With Collaborations No. 6 set to arrive on July 12th, Ed Sheeran sat down with his homie Charlamagne Tha God to discuss the upcoming project. Off the bat, the two pals discuss the history of Sheeran's Interview room, which doubles as a crash pad for a) collaborators, b) overzealous revelers. As Tha God marvels at the wall of signatures, Ed runs down some of the notable guests. "Taylor's been here, Stormzy's been here, Ryan Tedder came here, James Blunt, Big Nasty, Fuse ODG," he explains, before breaking down the origin of his upcoming project. "I made an EP called No.5 Collaborations Project with a load of UK rappers I was a big fan of at the time," reveals Ed. "Ever since then, I haven't done collaborations on my own stuff. I've collaborated on other people's things, but on my own records, it's kind of just been me."
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After explaining that he intends on dropping the album and moving on, prompting Charlamagne to compare it to a "mixtape." Ed corrects him, claiming it lies closer to a "compilation album." He also reveals that crafting the project was a natural process, and he went out of his way to avoid any awkward label matchmaking. "My rule for it was if I have it and play it in my car, I'm working with them," claims Ed. The pair then get sidetracked for a spell to have a laugh at Ed's inclusion in the "Donkey Of The Day" intro, which Ed has no recollection of laying down due to early-morning inebriation.
"This project actually started with one idea I had," says Ed, revealing his intention of making an all-male "Lady Marmalade," featuring Bruno Mars, Justin Bieber, and himself. Upon calling Bruno, Ed was soon convinced to do a different idea altogether for their duet. As the conversation winds down, Sheeran reveals that he intends on respecting his position in hip-hop culture, through aims of giving back to the community. "It's about showing respect," says Ed. "Not just being like, 'come to me."
Check out the full interview below, and sound off - you excited for that new music from Big Ed?