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Ed Sheeran · S2 E6
The Deal
No. 5 Collaborations Project hits #2 on iTunes without a label. Atlantic Records finally calls
January 2011. Ed Sheeran refreshes the iTunes chart on his phone and sees the No. 5 Collaborations Project sitting at number two, and he doesn't have a record label, a manager, or a permanent address.
"I Don't Care" (Ed Sheeran & Justin Bieber, official music video, 2019). Ed and Bieber singing about being the odd ones out at a party. That was Ed's entire career strategy: do your thing, ignore the room, and let the people come to you. The record labels finally did.
I Don't Care (with Justin Bieber), Ed Sheeran (2019)
"I Don't Care" is glossy pop on the surface, but underneath is the attitude Ed carried through every empty room and ignored demo. He never chased the industry. He put out music, played gigs, built a following on his own terms, and waited for the industry to catch up. Listen for how relaxed Ed sounds on this track. He's not trying to impress anyone. He never was.
Sources
Mulligan, Mark. "Ed Sheeran: The Biography." John Blake Publishing, 2018.
The EP That Changed Everything
In January 2011, Ed releases the No. 5 Collaborations Project independently. It's an EP of him rapping and singing with grime artists: Wiley, JME, Devlin, Sway, and others. No label, no publicist, no marketing budget. It hits number two on the iTunes chart anyway.
Sources
Nolan, David. "Ed Sheeran: A+." Omnibus Press, 2014.
Mulligan, Mark. "Ed Sheeran: The Biography." John Blake Publishing, 2018.
TAP TO REVEAL: Who was the first person in the music industry to bet on Ed Sheeran?
“The phone just started ringing. Labels that had ignored me for three years were suddenly very interested. Funny how that works.”
— Ed Sheeran (paraphrased from multiple interviews, 2011-2014)
Atlantic Records UK, Kensington, London
The label that finally signed Ed Sheeran, through its subsidiary Asylum Records, after watching the entire UK music industry ignore him for three years.
The Deal: By the Numbers
Take It Back, Ed Sheeran (2014)
"Take It Back" is Ed in full rapid-fire mode, rapping about his journey with the same energy he brought to the No. 5 Collaborations Project. The grime influence that powered those collaborations with Wiley and JME is all over this track. After hearing how Ed proved the industry wrong by doing it himself, listen to this and you'll hear the defiance in every syllable.
Take It Back, Ed Sheeran (2014)
Ed raps about his come-up with a specificity that most pop stars avoid. Names, places, details. Read these lyrics and you'll find the entire story of Season 2: the gigs, the hustle, the people who said no, and the moment they all changed their minds.
Which grime artists did Ed collaborate with on the No. 5 Collaborations Project?
Ed Sheeran has a manager, a record deal, and a debut single ready to go. Next season: "The A Team" drops, + enters the UK charts at number one, and the kid from Framlingham becomes the biggest new artist in Britain.
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