There are countless moments when artists nod to, honor, or draw inspiration from songs by their peers, making for exhilarating ‘musical conversations.’ Yet, there’s a unique charm when an artist alludes to their own previous tracks in their latest work. It feels like they’re weaving a narrative, bridging their past to the present. This isn’t just about subtle lyrical nods or direct song sampling; it’s about embedding that familiar essence into something fresh. While many artists often embed these throwbacks in intros or outros, the following instances are delightfully outside that mold!
Check out some songs that have their own songs as references!
SHINee Sherlock (Clue + Note)
If you didn’t know, this legendary SHINee song combines their two songs, “Clue” and “Note.” If you listen to “Clue” and you wonder why it builds up to the famous “I’m curious” part, only not to have that part, it’s because the missing piece of the song lies in “Note.” Both songs are great individually, but combining them both made it explosive.
tripleS Cherry Gene
Another mix-and-match song combination is “Cherry Gene,” which has both the songs “Cherry Talk” & the popular “Generation.”
SuperM One
Isn’t it interesting how they combine two songs together without it sounding like a remix or a mashup because of how smooth the transitions are? This SuperM song is a combination of their songs, “Monster” and “Infinity.”
PIXY Karma
This pop and creepy-sounding song combined both of their songs, “Flip a Coin” and “Hide & Seek.”
Stray Kids 0325
We expect nothing less than musical geniuses, 3RACHA. This song is a combination of the intro tracks (“NOT!” “WHO?” and “You.”) from their first three releases, the “I AM” series.
(G)I-DLE I’m the Trend
In this one, the girls refer to their previous songs (Oh My God, Latata, Blow Your Mind, Uh-Oh, Senorita, Maze) in the lyrics. Soyeon also mentioned some of the Korean survival shows she has participated in, such as PRODUCE 101, Unpretty Rapstar, and Queendom.
BTS I’m fine
This was a beautiful one, where they sampled their song “Save Me,” and even performed both versions to show fans the story behind the two songs when combined together.
Red Velvet Umpah Umpah
In this fun and cute song, they reference some of their previous works (Dumb Dumb, Happiness, Red Flavor & Ice Cream Cake) in the rap part.
BLACKPINK Pretty Savage
This catchy rhythmic bass diss track to the haters references their popular track, “Ddu du ddu du,” in the lyrics.
NCT Dream We Go Up
Two years after they debuted, this song has their debut song, “Chewing Gum,” referenced in this song, where they talked about dancing on hoverboards, as they did then.
SEVENTEEN Lie Again
Vernon‘s verse in this song is the same lyrics as his verse in “Don’t Wanna Cry.” He even sang it in the same melody; it kind of takes you back to the famous 2017 song for a little while.
SEVENTEEN Fearless
How else would you transition from Fear to being Fearless, if not taking the feel of the first song and putting it into this new one? In this one, Jeonghan‘s line in the bridge is the same as Joshua‘s opening line in Fear, and again, he also sang it the same way Joshua did.
