COLOR
Ed Sheeran’s no.6 Collaborations As the album title suggests, Ed Sheeran has sure assembled the arsenal of artists for his plans of a superstar featuring album. A world renowned virtuoso of songwriting, Sheeren had first established his reputation and fan-base in mainstream pop culture in 2011 when his debut album “+” (read as plus) topped the charts, and went on to be nominated for a Grammy in 2013. Perhaps the quintessential pop star of the era, Sheeran has garnered the most followers out of any artist on spotify. Following his success with his album “Plus”, a polished, aspirational and vibrant “Divide” took 2017 by storm. Needless to say, Sheeran has chosen “creative” approaches with his records and releases. And now, his latest creation comes with a legendary and unprecedented list of name-cramming; everybody from the dexterous tough-talking maestros like Eminem, to the new and soulful faces like Yebba.While this audacious name-dropping album is an experimental gamble, Sheeran has capitalized on his support, proving to be a versatile pop star, like a fish in water, fluent in the genres of R&B, hip hop and dancehall. The skillful marriage of such genres is paralleled only by the complexity in his new narrative, emphasizing the struggle of fame and stardom, and his newfound
By Toby Chan and Jonathan Ng Illustrations by Brooke Ye and Natalie So Layout by Jocelyn Cheng
fulfillment in his marriage to his wife, Cherry. In the album, Sheeran focuses majorly on displaying cultural interaction and diversity, as can be seen through the different racial backgrounds of the collaborating artists in his song releases. This is first demonstrated through Sheeran’s second track South of the Border, a savvy crossover into latin-pop territory. The track features Cuban-American singer Camila Cabello, as well as Cardi B, an American rapper with Dominican roots. Due to the high status and strong personalities of all three figures in the track, Sheeran is forced to share the spotlight with his two wingwomen, limiting each artist to just one verse, before combining for the chorus, where Camila and Ed sing and Cardi B ad-libs. One highlight of the track can be heard when Sheeran throws in a bit of Spanish during the pre-chorus, mentioning the phrase “te amo mami” twice, which translates to “I love you, mama”. While this is evidence that he is testing new horizons, he is simultaneously lost in the foreign nature of his LatinPop fantasy, singing about “Caramel thighs” and “curly hair”, deviating heavily from his British roots and his standard style of lyric composition. Therefore, perhaps his most promising collaboration has been soured by his
disingenuous approach, through talking excessively about hispanic culture instead of focusing on the beauty within this intersection of cultures. Ultimately, there is a shallowness to “South of the Border”, as the message doesn’t seem to go deeper than taking a vacation, and Sheeran’s love for hispanic music. Nothing on You is another song which highlights the crossing of cultures Sheeran’s album. The track features Argentine rapper/singer Paulo Londra, and native British rapper Dave. The track is structured so that each artist has a verse to themselves, balancing the artists’ respective languages of English and Spanish throughout the track.While the track itself is not the most outstanding of the album (its lyrics also not the most appropriate for younger listeners), it is nice to see Sheeran tap into the culture of Latin-pop once again, allowing his music to appeal to the larger hispanic audience. Additionally, the collaboration on this track demonstrates Sheeran’s generosity: by collaborating with these young artists (both Londra and Dave are 21), it offers them a platform to grow their reputation and recognition in the music industry. A significant difference in this album is the huge range of genres and styles that Sheeran crosses over and experiments with through collaborating with other artists. Not known for excessive indulgence in a luxurious and frivolous characteristic ‘Hollywood life’, Sheeran dedicates a substantial amount of lyrics to explain his distance from the parties and ‘wild-life’ in Beautiful People. A R&B styled hard
校話
期刊 21
103
