Hot off the release of his new album ÷, Ed Sheeran shows his love for hip-hop once again, covering 50 Cent’s “In Da Club” on “The Howard Stern Show.”
Performing the Get Rich or Die Tryin’ standout’s first verse, the British crooner turns the song into an acoustic slapper. “I’m into having sex,” he sings. “I ain’t into makin’ love.”
But that wasn’t all. On top of covering Coldplay’s “Yellow,” Sheeran also performed his take on BLACKstreet’s “No Diggity” classic, restating a love for hip-hop that he’s shown in the past, with Eminem covers and collaborations with Lupe Fiasco and Macklemore.
During his “Howard Stern” appearance, Sheeran also opened up about writing Justin Bieber’s “Love Yourself.” According to him, the song was initially intended for Rihanna.
“Originally, the lyrics were meant to be, ‘If you like the way you look that much, oh baby, you should go and fuck yourself.’ Originally, I was hearing Rihanna coming with a bit of that swag,” he said. “I was like, ‘If anyone was gonna finish this song, it should be her.’ I was talking to Justin and his songs were sounding more and more grown up. I was like, he probably could finish this and make it really, really special.”
Sheeran recently released his ÷ LP, which is expected to top the Billboard 200 in its opening week. Earlier this week, he also announced his upcoming North American arena tour, which kicks off June 29.
Shortly after his “Howard Stern” performances hit the net, another one of Sheeran’s rap covers made waves online. During an appearance on “The Breakfast Club,” the British crooner did an acapella rendition of Nicki Minaj’s celebrated verse off Kanye West’s “Monster.”
Although he didn’t know all the words to the heralded verse, he spit most of Nicki’s bars while humming the rest with some backup assistance from co-host Charlamagne Tha God. “I do know the verse,” he added, looking at cups on the table. “But you’ve given me full shots.”
It looks like Nicki was feeling the performance anyhow, tweeting: “Great job on Monster!!! @edsheeran.”