Many young people see their own childhood and images in Ed’s lyrics, the joys, sorrows, lovesickness, lovely romance, arrogance, cunning…
Not handsome, not sleek, just with a guitar, this 26-year-old guy has created remarkable records in terms of audience attendance. Using mathematical codes as album titles: ”+”, ”x” and the upcoming ”÷,” Ed Sheeran’s songs are causing fever around the world.
Try this simple math, if the world population is 7.3 billion people, then 20% of them are updating Ed Sheeran’s new song. So what makes a stupid guy become such a passionate person?
Ed Sheeran – record breaking bomb
It seems no exaggeration to say that Ed could do nothing but watch his records break records again and again. Two songs from the upcoming album released this year ”÷” (Divide) are an early example, after just 24 hours, ”Shape of You” has reached nearly 6.9 million views. and ”Castle on the Hill’ ‘ has more than 6 million viewers, according to Spotify statistics. Thus, on average every 30 minutes, there are about half a million listens to these two songs, breaking the record One Direction set in 2015.
Of course, these two singles continue to dominate many other charts and online music services such as Billboard, iTunes or Youtube channels. The number of more than 42 million viewers on Youtube after nearly a week of release promises that when officially released, ”÷” will be an outstanding music product of this year.
Continuing the mathematical inspiration like the previous two albums, ”÷” is Ed’s most satisfactory album, which he confirmed in the music magazine New Musical Express. Still keeping the pop music style, Ed’s songs always make listeners excited by the lyrics. The style of singing over rap lyrics, which once made producer Jack Gostling “fall over”, helped Ed have a place to write lyrics.
Listening to Ed Sheeran’s songs is like reading a lovely short story, in which the listener always finds a part of themselves. Perhaps, that makes this guy’s music loved by the public around the world. Not getting points for shiny, catchy beats, Ed is more like someone who speaks for the thoughts of today’s youth.
”Just move forward and the door will open”
Ed Sheeran was born to be an artist. With a father who worked in an art museum and a mother who was a jewelry designer, Ed lived in an artistic atmosphere from a young age, often following his parents to concerts, including shows by two artists. The artists that Ed idolizes are Eric Clapton and Bob Dylan. It was those childhood years that gave Ed the inspiration to play and compose music.
”Ed’s life is nothing but music” – his father had to admit that when his son decided to leave school very early with the attitude of ”no going back”.
Leaving the small town of Suffolk, Ed Sheeran went to London alone with his guitar to look for opportunities. Playing music anytime, anywhere, performing at three venues one night to have money to buy food and renting a motel, performing on crowded street corners during the day, sending hundreds of emails to record labels for them to listen to. demos… That’s life for the bad-looking red-haired guy who left his hometown nearly two years ago.
In 2011, Ed bought a ticket to fly to Los Angeles (USA), even though he didn’t know anyone, other than an invitation to participate in a poetry night. During his time in America, he ran around nightclubs as an opening act and backup singer, until one day he caught the eye of TV star Jamie Foxx. He liked this guy’s style so much that he let him use the studio for free, and a bed to sleep in in his apartment in Hollywood.
“Just keep moving forward and the door will open” – this saying is completely true for Ed Sheeran. ”That 20-year-old boy was not the least bit depressed or sad because his chances of success were very, very small. He told me that his music is not for critics but for the audience” – Jack Gostling, who produced Ed’s first CD for free, talks about his passion and strong belief this guy.
”My music is not for critics”
That’s right!
Ed Sheeran doesn’t bring anything new to the British music industry. He follows the example of hundreds of thousands of independent artists looking for flashy opportunities on Soundcloud or YouTube. With only a guitar and acoustic instruments, Ed’s songs have a pop color, which is abundant on the market. Even Ed Sheeran’s “singing rap lyrics” appeared ten years ago, with the name of “senior” Jason Mraz.
So what makes Ed so successful? The answer is the lyrics. Ed’s experiences, from a newborn baby to today, are a good enough story and good material for him to put into the song. Many young people see their own childhood and images in Ed’s lyrics, the joys, sorrows, lovesickness, lovely romances, arrogance, cunning… Up to now, having owned musical awards With top music like Grammy and huge assets, Ed Sheeran still maintains what not many artists can do, which is the naturalness and sincerity in every note that touches the audience’s emotions.
It’s not hard to guess that Ed Sheeran’s fourth album will be ”-” (after ”+”, ”x”, and ”÷” ). According to that circuit, what will the minus sign look like? Sad or destructive? No one can answer that question, but perhaps that minus sign will once again blow away previous records./.