Ed Sheran’s fourth official release has been in my possession for quite some time now, but until today I hadn’t given it the full listen-through. Sure, I’d heard many singles from the No. 6 Collaborations Project, but it didn’t encompass the full scope of the record.
Even though this is Sheeran’s sixth collaborations effort, one could assume that this is certainly the most A-list musical collaboration he has put together in his career…and you’d be right! This album features vocals from Camilla Cabello, Eminem, Chris Stapleton, and Bruno Mars among countless others. Needless to say, Ed’s got quite a few favors he’s going to have to return in the future.
I’d say the most popular singles to come off of this record (aka, the songs I heard on top 40 radio) include “I Don’t Care” featuring Justin Bieber and “South of the Boarder” featuring Camilla Cabello and Cardi B. While not my favorite efforts off of the album, they were certainly catchy and quite different from each other. In fact, Sheeran covers a lot of musical genre bases throughout the fifteen song track list.
There are plenty of rap artists scattered throughout many songs, so all of those sort of started to blend together at some point. I also don’t have likeness for R&B, so I couldn’t appreciate the musical styling of “I Don’t Want Your Money” featuring H.E.R. “Best Part of Me” and “Way to Break My Heart” were also low points in the album for me. One was too slow, while the other was just not exciting or slow. I suppose there’s only so much creativity to go around.
Songs that really jumped out at me and have made their way onto a playlist include, “Remember the Name” featuring Eminem and 50 Cent, “Cross Me” featuring Chance the Rapper and PnB Rock, and “Blow” featuring Bruno Mars and Chris Stapleton. That last one is truly incredible. Had someone just played this for me randomly and asked who it was, there is no actual way I would have come up with these three men. In fact, it’s so rock that they played it for a short bit on Sirius XM’s Octane station – that’s crazy!
Overall, this album was about 50/50 for me in terms of songs that I liked and did not like. Maybe if music that I listened to varied more I could appreciate all of the rap songs and R&B bits, but alas, I am siloed in my musical preferences. Still definitely worth giving it a spin!