Ed Sheeran: Victoria's Secret Song Suits 'Half-Naked Women Wandering About,' Won't Ever Be a Rapper

Posted on May 18th 2012 1:00PM by Melody Lau

Gareth Cattermole, Getty

Even though Ed Sheeran can pull off the odd rap or beatbox, don't expect him to ever become a full-time hip-hop artist.

"I never want to be a rapper," Sheeran tells AOL Music Blog. "I'm influenced by hip-hop and I guess, somewhere down the line, there might be a song that's more hip-hop than anything else I've done, but I just want to be the chubby ginger kid with the acoustic guitar who occasionally raps.

"I also wouldn't pride myself on being a beatboxer."

The British singer-songwriter admittedly does draw inspiration from a lot of hip-hop artists when writing his own music, though. Sheeran says that listening to rappers is "more interesting to listen to because they fit more lyrics into it than singer-songwriters."

Although Sheeran has no plans to throw down some wicked rhymes himself, it didn't stop him from calling on one of his favourite rappers to participate in a collaborative EP. Sheeran, being a fan of American rapper Yelawolf, decided to get in touch and see if he'd be interested in working with him. Yelawolf did and the end result was a four-song EP entitled The Slumdon Bridge.

"Working with him was really cool, it really brought out different sides of me," says Sheeran. "He's influenced by country as well as hip-hop and I'm not really familiar with country so it was an education for me."

The 21-year-old Sheeran is certainly still learning a thing or two about crafting his own sound and brand but he's certainly landing some coveted placements for his songs. Sheeran's "Give Me Love" was the music used in lingerie company Victoria's Secret's Love is Heavenly commercial, which was directed by Transformers' Michael Bay. Sheeran figures that's a match made in, well, heaven.

"I'm happy having half-naked girls dancing to one of my tunes," says Sheeran, with a laugh. "It actually works. I don't know, maybe [my music] just suits half-naked women wandering about. I think it does!"

Of course, having Michael Bay-directed commercials using his music was welcome, but Sheeran does assure that he still maintains a very clear vision of his music.

"That's never something to keep in mind," he says. "It's most important to please yourself and make the music that you want to make."

It's certainly how he feels about the music he's making currently. Sheeran already has 15 songs written for a follow-up record and reveals that "six of them are the best tunes that I've written so far.

"It's just another me record though, to be honest," Sheeran says. "If you like the record I just put out, you'll like this one."

Watch Ed Sheeran Talk About Writing Music for One Direction'

Watch Ed Sheeran Victoria's Secret "Love is Heavenly" Ad