inside ed's ripped jeans

“bad mama”

Ed Sheeran & Beyonce performing “Drunk in love” at the Global Citizen Festival

I know Ed has already had a lot of commercial success with his first two albums and has proven again and again how talented he is as a songwriter and performer and even producer and arranger, but his next album, which will put a mainstream spotlight on the unique musical styles of places like Ghana – bringing popular attention to the kind of music (and attitude toward creating music) that deserves more attention than it gets – already has the potential to become a true and enduring classic like Graceland. And I believe Ed will be smart enough about this project to show that he is not trying to appropriate the culture of Ghanaian people, but that he wants to use his access to the world stage in order to celebrate and promote and bring attention to their art. (Collaborating and touring with real Ghanaian musicians themselves would be a good way to do this, as Paul did with South African musicians on Graceland.) I think there will probably be less controversy over Ed’s album than there was over Paul’s due to the political climate at the time and place it was made, but Ed’s album will still be an exciting departure both for his music and for Western pop music as a whole.