Successful American rapper and business magnate, Jay-Z missed out on a chance to be on one of the biggest music in streaming history, Ed Sheeran’s “Shape of You,” after the “Encore” rapper “respectfully” shot down the request.
On Tuesday, March 28, 2023, Rolling Stone magazine shared its latest cover story interview with the British crooner-songwriter who spilt the tea on his ill-fated attempt to get the Blueprint rapper on his 2017 hit tune.
According to Sheeran, “We were in touch”. “I sent him the song, and he said, ‘I don’t think the song needs a rap verse.’ He was probably right. He’s got a very, very good ear. He usually gets things right. It was a very natural, respectful pass,” Ed Sheran told RS of his pursuit of a Jay-Z in 2016.
The richest rapper may have been correct. “Shape of You,” which was on Ed’s 2017 ÷ album, went on to peak at No. 1 in 34 countries including the Billboard Hot 100 chart, where it stayed for 12 non-consecutive weeks. It became the first song to hit 2 billion streams on Spotify. The single won the Grammy award for Best Pop Solo Performance at the 2018 Grammy Awards. The music video has nearly 6 billion streams on YouTube.
This isn’t the first time Ed Sheeran missed out on an opportunity to be on a record with Jay-Z. Back in 2019, Stormzy revealed he turned down a Jay-Z verse on his collab track with Ed Sheeran, “Take Me Back to London.”
Meanwhile, truth be told, getting a Jay-Z verse is not an easy task, especially in recent times. Jay-Z only appeared as a musician in 2022 including Pusha-T’s “Neck and Wrist” and DJ Khaled’s “God Did.”
© 2023 • Writer edem latsu
