Sophia Michaels
The Voice’s 2022 battle advisors are putting their dream collaborations into the universe in hopes that a little manifestation magic might bring them to life. Repping for Blake Shelton, Gwen Stefani, John Legend, and Camila Cabello’s teams, respectively, Jimmie Allen, Sean Paul, Jazmine Sullivan, and Charlie Puth dreamed big, sharing a genre-spanning mix of artists they’re itching to get into the studio with.
Beyoncé was the name at the top of Sullivan’s mind. “I feel like she’s everybody’s dream collaboration,” she said. “Two different voices, two different tones, but I think if we came together and did something, it would be magic. And I love her so much, I don’t even care if nobody even heard the song. It could just be us, we could just record it, and nobody could ever hear it. I wouldn’t even say a word, I’d just know for myself.”
No one else named the singer, but they didn’t narrow their list down to one name either. Puth locked in Paul McCartney (“I love how, to this day, he still incorporates classical music into his pop music”) and Dr. Dre (“Because he made the Chronic and that is the album I learned how to produce drums off of”).
Allen threw all four Voice coaches into the hat, mentioning that he already has separate songs locked and loaded for each of them to hop on whenever they’re ready. He rounded his list out with Shania Twain, Usher, Reba, Stevie Wonder, and Lionel Richie. “There’s so many,” he said. “The list goes on and on.”
Paul offered up maybe the most unsuspected answers of the bunch, but it was clear he had been thinking about them for a while. He first named Billie Eilish, adding: “It’s always good to do a remix, but I would love to do something special with her because she just is brilliant.” Shouting out Eilish and Finneas, the dancehall star imagined throwing his flare onto their signature sound. “I’d love to try what I do on one of their tracks,” he said. “There are times when I’m playing the radio, or I’m driving, and I’m hearing her songs, and there’s little space that I hear myself.”
Paul’s second pick was the alternative rock duo Twenty One Pilots. “They have crazy melodies, and I like music like that,” he explained. “The drums are kind of hip-hop oriented to me, and the melodies are rock-oriented, it’s a perfect blend of that.”
