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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Justin Bieber’s $10 million payday for Coachella this year makes him the highest paid out of the three headliners. With that kind of deal in place, it always felt unlikely that he would step away from the festival. Even so, having a backup option is part of the industry since nothing is ever completely certain.
There was still some hesitation surrounding Bieber, especially because of the health struggles he has dealt with recently, both physically and mentally. Because of that, people online started speculating about who could potentially step in for the Canadian star.
SZA’s name quickly became part of that conversation, with rumors claiming she had been chosen as his backup. Some of those reports even suggested she was being offered a large amount of money to take on that role.
More specifically, the claim was that she would receive a six figure payment to act as his emergency replacement.
But according to the SOS artist herself, none of that is true.
As noted by Buzzing Pop and Bossip, the TDE signee responded directly under a post spreading the rumor and shut it down. “Lmao who made this up? I've seen this 4 times now. I'm in New York no one paid me a dime. Wishing everyone the best [red heart emoji],” she wrote.
It is possible she is currently in New York working on her next album, which she has been teasing in recent weeks.
Overall, it does not seem like SZA took any offense to the situation. She simply wanted to clear things up and stop the rumor from spreading further.
It also appears she is showing support for Justin Bieber, whose first of two Coachella performances has sparked mixed reactions.
If you missed it, midway through his set, the hitmaker pulled out his MacBook and played a series of music videos from his earlier catalog.
Some viewers criticized the moment, calling it unprofessional and lacking effort, while others saw it as something more personal and nostalgic. Many longtime fans have followed Bieber since his early years, so watching him revisit that era felt meaningful for those who have stayed with him.
Even with the divided opinions, there is still a lot of curiosity around what he will bring to the stage for his next performance this coming Saturday.
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