Benny Blanco is giving Ed Sheeran a shoutout for making relatable music.
The music producer, 37, expressed his appreciation for the pop star, 34, in a TIME100 cover story published Wednesday.
“He sings sentences that we say all the time, but nobody ever puts them together like that in a song,” Blanco said of his longtime collaborator, Sheeran.
Blanco then went into the specifics of what inspires him about the award-winning singer’s personality, admitting that it is quite relatable.
“The thing that makes him so good—and I’m in a similar spot—we’re just kind of like the average Joe that shouldn’t have really made it, but somehow we did. He has that humility and that insecurity, and I think that’s what makes him so relatable.”
Blanco, who is engaged to singer and actress Selena Gomez, also noted how impressive it is that Sheeran can write songs so quickly.
“Normally, it takes me like a week to write a good song,” he said. “He does not leave the studio until he writes three songs in a day. It’s insane,” Blanco added of Sheeran, who previously revealed that he once penned eight songs in a day.