Ed Sheeran Flexes Versatility & Swag On ‘No. 6 Collaborations Project’

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On July 12th, Ed Sheeran made a return to the scene with his massive sixth album No. 6 Collaborations Project. The album follows his 2017 album Divide and the 2011 EP No. 5 Collaborations Project where he teamed up with Britain’s grimiest artists. However, this time around the UK native teamed up with music’s biggest names including everyone from Cardi B and Camilla Cabello to Eminem and 50 Cent to develop a solid album of collaborations. If you’re unfamiliar with the versatility Sheeran has beyond popular tracks like “Thinking Out Loud” and “Don’t”, then this project is a treat! Reminiscent of the unreleased track “Freak Show” featuring the Game, Ed Sheeran teams up with all of our favorite artist to flex his versatility and overall swagger.

No. 6 Collaborations Project opens with a Khalid collaboration titled “Beautiful People”. The track feels like a Khalid-esq song featuring Ed’s smooth vocals and sets the tone for the overall project. The next track, “South of the Border” finds Ed-Sheeran melding the sounds of Camilla Cabello’s “Havana” while capturing the heat of Cardi B with the hard hitting line, “Drop an album, drop a baby but I never drop the ball,”. On the next track, one of my favorites,  Ed Sheeran teams up with Chance The Rapper and PnB on a smooth, Marvin-Gaye, sampling number titled “Cross Me”. On the next track “Take Me Back To London,” Sheeran spits with UK’s Grimes for an ode to his city. At this point in the album, I realized the versatility of Sheeran as he raps and sings over different productions while flexing with such different artists. The next two tracks are familiar of past hits like “Love Yourself” and “Shape Of You”. On the first one, “Part of Me,” Sheeran slows things down with soul singer YEBBA before teaming up with Bieber on the hit single “I Don’t Care”. On the next track Sheeran teams up with Travis Scott on a hard-hitting track titled “Antisocial”. Once again, we’re amazed with Sheeran’s reach as he rides a Travis production while making it his own. After spitting his s**t with Eminem and 50 Cent on “Remember The Name,” Sheeran glides over a power-production titled “Feels” featuring Young Thug and J Hus. On the next three tracks, Sheeran slow things down with collaborations with Ella Mai, Paulo Londra & Dave and H.E.R. on “Put It All On Me,” “Nothing On You,” and “I Don’t Want Your Money” respectively. Before closing things out with the high-energy power collaboration “BLOW” featuring Chris Stapleton & Bruno Mars, Sheeran flexes with Meek Mill & A Boogie wit da Hoodie on “1000 Nights” and Skrillex on “Way To Break A Heart”.

No. 6 Collaborations project is exactly what you’d expect: a high-quality project featuring collaborations from today’s biggest artists. However, the impressive point of the album features Ed Sheeran shining through these collaborations with versatility, talent and the swagger of his own. Many times, artists collaborate with the hottest artists and chart toppers in order to emulate what’s popular, missing what garnered attention in the first place. This time around, Sheeran teams up with everyone including musics newest names, the OGs and even collaborates across every genre from hip-hop, grime, trap, pop, country and soul. Not once during this albums play did I forget who’s project this was and that’s because Ed Sheeran has a way of taking all of these sounds and making it his own! Every track on this album could be a single so I’m looking forward to seeing the impact No. 6 Collaborations makes. The album debuted and currently sits pretty at #1 on the Billboard Top 200 selling 173,000 units in it’s first week. What are your thought on this star-studded project? Sound off in the comments below!

Ed Sheeran & Travis Scott – “Antisocial”

Ed Sheeran – No. 6 Collaborations Project