Artist
Devlin Feat. Ed Sheeran
Why we feature this artist An older song becomes the frame for a new rap narrative “Watchtower” brings Ed Sheeran’s singing into Devlin’s forceful 2012 recording, drawing on the musical history of Bob Dylan’s “All Along the Watchtower”. The result is a reworki…
- From
- United Kingdom
- Sound
- Hip-hop, grime, pop
Start with the music
Tracks to explore
The artist, in context
The story of Devlin Feat. Ed Sheeran
Why we feature this artist
An older song becomes the frame for a new rap narrative
“Watchtower” brings Ed Sheeran’s singing into Devlin’s forceful 2012 recording, drawing on the musical history of Bob Dylan’s “All Along the Watchtower”. The result is a reworking with a distinctly new verbal density. Devlin’s verses push the rhythm forward, while the featured singing gives the song a recurring melodic point of reference.
Before A Moving Picture
The single arrived ahead of the 2013 album A Moving Picture. Its original Universal Island video places the collaboration inside a strongly narrative visual setting, but the musical relationship is already clear in the recording: a recognisable earlier song is used to support a new rap performance.
The original credits retain Dylan’s writing connection. That history matters because the shared recording is more than a straightforward guest duet. The song carries material from an earlier composition into a different rhythmic and lyrical environment.
The tension is in the pace
Devlin’s delivery can make a phrase feel pressed for space, with consonants and internal accents sharpening the beat. Sheeran’s sung passages work at another pace, allowing the listener to hold a melodic line after the rapid detail of the verse.
The contrast gives the track its dramatic scale. The arrangement can remain forceful without making both performers behave identically, and the older musical reference provides continuity through the changes. “Watchtower” is most effective when those layers remain audible: source song, new narrative and two different vocal approaches sharing one production.
Essential releases
Watchtower
The Ed Sheeran collaboration reworks material associated with Dylan’s “All Along the Watchtower”.
Watchtower — radio and instrumental editions
The original EP offers different views of the same production.
A Moving Picture
The album supplies the collaboration’s wider setting in Devlin’s catalogue.