Hip-Hop Lives Here
Hip-Hop Lives Here
Ed Sheeran is closing out 2021 with a major achievement under his belt. On Wednesday (Dec. 22), the singer posted a video to his Instagram announcing that his 2017 hit “Shape of You” has become the first song in Spotify’s history to reach 3 billion streams.
“I’ve just heard ‘Shape of You’ has reached 3 billion streams on Spotify, which is absolutely insane. I remember this song hitting a billion and thinking that that was weird,” Sheeran said. “The first song to hit 3 billion streams and I’m really, really chuffed with it. Thank you, Spotify, for your support over the years. We’ve had a great 10 years together and hopefully, we have a great 10 years more.”
The 30-year-old also took a brief moment to share some backstory on how the track became a single in the first place, revealing that he went back and forth with Ben Cook — former president of Atlantic Records UK who signed Sheeran — about making “Shape of You” the first single from his 2017 album, ÷ (Divide).
“The song wasn’t meant to make the album … the album wasn’t done, and when I finished the song, Ben Cook from my record label was basically saying, ‘You have to put this on the album, it has to be a single.’ I said to him, ‘I want ‘Castle on the Hill’ to be the first single, that’s going to be bigger,'” Sheeran explained. “We agreed to disagree and put both songs out at once, and I have to say that Ben, I was wrong and you were very much right.”
“Shape of You” would go on to spend a total of 59 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 chart; the tracked stayed at the No. 1 spot for 12 weeks. (“Castle on the Hill,” in comparison, peaked at No. 6 on the chart and enjoyed 33 weeks on the Hot 100.) The success of “Shape of You” — alongside “Castle on the Hill” and “Perfect” — helped ÷ become Sheeran’s second longest charting album to date, spending a total of 250 weeks on the Billboard 200.
Watch Sheeran celebrate his Spotify milestone below.
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Olivia Rodrigo and Chappell Roan have teamed up for a remix of Expectations.
On Monday (12.10.26), Olivia shared a video on Instagram Stories showing a studio session, with the new version of the song from her latest album, You Seem Pretty Sad For A Girl So In Love, displayed on the screen.
In the clip, a voice believed to belong to her close friend Chappell can be heard saying: "Ooh, Olivia does remixes now."
According to The Sun newspaper's Bizarre column, the revamped track is expected to arrive this Friday (16.10.26).
The Good 4 U singer and the Pink Pony Club star are thought to have come up with the idea to work together after spending time together at Olivia's Daisy Chain Fields festival earlier this summer.
A source told the publication: “Olivia and Chappell have been friends for a long time through producer and songwriter Dan Nigro, who has worked closely with both of them.
“Chappell hasn't released any new music for more than a year as she's taken a step back from the spotlight and quietly focused on creating new material.
“But they caught up again in August at Olivia's Daisy Chain Fields festival, where they both performed, and decided to collaborate. Chappell really connects with the song's message, and the version they've created together is amazing.”
It was also at Daisy Chain Fields that Chappell discovered "how much" she had "missed" being on stage.
The singer had not performed live since May, making her appearance at the all female festival a welcome return that seemed to reignite her passion for performing. After the show, she took to Instagram to thank Olivia for the invitation and applaud her for using her platform “for good”.
Sharing a message on Instagram following the event, she wrote: "Thank you for having me @daisychainfields ! @oliviarodrigo u r so inspiring in so many ways.
"Artists like you are so important because you use your platform for good and bring so much light into the world.
"Thank you for being yourself and for supporting artists like me. You've changed my life in so many ways 3 Performing again felt so good, and I hadn't realised how much I'd missed it. I finally got to live out my fifth element fantasy."
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