Ed Sheeran: Jay-Z Turned Down ‘Shape of You’ Feature: ‘Respectful Pass’

Honoree Ed Sheeran attends 50th Anniversary Spirit Of Ireland Gala at Pier Sixty at Chelsea Piers on October 20, 2022 in New York City.Shawn Carter attends the Los Angeles premiere of “The Harder They Fall” at Shrine Auditorium and Expo Hall on October 13, 2021 in Los Angeles, California.

Jason Mendez/Rich Fury/Getty Images

"Shape of You" was never meant to take on another shape for Ed Sheeran. In a recent interview with Rolling Stone, Sheeran revealed his massive 2017 hit almost featured Jay-Z but was respectfully shot down.

The 32-year-old singer-songwriter told the publication about approaching Jay-Z. "We were in touch. I sent him the song, and he said, 'I don't think the song needs a rap verse.'" Sheeran added that Jay-Z "was probably right." Giving the Roc Nation founder his props, he added, "He's got a very, very good ear. He usually gets things right. It was a very natural, respectful pass."

RELATED: Ed Sheeran Teases Upcoming ‘Subtract’ Album

This isn't the first time Ed has ventured out of his own genre to collaborate with other artists. He's worked with Beyoncé, The Weeknd, Meek Mill, Young Thug, N.E.R.D., Eminem, Chance The Rapper and PnB Rock, the list goes on. Besides collaborations, Sheeran also hangs out with rappers all the time, including Snoop Dogg, who recently gave him a Death Row chain. He has also been seen pictured hanging out with Kodak Black, Meek Mill and Burna Boy.

With Sheeran’s new album Subtract out soon on May 5, he is feeling the danger of achieving a new brand of "musical coolness." He knows there’s a chance critics will like this one, which worries him "because all my biggest records, they hate.” He recently dropped the music video for "Eyes Closed" last week, the third song of the album.

As we've previously reported, Sheeran had to appear in court last year after being accused of stealing parts of a song for "Shape of You." Though he was subsequently cleared of the accusations the following month, Ed said the claims were "so damaging." He added that in the song-writing community, there are "only so many notes and very few chords used in pop music. Coincidences are bound to happen if 60,000 songs are released every day.”

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by

Ed Sheeran’s 10 Best Lyrics That Warm (Or Break) Your Heart

Singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran knows how to make some of the saddest lines upbeat. His lyricism is top-tier, accompanied by his acoustic guitar and infectious pop melodies, and the Brit often strikes musical gold. Born Edward Christopher Sheeran on February 17, 1991, in England, he developed an interest in music at a very young age. He sang at a local church choir at the age of four. As we previously reported, Sheeran developed a stutter after undergoing surgery to remove a birthmark in his early years. He was gifted Eminem's The Marshall Mathers album as a kid by his uncle. The album helped him to grow out of it. When he was nine, his uncle told his dad his nephew would be "the next Bob Dylan." After learning the 2000 record and "rapping it back, to back, to back, to back," it cured his stutter.

Sheeran's Rise To Stardom

Gaining more confidence, Sheeran learned how to play the guitar and started writing songs when he was eleven. Two years later, at thirteen, Sheeran began recording music. He independently released his first collection of work, titled Spinning Man. In 2008, he moved to London, playing music in small venues and on the street. That same year, he auditioned for the ITV series Britannia High. Since the show's producers were looking for triple threats, Sheeran's dance skills proved to be highly uncoordinated, so he got cut. He wasn't too torn up about it, able to admit that everyone auditioning really wanted to be cast.

He released another EP in 2009, titled You Need Me. He and fellow English singer Leddra Chapman recorded covers with each other often, including CeeLo Green's "F--- You." In 2010, Sheeran released his critically acclaimed Loose Change EP, which featured his future debut single, "The A-Team."

With seven studio albums below his belt, see which of our favorite Ed Sheeran songs warms (or breaks) our hearts.

10. Drunk

Mike Coppola/Getty Images

From Ed's 2011 '+ (Plus)' album, he cleverly sings, "On cold days cold plays out like the band's name. I know I can't heal things with a handshake." The singer-songwriter than admits he knows what he can change, but he's been cut wide open like a landscape. The lines, "Open bottles of beer but never champagne, to applaud you with the sound that my hands make," he chooses beer over champagne, which is used to celebrate something.

9. The A Team

Paul Kane/Getty Images

The worst things in life come free to us / 'Cause we're just under the upper hand / And go mad for a couple grams