That’s not simplifying things too much. The English singer-songwriter was practically made the face of “The New Boring” in 2011 by Peter Robinson of The
Guardian, who compared him to “a combination of every friend-of-a-friend’s band whose pub gig you have ever witnessed” and called his first album + “a
12-bore s–tgun.” Six years later, Sheeran’s third album, ÷ (which received a 2.8), was reviewed by Laura Snapes of Pitchfork, who called Sheeran “trite,”
“bland,” and “unimaginative” in the subheadline. Over the course of his career, the musician has faced particular criticism for his approach to genre, which
involves taking elements of hip-hop, R&B, and rock and condensing them into radio-friendly pop tunes that become stuck on the charts and in grocery store
speakers for years at a time. — author Aroesti RachelEven though Ed Sheeran is among the most successful musicians of this century by almost any
measure you can think of, his music has caused many people to roll their eyes and turn up their noses for more than ten years—not because it’s awful, per
se, but rather because it’s uninteresting.It makes sense why some would feel the need to downplay Sheeran’s achievements. The public saw him as the
complete opposite of the polished male pop stars who came before him, such as Justin Timberlake and Justin Bieber, One Direction, and Bruno Mars. He was
