In 2019, Ed Sheeran is not someone I expected to be covering on this blog seen as his music is so far away from what it was in 2011, when he made the No.5 Collaborations Project. Nonetheless, Ed Sheeran is the biggest artist in the world at the moment and can basically get whoever he wants on his albums, so here we are. I was fairly excited when I saw this hip hop focused feature list, there was good variety and the names were at the very least, interesting.
With that being said, I am going to rank them all (worst to best) on how good I think they are. I took into consideration they're individual performance, as well as there overall contributions to the song and how well they were used. When there were 2 hip-hop artists on one track, I've just grouped them together as I didn't want the list to be mega long and to be fair, when there was a case of more than 1 rapper on a song, their verses were all of pretty similar standard. Em & 50 will be grouped together, Hus & Young Thug, and Meek and Boogie.
Worst: Young Thug and J Hus
For me, if you are putting J Hus and Young Thug on a track together, and neither of them are doing the hook, that is a criminal offence, especially when Ed Sheeran is doing one of the deadest hooks known to man. Everyone knows Hus and Young Thug are 2 of the catchiest artists in their respective countries, but just to have them doing short, average verses, seemed like such a waste. This was one of the songs everyone was looking forward to, everyone thought it would bang, and it's just bang average. They didn't really have any chemistry together, the verses felt a bit rushed and I don't think anyone is going to really remember this song in 5 years time.
Second Worst: Cardi B
Not gonna go in on this too much. Was actually pretty decent for Cardi B, and was no where near the worst part of the song. Her lyrics were actually decent compared to the cringey shit that was spewing out of Ed Sheeran's mouth. She had a pretty good bar at the end "You got a girl that can finally do it all, drop a album, drop a baby, but I never drop the ball".
Third Worst: Chance the Rapper
This was no where near the most obnoxious, bland single to come from this album, but it gave it a good go. Chance's verse seemed so far from his best. Most the songs on this album were really quick, but I don't think that benefited Chance here, his verse was basically over before it started. His rhymes and his rhyme-schemes were pretty nice, and his light-hearted delivery, which he always nails was good. But that didn't change the fact that there was next to no chemistry with Ed Sheeran or PnB Rock. His verse felt separate from the rest of the song, some of the bars felt a bit lackluster here and there. Like a lot of the featuring artists on the album, I don't think this is the type of music that his fans want him to be making.
Fourth Worst: Dave
I'm not going to say much about the guy rapping in Spanish Paulo Londra, but he sounded decent, had a decent flow and catchy delivery. But unfortunately, this song is just so average. Not much really happens, Ed Sheeran sings the hook and Dave does a 12-bar verse. Didn't think it was really Dave's comfort zone to be fair. They put like a weird effect on his voice which made it seem really airey. As usual he had some clever bars in there, but it wasn't enough to salvage the song. Think the standout bar was "The outfit, it cost bread, I got the matching loafers".
Fourth Best: Travis Scott
For me, Ed Sheeran is a pretty cool guy, he's a good singer and is a decent rapper. He came up making songs with rappers and everyone had a decent amount of respect for him. But this song is basically just Ed Sheeran trying to too hard and Travis Scott not really buying in to it. This is Ed Sheeran's best impression of a Travis Scott song. Luckily, it wasn't the worst impression ever, but that's still all it was. Travis Scott's verse 100% saved this song and the instrumental was fairly enjoyable. Maybe you'll see mad moshpits at Ed Sheeran's next concerts? But I somehow doubt that.
Third Best: Eminem and 50 Cent
Not quite Patiently Waiting. Both of them came with laid back deliveries. 50 sort of just bragging about being rich which is fair enough. Em gave a couple poor, cringey bars, one of them being "You sleep on me 'cause you're only fuckin' winning in your dreams". I can forgive that though because the flow that built up to that bar was hard. The hook was really catchy for this song, especially when they were all singing at the same time for the last round. Again, this isn't the type of music that I'd want to see Em & 50 making, especially together. Like I said, it's not quite Patiently Waiting, Crack a Bottle or GATman and Robbin. We managed to get through the song without any serious injuries and there were features who were half-arsing their verses much more than Em & 50 did.
Second Best: Meek Mill and A Boogie Wit da Hoodie
This is the part of the list where the songs become genuinely enjoyable and much more likable. Both rappers came with verses which rode the instrumental very well. This song has a really good catchy hook and it actually has some substance. Both Meek and Boogie flowed nicely, and Boogie had a really cool, infectious delivery. I don't know much about his music, but off this verse I am interested to go see what his own music is like, I understand it won't be too much like this song, but if he's rapping like this, then he is definitely someone I could get in to.
Best: Stormzy
One of the reasons this is the best feature is because Stormzy actually seems like he wants to be there. His verse is filled with genuine, cutting bars that hit. He contributes throughout the whole song, he's not just crow-barred into the song like some of the other features on this project. His feature is interesting. His delivery is mega over the heavy-bass instrumental, and he doesn't sacrifice the technical aspects of MC'ing either. His rhyme schemes are on-point with some decent multi-syllables in there, and he's actually saying bars that would get a reaction from the listener. Fair play to Stormzy, easily the best Hip Hop feature on the album.
Comments
Post a Comment