"The Man" is a song by English singer-songwriter

Ed Sheeran Edward Christopher Sheeran (; born 17 February 1991) is an English singer-songwriter. Born in Halifax, West Yorkshire and raised in Framlingham, Suffolk, he began writing songs around the age of eleven. In early 2011, Sheeran independently re ...

. It features production from frequent collaborator

Jake Gosling Jake Gosling is an English music producer, songwriter, remixer, manager, and publisher best known for his work with artists such as Ed Sheeran, Lady Gaga, The Libertines, James Bay, Shawn Mendes, All Time Low, One Direction, Major Lazer, Christ ...

. The song was released as an "instant grat" digital download to the

iTunes Store The iTunes Store is a digital media store operated by Apple Inc. It opened on April 28, 2003, as a result of Steve Jobs' push to open a digital marketplace for music. As of April 2020, iTunes offered 60 million songs, 2.2 million apps, 25,00 ...

on 19 June 2014, serving as the sixth of seven promotional singles from his second studio album, '' x'' (2014). It entered the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

at number 87. At his concert in

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian language, Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second- ...

on 5 November 2014, Sheeran played "The Man" as his pick for the night and said that he had only ever played it live once before, and that it is the one song he wished he had never put on an album, as writing it was therapeutic and thus very personal.

Critical reception

'' Billboards Jason Lipshutz has likened Sheeran's rapping to Mike Skinner of

The Streets The Streets are an English music project led by vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Mike Skinner. The project has released six studio albums: ''Original Pirate Material'' (2002), '' A Grand Don't Come for Free'' (2004), '' The Hardest Way to ...

Charts

Certifications

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Man (Ed Sheeran song), The 2014 songs Ed Sheeran songs Song recordings produced by Jake Gosling Songs written by Ed Sheeran