If you truly enjoy messaging & meaning in your music; after watching this reaction I know you do 😁, then your next Ren reaction must, must, MUST BE "Dominoes". I'm a💯 positive you love & appreciate this Ren track. Cheers luv 😍looking forward to more of your Ren adventures into the Ren-averse.✌
Sick Boi is supposed to be a prequel to Hi Ren, this was Ren talking about his 10 years of misdiagnosis, they told him he was bipolar when in fact he has Lyme Disease. So the "treatment" for bipolar was going nowhere and he was getting sicker and sicker. There is a heartbreaking video of him in 2015 where he is just sitting there crying on camera begging to live, begging to just be well.
It was not a 'prequel,' 'Sick Boi' as a song was released on January 19 2023, a month after 'Hi Ren' was released on December 15 2022. It is a follow on that explains the illness that drove Ren to the conditions he expressed in 'Hi Ren.'
@@FooDogDat but what im saying is thematically it feels like a prequel, Ren is sick in Sick boi, but in Hi ren this was his road to recovery so to speak.
Great reaction! Love how u connect with things ❤ As I have read, the Pig symbolizes a couple of things; one being Greed and another representing his illness- it's been a part of him for so long it is an ugly companion and yet he can't imagine life without it as well. Lol, had the same thought about u being sick and watching Sic Boi before u mentioned it. I hope u feel better soon ❤
Another wonderful reaction Stacey. Ren's ability to distill complex problems, pain, suffering and inspiration into such brief yet hard hitting tracks is incredible. Thanks
Hi Stacey, love you're back with Ren reactions. Wish you get well soon (also looking for that 'free guitar' on your telegram channel - jk). Ren was in school for music at Bath Spa University, and got a contract with Sony, but soon after his undiagnosed Lyme Disease was disabling and he went back to live with his mom in Wales where he spent most of his time in pain in bed with little energy to do anything. Sony agreed to let him out of his contract, he was 19. When he was feeling up to it he wrote volumes of lyrics and worked on his guitar. He says his hard drives must have 1000 songs on them. Part of his misdiagnosis (see 'Sick Boi') was bipolar and ME/CFS, he was put on many drugs including 'Diazepam' (see the video by that name), that made him hallucinate and was in part with the Lyme infection cause of psychosis and a sense of derealization from the drug he hoped would help (see 'Chalk Outlines'). He was certain he wouldn't live to 30 and at times was thinking of giving up (see 'Suic*de'), but maybe his experience with his childhood friend kept that at bay (see 'For Joe'), in trying to find answers when the doctors were making things worse, he got some information from an ME support group that suggested his mental health problems could be due to an infection. He went to a gastroenterologist with his mom and pretended to have a stomach bug that he said antibiotics worked before, he took them and his mental health improved. With that as a clue he got money together to go to an Infectious Disease doctor in Belgium who just reviewing history told him he thought he had Lyme Disease even before the test result came in, and they did show that. This gave Ren hope that he had a path, he began his road of treatment, and about age 25 he was making music again, you can find many old videos of busking on the street, a few collaborations, search under 'The Big Push,' he independently released his first album 'Freckled Angels.' Having a misunderstood or orphaned chronic illness, having been subjected to abuse, neglect, indifference, and incompetence of the medical system, the sadism of 'BioPsycoSocial' 'Functional Medicines' discredited unscientific cult. Taken advantage of by 'medical professionals' snake oil business models, or 'fee for service' providers not working on a patients health but making quota or maximizing billable charges, having suffered iatrogenic physical and psychological harm, all too familiar to many of us. It reminds me of these lyrics from his hit 'Hi Ren' " You think that those doctors are really there to guide you? Been through this a million times Your civilian mind is so perfect at always being lied to Okay, take another pill boy Drown yourself in the sound of white noise Follow this 10 step program, rejoice! All your problems will be gone! Fucking dumb boy " 'Sick Boi' starts with a BPS nonsense dialogue with Ren's ever astounding visuals to drive the point home, then shifts into social commentary he's known for and is at the root of the medical failure he has experienced. For a Ren discography roadmap (not including collaborations and Brighton busking with The Big Push and Trick The Fox): Ren Gill Music journey - his illness path: Crutch Hi Ren Sick Boi Diazepam Depression Chalk Outlines [featuring Chinchilla] How to Be Me [featuring Chinchilla] Cross between his path and his childhood best friend: Freckled Angels Suic*de For Joe Social Justice songs: Dominos The Tale of Jenny & Screech (Full) [includes the three parts including Violet's Tale} Money Game Part 1 Money Game Part 2 (Official Lyric Video) Money Game ARG (Alternative Reality Game) Eden Money Game Part 3 There are some 'fun' videos as well (going to need some to keep from using up all the tissues!): Power Murderer Animal Flow Girls! Uninvited
Don't forget about What You Want, then all of his 'retakes' which are covers of his own redesigned arrangements of popular pieces of music, and all of his collab pieces are simply amazing.
You really shared a flurry of thoughts at the end of this. Fascinating and awesome. The coolest thing about Ren and his music is that as people share it they tend to learn from each other. It's all so beautiful. He likes to help react channels, and he appreciates how they get his music out to the public. Things work more like they should when he's involved.
4:10 Indeed, but if you want to dive deep into what it was like before the doctors knew what he had then check out this song he made during that time called *"Ren Ft. Bibi - Crutch"* . Crutch chronologically speaking is the prequel to this, time-wise :) Thanks for your reaction!
Welcome back to the rabbit hole 🐰🕳️ Ren is siiiiiick! And this is such a great expression of all the built up frustrations from being misdiagnosed for years. I think the perfect follow-up is one of my personal favourites: Crutch feat. Bibi. It’s an older song from before Ren was finally correctly diagnosed with Lyme disease and was written after a breakdown following multiple emergency trips to the hospital. It is heart wrenching and stunning.
I'm super late to the party however I recommend everyone to listen to his interview with Justin Hawkins. He talks openly about his life, his false diagnosis, what he went through etc. There a 12 minute clip on youtube about that specific part and its brilliant What you should also know about Ren's music videos is that they are all done in one take. They rehearse, get the camera angles right etc and then soon as action is called its all done in one take.
He also has awesome interviews with Knox Hill, Black Pegasus, and The Charismatic Voice. I HIGHLY recommend watching ALL of them. It is simply amazing listening to those interviews.
Cathartic indeed, like you said, Stacey, so very relatable. The analogy of bleeding his brain and using the World's resources, so profound. Loved your reaction. He revisits this topic and much more with Eden. In my long time on this planet, been fortunate enough to see the musical greats live, nobody, I repeat, nobody has had anywhere near the same musical affect on my that Ren has. A generational genius, a gift that keeps on giving!
If you liked Hi Ren should check out Tom Macdonalds "best rapper ever". Probably the best video I've ever seen and lyrics and premise of song is mind blowing
You spoke about how young people have trouble getting help with real illnesses because they're dismissed as being too young to have health problems. I fainted at work when I was 27 and doing a substitute teaching job. I was taken to the E.R., and though it was determined that I passed out from dehydration, the first thing that the E.R. doctor asked me was whether I had recently done any heavy drugs, like cocaine, crystal meth. etc . , because it "wasn't typical" for a young person to pass out suddenly like that. I was a little insulted by such an insinuation, but hopefully that E.R. doctor learned from my situation, that not all young people are doing destructive things to themselves; I certainly wasn't.
I agree with everything. I will go even further and state that drs get paid way to much for not really knowing what they are doing as much as they like to say they do. If not for the internet I would still be misdiagnosed with something I dont have also. It went to the point that when I figured out I had fibro and talked to the dr about it he told me this.........."No you dont have that. I have a friend that is an expert in that field and I can tell you for a fact you dont have that" So I seen another dr and he told me..........."I'll test you but dont get your hopes up" I asked him why I would be getting my hopes up? Then I told him that if im wrong then so be it.......But if im right then at least I know whats really wrong with me......Its not normal to feel like you got hit by a mack truck or beat the hell out of with a base ball bat every morning when you wake up. Specially at the age of 26. I was 34 and I was tired of feeling like that every morning...... Come to find out I had 16 of 18 pressure points react and he sent me to a specialist where I found out there is not to much information on fibro. So if I ever see that first dr again with his expert friend im going to tell him he can kiss my ass and i'll be at his house every morning for 8 years beating his ass with a baseball bat so he can live in my shoes for awhile and I can blow him off..........
Have to agree to others on the next one to listen too would be Ren Ft. Bibi - Crutch, but for a different approach from ren try " diazepam" this style from Ren was one of a few. EDIT official Visualizer not a lyrical version.
I think you are the first reactor i have seen who didnt know rens history up front and still actually picked up the "bitten by a tick boy" as lyme disease very well done, for continuously assuing that you analysis is less musically backed than others I think it is actually a postive of your reactions as it allows you to give proper focus and due to the lyrics which is of course Rens strongest point.
As I’m sure you are aware Ren was misdiagnosed with various conditions, bipolar, chronic fatigue among other things. In the end they told him that all the symptoms and pain he was experiencing was all in his head hence the line “your mind is making you sick”. By going so long without the right diagnosis the Lyme disease has caused irreparable damage to his body and brain. He is currently in Canada receiving treatment in an attempt to lessen those symptoms but unfortunately he will never be well again. The doctors here in the uk failed Ren in so many ways but as horrible as it sounds had Ren not gone through what he has we wouldn’t have the Ren we have now.
You should check out wicked ways. I feel like after all these deep songs by Ren you should also check out some of the fun ones and Wicked Ways is a good start
Stracy could rection to this bands Dire Straits Song; Brothers in arms. Tunnel of love. Sultans of swing The Cure: A forest. Lubally ACDC; Thunderstruck, touch too much, dirty deeds done dirt cheap... And from Spain ; Extremoduro Disco ; La ley innata A kiss, i hope you feel better
Rap is not even music. It's just a way of self-expression for those who can't sing or play instruments. Basically, it's just reciting with a drum machine and samples of other people's music. A very primitive art form.
Rap is rhythm and rhyme . Like a drum kit. Ren also sings beautifully.He also often combines song and rap for great effect. . Try listening to Ocean. Also Ren usually creates his own beats and does the mixing to create the finished product.
Ren is not just a rapper. He's a poet. He also sings and plays guitar. Check his stuff out further and you'll see. He just seems to use all art forms at his disposal.
