Ed Sheeran, Cross Me | Track Review

Following the announcement of ‘No. 6 Collaborations Project,’ pop superstar Ed Sheeran drops second single “Cross Me” featuring Chance the Rapper & PnB Rock.

As was the expectation, Grammy-winning pop singer/songwriter Ed Sheeran has a new album arriving.  No. 6 Collaborations Project (July 12, 2019) serves as not only his first new project since Divide, but also follows up a little-known 2011 EP, No. 5 Collaborations Project.  Prior to the announcement of the project, Sheeran released one big collaboration, “I Don’t Care” featuring Justin Bieber.  With the actual announcement of the album, he’s back with “Cross Me,” trading Bieber for two rappers, Grammy-winner Chance the Rapper and riser PnB Rock.  So, what’s the end result?

“Cross Me” commences a bit off-putting to be honest, featuring an intro by PnB Rock.  The main objection is the sound of the vocals.  The quality is a bit sketchy, thanks to the fact that the vocals are sampled from a freestyle.  Things improve with the arrival of Ed Sheeran.  His ‘original’ singing sounds much higher quality naturally.  That said, he doesn’t change or flip the game with anything he serves up.  A portion of the PnB Rock intro becomes the pre-chorus, while he’s also mixed into the Ed Sheeran led chorus:

“If you cross her, then you cross me (Cross me)

And nobody’s comin’ close, yeah

And I think that you should know that

If you cross her

(Anything she needs, she can call me)

Then you cross me

(Don’t worry about her, that’s my seed, yup, that’s all me)

So come on, and let it go

Oh, I think that you should know.”

On the second verse, we get a freshly-pressed verse from Chance the Rapper, who plays into the vibe of NOT crossing her… or him. He cleverly throws in CrossFit (“But you don’t know that my girl been doin’ CrossFit”), as well as the memorable declaration, “Gotta respect the HBIC.”

Final Thoughts 

Ultimately, “Cross Her” is okay – enjoyable enough.  This isn’t top-notch Ed Sheeran by any means.  Like “I Don’t Care,” it falls short of the glory of better, more memorable songs in his category.  Hopefully, No. 6 Collaborations Project has more compelling surprises beyond its first two advance singles.

Ed Sheeran • No. 6 Collaborations Project • Atlantic • Release: 7.12.19

Photo Credit: Atlantic