No 6 Collaborations Project/ Ed Sheeran - pop




By Narendra Kusnur 
Album: No 6 Collaborations Project
Artiste: Ed Sheeran
Genre: Pop
Label:Asylum/ Atlantic
Rating: ** 1/2

 Yes, British heartthrob Ed Sheeran has had huge hits like ‘The A Team’, ‘Photograph’, ‘Perfect’ and ‘Shape Of You’. Yes, his latest album No 6 Collaborations Project went straight up to top the Billboard charts. Yes, this new venture has a roll call that includes stars Justin Bieber, Eminem, 50 Cent, Bruno Mars, Cardi B, Travis Scott and Chris Stapleton.

Still, there's something badly missing from this 15-song collection. For a large part, it sounds like a bundle of confusion, a half-planned affair. Sheeran has been accompanied by all the big names, but there's no proper flow. A few songs do stand out, but many of them are skip-worthy.

The singer has always portrayed himself as a multi-genre artiste. Here, he focuses more on hip-hop. No harm in that, except that most of those songs sound like cousins of each other. He squeezes in one old-school ballad – the beautiful ‘The Best Part Of Me’ featuring singer Yebba – and as though on a sudden whim, ends with ear-shattering glam metal on ‘Blow’, with Stapleton and Mars.

To be fair, ‘The Best Part Of Me’ has the makings of a super-hit. Yebba’s voice is dipped in honey, and Sheeran is in great form singing, “She loves me, she loves me, why the hell  does she love me?, when she can love someone me, You love me, you love me, why the hell do you love me?, ’cause I don't even love myself.”

On ‘I Don't Care’, featuring Bieber, Sheeran sings, “I’m at a party where I don't want to be at, I don’t even wear a suit and tie, yeah.” It’s a teenager-friendly song, about how a man’s partner brightens his mood at a boring bash. With two superstars getting together, it has a winning formula.

Other likeable numbers are the album opener ‘Beautiful People’, which takes a dig at high-society folks, and the catchy ‘South Of The Border’, which contains smooth vocal coordination between Sheeran, Camelia Cabello and Cardi B.

The rest of the album oscillates between the predictable and the painful. The hip-hop cuts ‘Remember The Name’, with 50 Cent and Eminem, and ‘Take Me Back To London’, featuring Stormzy, have catchy hooks and choruses, but offer nothing new. Everything else makes you think of the fast forward button.

For his part, even Sheeran tends to get repetitive beyond a point. It seems that given his stardom, he’s sure he will have a few guaranteed hits and awards, and hence, puts in a half-hearted attempt. He could have skipped a few numbers, to make the whole experience worth the wait.

Fans, chart compilers and awards ceremonies don't think that way, though, and the album could well walk away with many accolades. As long as the skin looks good, who cares about the grime beneath?


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