And Finally Artist News

Ed Sheeran planning Ipswich-based version of 8 Mile

By | Published on Wednesday 5 July 2017

Ed Sheeran

Did you see Ed Sheeran at Glastonbury? He was good, wasn’t he? Maybe that was the first time you properly checked out what this Ed Sheeran guy was all about and you were pleasantly surprised by what you saw/heard.

But at this stage, he’s been around so long now, you’ve missed out on all the back story. You need a way to get up to speed. How about a semi-fictionalised film about how he became the champion battle rapper he is today?

Oh, that couldn’t work, they’d say. It’s madness! But it worked for Eminem, so why not Ed? He’s already got a pitch for it.

“I want to have an ‘8 Mile’ moment”, Sheeran told Q. “But ‘8 Mile’ meets ‘Notting Hill’. Not gritty like Detroit but, like, Ipswich”.

Yes, if you were going to make a straight British version of ‘8 Mile’ you’d want to set it somewhere like Corby. But Ipswich is fine as a setting for something a little different. It’s got history, a river, a big bridge. But it doesn’t really have an international profile. Say “Detroit” and people the world over will instantly have a picture in their mind of cars, industry, deprivation and Motown. Say “Ipswich” and they’ll say “Bless you”.

It’s alright though, Ed has a plan to build a picture in people’s heads through music: “I’ve got loads of songs about Ipswich that haven’t come out so I could make a soundtrack”.

So, that’s one to watch out for, right? Though the one place you’ll not be getting updates on future Sheeran-based film projects is Twitter, he having ditched the social network because it’s rubbish.

“There’s nothing but people saying mean things”, he told The Sun of the tweet space. “One comment ruins your day. But that’s why I’ve come off it. The headfuck for me has been trying to work out why people dislike me so much”.

Maybe the film will set everyone straight on why you should like Ed Sheeran. Either way, he won’t see your tweets telling him so.



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