Watch Ed Sheeran Cover Fetty Wap’s ‘Trap Queen’ With the Roots
Ed Sheeran is a big supporter of the acoustic rap cover, so it was only a matter of time before the singer-songwriter slowed down the current frontrunner for Song of the Summer: Fetty Wap’s “Trap Queen.”
Backed by the Roots, Sheeran’s docile take on the energetic hit was filmed backstage at The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon and turns the track into pining, crooner gold.
For the televised portion of his Tonight Show appearance, Sheeran and Fallon poked fun at the “cherub-faced troubadour”‘s range of surprising covers in a parody commercial for a fake metal compilation called Ed Sheeran Sings Heavy Metal. He sang pleasant takes on heavy cuts like Iron Maiden’s “Run to the Hills” and Limp Bizkit’s “Break Stuff” and even got in a quick take on Ty Dolla $ign’s “Paranoid” (for Ed Sheeran Sings Hardcore Rap, naturally).
Sheeran’s penchant for a subtle rap cover has become an integral part of his live shows. At New York City’s Forest Hills Stadium, he wove 50 Cent’s “In Da Club,” Iggy Azalea’s “Fancy” and Chris Brown’s “Loyal” into his own singles. He’s also a huge fan of trying his hand at R&B and soul classics, singing Stevie Wonder, Nina Simone and Bill Withers at the same NYC show and covering Ben E. King’s “Stand By Me” with opener Ben Kweller earlier in his tour.
Fetty Wap’s “Trap Queen” was initially released in early 2014, but it didn’t begin its rise to the top of the charts until a year later. An appearance at Kanye West’s Roc City Classic concert in February and a collaboration with Fall Out Boy at the MTV Movie Awards helped give the track an extra push.