During Norte Show interview on Capital Xtra, Stormzy told:

I got in the studio with Fred (Gibson) an' we was tryna make…
You know Kanye West’s ‘Waves?’ We was tryna make something along dem lines. So he’s made the ting an' I’m just like ‘Own it, gyal you just own it, 'cause your body’s on fire.’ An' even for me, that was such growth, ‘cause I always say I ’m tryna become a better songwriter.

With these two lines that we’ve started it with, what does that mean? For me, that’s man looking at a girl, like a beautiful woman, like a woman I’m in awe with an' I’m lost for words an' sayin' ‘Own it, girl you just own it’ I’m so in awe like, ‘show me how to control it.’ An' Fred was like ‘Bruv, stay focused’ like: Own it. Girl, you just own it. ‘Cause your body’s on fire. Show me how to control it. And go hit your spliff and get higher. Girl, I love how you roll it. An’ I was stuck there for ages: ‘Girl, I love how you roll it’ an' then I was like ‘I put my hand there, hold it.’ An' I was like ‘I’m becoming the songwriter’ ‘cause as much as I can do “Blinded By Your Grace” an’ beautiful hooks, sometimes it about being so in awe of a woman you’ve seen in the club an' you’re sayin' ‘You just own it;’ I am so in awe of you. An' from then the whole thing was just dedicating this song that girls can listen too an' feel beautiful; before they’re goin' out for pre-drinks they can turn it on an' just think… they just listen to it an' it’s such a vibe. An' I kept on saying ‘This riddim needs to slap,’ as in, we was recordin' this in Metropolis an' I was sayin' If Rhianna was downstairs she should be able to walk past this room, hear it slappin' and think ‘Rah, Who’s that?’ an' she wants to buck out a bit to it, want to buss a lil' wind, you know what I mean?

So I had the track, and then I shouted Ed (Sheeran), at first I wanted him to sing the hook, via email, ‘cause that man doesn’t have a phone… So I wanted Ed on the hook an’ me on the verse, an' I thought maybe someone else could take the second verse, I was thinking maybe ‘Hus (J Hus), maybe Mo’ (MoStack), you know what I mean? Someone vibey, like. An' Ed only sings what he’s penned so he was like ‘Can I take the verse?.’ An' I was like ‘OK. Yeah, cool, you take the verse.’ An' then he’s done the verse an' I’m like ‘Pff… This is good. Like, he’s Ed, this is brilliant.’ So we made this tune an' it was just me an' Ed, an' for time I was like ‘OK, this needs some glue, this needs flavour; I got flavour Ed’s got flavour, but we need more flavour, we need that flavour’ An' who better than the flyest, most sauciest; the African Giant, the musician of the year for me (Burna Boy)? ‘Burna, come please an’ glue this whole track together because we need your sauce.‘ So Burna is the glue, Burna is the whole flavour an’ the sauce of that riddim.

An' at the end I was like ‘Hang on, you got Stormzy, you got Ed Sheeran an’ Burna Boy all on one track; I think this might be a bit of a hit.‘ We managed to bridge three different cultures an’ styles an' sounds to make what hopefully goes on to be an' international hit.

On February 16, 2020, “Own It” received Platinum status in the UK (certified by the British Phonographic Industry).

Yes. Ed Sheeran worked with Stormzy on the “Shape Of You (Stormzy Remix)” and Ed’s track “Take Me Back to London.”