We Plug to You... Ed Sheeran - No. 5 Collaborations Project

Earlier today (January 9th), UK-based singer/songwriter Ed Sheeran officially released his latest project, 'No. 5 Collaborations Project' on iTunes, an 8-track EP of Folk, Acoustic, Grime & Hip-Hop infused good music featuring some of the best & his favourite rappers in the UK Grime/Rap scene and we had to make sure you don't miss out on this kinda goodness BUT if you're reading this and wondering who the hell Ed Sheeran is (as some of you might), then lemme introduce you to one of the BEST & brightest fast-rising artists in the UK!

Ed Sheeran is an emerging UK Folk singer/songwriter who came into much prominence in 2010 after appearing on UK Urban media outlet, SB.TV and since then, has become somewhat of an 'Urban Cult Classic' here in the UK with the President of Universal Records, Monte Lipman flying him out to New York for a showcase back in the Summer and none other than US R&B star Jamie Foxx co-signing Mr. Sheeran while out there. His gigs in 2010 have all been sold-out & he was a support act for Exmple on his UK tour but let's not be fooled, Ed Sheeran is NOT entirely the new kid on the block. He's been hard on his musical grind for well over 5 years now, with his début album coming as far back as 2006 and 5 EPs under his belt since 2005. Ed Sheeran was at the TOP of my 'new' artists of 2010 list and with the 'No. 5 Collaborations Project', I think he shows you just why he is & should be kind of a BIG deal but I'll spare you the rhetoric and let the music speak for itself!

What you just heard is a track titled 'Radio' which features UK Grime veteran, JME on the verses and Ed Sheeran along with long time co-producer Jake Gosling providing the amazing musical backdrop for this song (as with all of the EP). Can I just say that I LOVE this song and it's gotta be hands down my favourite song off of the EP. On this, JME & Ed Sheeran (hook & bridge) painstakingly & beautifully let us in on the perils of 21st century mainstream radio and the power of the greatly sought after 'radio playlist'. It's a beautifully crafted song and JME pours his heart and frustration out eloquently without ever sounding preachy or fake. I just LOVE it... A perfect 10!

This one's called 'Goodbye To You' and it features emerging grime artist, Dot Rotten. I really really like this song and I've got it on repeat for the longest time. Now typically I doubt that I'd ever actively seek out to listen to Dot Rotten as I'm not a huge fan of his but on this song, he is the epitome of sheer brilliance! The deep, retrospective style of his verses draw you in to the realness, pain, remorse & truth his words embody. Something has to be said about Ed Sheeran's songwriting and music-making ability, he crafted out each of these songs with each rapper/emcee in mind and it's NO wonder that Dot Rotten does brilliantly on this, the song feels and sounds like it was made for him and him only but let's not take anything away from Dot Rotten, he brings this song to life with his emotionally-drenched verses & serves as a beautiful closing track to the EP... 2 for 2 on amazingness from the 'No. 5 Collaborations Project'

The final song I'll be sharing with you is 'Little Lady' featuring emerging UK Hip-Hop artist, Mikill Pane. If you knew Ed Sheeran before this then this song already sounds familiar to you as 'Little Lady' is the remix of Ed's 2010 smash single 'The A-Team' off of the very beautiful 'Loose Change' EP. On this, Mikill Pane adds his EXCELLENT story-telling skill and ability to an already brilliant song and dare I say, makes it BETTER! Mr. Pane brings a new dimension to this song and when I first heard his verses over this (especially that 3rd verse), I was close to tears and that goes to show the realness of his lyrics. The detail in his story-telling and his carefully crafted choice of words bring the song to life and it's as if you're right there in that room and you wanna do something, you really wanna do something but you can't... Beautifully told!

'No. 5 Collaborations Project' is beautiful music! The more you listen to it, the better it gets and the fusion of Folk & Acoustic music with Grime/Hip-Hop music is genius and serves a real delight but some traditional fans of Ed Sheeran and those who fell in love with the 'Loose Change' EP may be weary of this EP and the direction it takes but I will say that they should trust it's creator because he's poured his heart & soul into this which shows from every side of this EP and it looks like his fans agree with me as at the time of publishing this, 'No. 5 Collaborations Project' seats at #9 on the iTunes UK album chart and at #1 on the iTunes UK Singer/Songwriters chart. On the other hand, staunch fans of Grime will flock to this and absolutely love it as Ed succeeds in showing some of it's (Grime) usual suspects in a new and different light, in a more accessible way if I may be so bold. 'You' featuring Wiley as well as 'Lately' featuring Devlin stand out also as foreseeable favourites amongst Grime fans.

This EP works & all in all, the 'No. 5 Collaborations Project' is a very GOOD body of work filled with amazing vocals, musical backdrops to die for + hard-hitting emotional lyrics and it's worth every penny... You really need to get this EP!

Purchase: Ed Sheeran - No. 5 Collaborations Project (iTunes)

Until the Next Time...

Peace, Love & Good Music