by GABRIELLA DEPINHO, News Editor

Over the summer, Ed Sheeran released his album “No. 6 Collaborations Project” inspired by the EP “No. 5 Collaborations Project,” which he made before his album “+” which launched his career.

As a fan of Sheeran’s music and that original EP, I found myself excited because I knew the collaborations he would be doing would be sonically different than what he did on his original collaborations project because of his status as a pop superstar. Now, in the prime of his fame, he could reach out to more people from different genres and different fame statuses to make whatever music he felt he needed to make.

Collaborations give musicians a leg-up in the industry. With at least two artists or groups working on one song, you have at least double the fanbase to sell the song to. The more different the musical stylings are of the two artists collaborating, the more fans you reach.

While Sheeran collaborated with Justin Bieber on “I Don’t Care,” the amount of fan overlap between the two artists is probably high considering how similar in genre the artists are often considered, despite Sheeran being more guitar-based pop and Bieber being, well, Bieber. However, when Sheeran chose to collaborate with Chance the Rapper and PnB Rock on “Cross Me,” the song had a better chance of reaching a larger audience, which, in my opinion, is what often makes collaborations so magical.

This Jasper Jams is dedicated to those unexpected collaborations that worked magic, the ones in which artists, who you never could have imagined working together, came together and created a song that you can’t quite get out of your head.

I Don’t Want Your Money – Ed Sheeran feat. H.E.R.

Since the inspiration from this playlist came from Sheeran’s latest album, I felt it was best to start off with one from it. I had a whole album to pick from so picking just one was a challenge but I felt this collaboration was a good example of one that is a bit more unexpected.

Numb/Encore – Linkin Park and Jay Z

I’ve known every word to this song since I was nine years old; I blame my older sister for that one. Until writing this column, I never questioned the matchup of artists but I do have to admit, it is a little bit odd. However, I am personally grateful for it.

Boy With Luv – BTS and Halsey

I remember hearing about this collaboration and nearly laughing at the idea of it. When I finally listened to the whole song, I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it and how long the chorus stayed stuck in my head. From Brooklyn to Seoul, this song has unbelievable international reach.

Get Lucky – Daft Punk and Pharrell Williams

A Grammy award winning song, this collaboration was originally the lead single from Daft Punk’s 2013 album. It’s a great, catchy, song that got its fair share of radioplay and fanfare when it was released. However the French electric duo and the Virginia-born American artist are an odd pairing when you look at their histories before their collaboration.

FourFiveSeconds – Rihanna, Kanye West and Paul McCartney

The first time I heard this song was when they performed it at the Grammys and I thought, originally, it was McCartney’s song that Rihanna and West were on just for the performance, but I was wrong. It certainly was not what I expected for a collaboration between the three to be like, but then again, I can not say that I could have ever had expectations that the three of them would work together.

Saturday Nights (Remix) – Khalid and Kane Brown

The track originally appeared on Khalid’s most recent project “Free Spirit” sans Kane Brown. This combination definitely probably reached almost double fanbases, but maybe there are other people, besides myself, who are both Khalid and Kane Brown fans.

Hands – Mike Perry feat. The Vamps, Sabrina Carpenter

The lyrics provided by Perry and a cohort of co-writers make the song reach beyond the tween appeal of the featured artists. When I first heard of the collaboration, I was unsure that it would be good or likable but it’s I was pleasantly surprised. Thanks Spotify Daily Mixes.   

Airplanes – B.O.B and Hayley Williams

This song is iconic for so many reasons but if you stop to think about it, what exactly drew the lead singer of a pop-punk band to collaborate with B.o.b? B.o.b. has a number of notable collaborations worth checking out if you have the time but I had to limit myself to just one.

Blame It On Your Love – Charli XCX and Lizzo

All I’m saying is that Student Engagement has had Lizzo listed as a possible artist for SpringFest for the past two years and now that she’s on the radio, performing at Coachella and collabing with an electronic pop sensation, I highly doubt that Manhattan College will ever be able to consider her as an option again. This song goes hard.

Here With Me – Chvrches and Marshmello

Marshmello has been making such solid collabs all year long so it was hard to pick just one. This one came out on top because it’s a personal favorite and I love Chvrches. This song did not have as long of a radio run as “Happier” which featured Bastille, but it was in the trailer for “The Sun is Also a Star” which was pretty cool.