Over the past month or so, Wiley has been going after Ed Sheeran, accusing him of appropriating grime music and being a “culture vulture.” He said last month, “Ed Sheeran is not grime he don’t like grime, never has released grime, he just used grime artists to become known.” Wiley had more to say about Sheeran recently, criticizing his Stormzy-featuring “Take Me Back To London” remix by saying, “I’m mad at Ed Sheeran because he said ‘You need me man, I don’t need you.’ But Ed, the other day mate, you had to use grime to tip your song over the edge.”
It’s important to note that Wiley guested on Sheeran’s 2011 EP No. 5 Collaborations Project, which also featured a variety of other grime artists. Sheeran also featured on Wiley’s 2011 single “If I Could.”
Ed Sheeran has been silent while these accusations have been made against him, until now. Sheeran has shared an open letter addressed to Wiley, in which he defends himself, denies that he refused to feature on another Wiley song, and takes the high road by expressing his admiration for Wiley. He concluded his letter, “You know I have a deep love and respect for the scene, and for you. I look forward to godfather 3, excited to hear it. This is the last il say on this.”
Meanwhile, it could be at least a year until we hear new music from Sheeran. He recently wrapped up his record-breaking Divide tour, and said that he plans on taking a long break.
Ed Sheeran is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music.
