Russ has dropped a music video for his recent single “Are You Entertained” featuring Ed Sheeran, who lent his vocals to the track.
The glossy video, which features appearances from Brenda Edwards and Tom Felton, was meant to be directed by British music mogul Jamal Edwards, who died in February. Sheeran shared the story behind the video in a lengthy Instagram post, noting that Russ first approached him last December in New York while he was out to dinner.
“I was a fan so we just sat and ate pasta and drink wine together,” Sheeran recounted. “A few days later I sent him the rough idea for this song, the same day he emailed me back with it finished, which I loved. He said we should do a video, so I hit up @jamaledwards, knowing that he would create something incredible for us. Jamal then planned it out for the next couple of months, sending me locations, ideas, cameos, trying to make it the best video any of us could make.”
He continued, “We were meant to shoot in February, but the day before Russ flew out, Jamal tragically died. Our whole world was upside down, and I had to cancel and just tell Russ it wasn’t happening, but he was so so understanding, to a level I’ll never forget.”
The musicians ultimately resurrected the idea with Jake Nava as the director. “I felt so sad on the day, but very proud,” Sheeran recalled of the shoot. “I wish Jam was here to see it, I wish we’d done it together, but he would be buzzing how all his people came together and brought his vision to life.”
In May, Sheeran released new “tour edition” of his latest album, =. Pronounced Equals, the 2021 release got a refresh with the addition of nine tracks. Earlier this year, Sheeran hopped on a pair of tracks alongside J Balvin — “Sigue” and “Forever My Love” — and joined Camila Cabello on “Bam Bam.”