Ed Sheeran On His Ishawna Collab: “It’s Pure Dancehall, And I’m Honored To Be A Part Of It”

Following the release of Brace It—a collaboration with Jamaican singer Ishawna—British pop singer Ed Sheeran is singing praises about being featured on the Dancehall track.

The two caught up during a brief Instagram Live session over the weekend.

“I’m so happy that you’re releasing music again. I think it’s just like, everyone has been waiting for you to do this,” Sheeran told Ishawna to which she responded, “I’m happy that this is the first. Just in time for Sumfest, right? I’m so excited. It’s [got] good reviews. Everybody’s loving it.”

Sheeran, who was visibly flushed, told the Slippery When Wet singer that he was happy for the opportunity to dabble in Jamaican culture.  “It’s pure Dancehall, as well, and I’m honored to be a part of it,” he said.

He also revealed that an official music video for the single is in the works.

According to the duo, the single came about pretty seamlessly. Ishawna said she received the instrumental and blueprint for the track from her collaborator, but he chose to give her all the flowers for how the project turned out.

“I sent you a little idea, and you went away and then like you guys perfected it and mixed and mastered it, and I’m just like so happy to be involved with it,” Sheeran continued.

Brace It was written by Cordel ‘Skatta’ Burrell, Peter Harrison, Ed Sheeran and Ishawna.  It was produced by Skatta, Donovon ‘Don Corleon’ Bennett, and Ishawna under her Legendary Records label.

The composition features prevalent guitar strumming, but there are hints from several old Dancehall riddims, including Dave ‘Rude Bwoy’ Kelly’s masterful Showtime Riddim (the cheering crowd) and two of Tony ‘CD’ Kelly’s popular juggling riddims, Bookshelf (during the chorus) and Buy Out (at the beginning).

Meanwhile, the track has climbed to No. 9 on the iTunes Top 100 Reggae Songs charts in the United States, and No. 87 on the iTunes UK Charts over the weekend.

During the virtual sit-down with her fans, Ishawna said she was reveling in the support she’s been getting.

“There was this big debate the other day, and they were saying (people) nah stream Dancehall. Well me, Ishawna, deh pon di UK charts desso me deh—iTunes. Yeah. Dem a stream, dem a stream, dem a stream Dancehall,” she said proudly.

“Dem a stream authentic Dancehall. Dem a stream it. This one is for the culture. It’s for Jamaica, and memba seh wi nuh follow trend. Memba we set wi own trend. Nobody cyaa trick wi. Dancehall to di worl’ dat wi seh!”

The track features Ed experimenting with patois. According to Ishawna, she was not willing to compromise her authentic self, even though it was an international collaboration.

“When I decided to do the record, it was very important to me for it to be Jamaican and I wanted to do something where it was a balance between you know, Ed and also me. I wanted to still be myself. I didn’t want to like try and do something else. I know that the reason why Ed reached out to me to do a song is because he loves my music—which is Dancehall. A dat get mi di attention so why mi a guh change?“ she reasoned.

“So it was very important for me to just stay true to myself and stay true to you guys.”

Ishawna reiterated how pleased she was about the execution and support of the project.

“The record was made with love. It was made with passion and just genuine good energy. I’m so overjoyed and overwhelmed. Happy with all the support from you guys. It’s just a good look,” she added.

Brace It with Ishawna is Ed Sheeran’s first official Dancehall collaboration but he has dabbled with Afrobeats, releasing Peru with Nigerian singer Fireboy DML last year, and hooking up with Stormzy and Burna Boy on Own It in 2019.

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