Ed Sheeran and J Balvin are two of the biggest musicians in the world — collectively drawing over 131 million monthly listeners on Spotify alone — and now the two very different musicians have teamed up with a surprise drop of a two-song EP that brings both their signature styles into play, in succession.
Balvin and Sheeran announced the project on Thursday, releasing the two numbers that same night. “Sigue” is an upbeat reggaeton dance song led by Balvin, one of the biggest stars in the genre. “Forever My Love” is a slower love ballad similar to the ones that have made Sheeran famous. Both songs feature the Englishman Ed Sheeran singing in Spanish for the first time in his career.
In a statement coinciding with the EP’s release, Balvin and Sheeran said their collaboration began when they met by chance at a gym in New York six months ago. After having coffee and bonding over being fathers, the two made plans to collaborate in New York, which eventually resulted in a day in the studio that birthed the two singles.
“I wanted him to come to the world of reggaeton and he invited me to his world as well,” Balvin said in his statement.
“I was in New York at Christmas for shows and we decided to have one day in the studio that led to so so much more,” said Sheeran. “The first two songs we wrote were ‘Sigue’ and ‘Forever My Love’ and I absolutely love them. He wanted to bring me into his world, and I wanted to bring him into mine. It was a proper challenge learning Spanish for this and I had so much fun doing it,” saidthe singer, who promised “more to come” from thecollaboration.
Balvin and Sheeran also released music videos for the two songs. Watch them below.
