on tour. And again, the immediate benefit will be that your collaborator will share your music with their whole world expanding your fanbase. Plus, when you work with other people you’ll probably work extra hard to make that track the absolute best.

This featured guest verse/production always becomes news when Lonely Island puts out a new album. Their newest, Turtleneck and Chain, is no different. Out of 19 tracks over half of the musical tracks feature another performer (Akon, Beck, Snoop Dogg, Rihanna, Justin Timberlake).

Just like their old stuff, the biggest tracks will probably be the ones featuring other artists.

So where do you start? Have friends who’s music you like? Start there. You could write a song together, write a new song with a specific part for your friend, or send them a selection of tracks and ask them to see what they can offer. It’s not that hard and the benefits could be huge. Try it.

Music Consciousness
Voyno