I feel if you listen to music, of any genre, you have to be living under a rock to not know the name Ren.
He seemingly exploded onto the music scene at the end of 2022, but the reality is, Ren Gill, known to most of the world as Ren, has been crafting music since 2009 and prior to going solo was in Trick the Fox and The Big Push.
I first discovered Ren after Canadian chanteuse, Chantal Kreviazuk, shared his song “Hi Ren” on her Instagram stories. After that, “Hi Ren” and Ren began showing up everywhere. Every reactor creator was reacting to “Hi Ren” and then his song “Illest of Our Time” then “Animal Flow” then “Suicide” and so on and so on.
I covered his music as well (links below), but then he started churning tunes out quicker than I could listen and write. Having a real world job really puts a damper on the passion project where I can discuss and share music that lights up my senses.
Alas, instead of trying to keep up with the music industry disruptor, I decided to just wait and cover all the songs in one go when the album Sick Boi is out.
So when is that album out?
Friday the 13th of course.
That date and the mastermind that Ren appears to be is not lost on me.
It may be an unlucky date for some, but I do believe for Ren it will perhaps be one of the luckiest dates in his career.
As a man who has been transparent and chronicled and still chronicles his years of chronic health problems as Lyme disease, Mast Cell Activation Disorder, M.E./CFS, ADHD, chronic depression, and intermittent episodes of psychosis to name a few, his music is just as transparent.
With his song “Hi Ren”, a gut wrenching and emotional look at the battle within, Ren lyrically bashes himself and his inner saboteur with honest, raw, and heartbreaking lyrics. Whether he is portraying the inner saboteur Ren or Himself, both speak in uncompromised brutal truths.
The honesty of the song made mental health a reality for many. Ren the singer-songwriter-rapper gave a voice to the inner voice many feared to give a voice to and by giving it a voice, he also allowed many to face their fears and fight back.
Throughout the Universe, Ren connected with others who may have felt alone.
Allowing others to realise they too had a voice, albeit through an English wordsmith that can spit rhymes as eloquently and quickly as American wordsmith Eminem, Ren was solidifying his fanbase. An army not just charmed by his good looks, accent, and talent, but who also saw him as he so wonderfully said in “Hi Ren”, “some people know me as ‘hope’”.
Ren fan @serendipitish kindly corrected me that his fanbase is not called Rennies like Swifties, but Renegades and it further adds fuel to my thoughts that this independent artist is truly a renegade himself, kicking down the doors of an industry that once held him within the confines of a label contract.
Sick Boi, the 18 track self-produced album, has the master creator, Ren, bloodletting his innermost thoughts and experiences through witty, thoughtful, hard hitting, at times dark, at times light, but mostly honest, raw, and visceral lyrics.
Fans will recognise a few of Sick Boi’s tracks, “The Hunger,” “Genesis”, and “What You Want” from Ren’s 2022 EP of the same name as the sophomore album plus songs of the “Love Music” series as well.
With the 13th being days away, is Ren set to disrupt the music industry? Is he poised to become the male version of Taylor Swift and Beyonce and reign next to two fierce women who have become music renegades in their own right? Or will the virality of Ren’s star power burn bright and disappear before our eyes like a meteorite across the sky?
This writer happens to believe he’s more than just a flash in the pan. He’s on the cusp of something huge and perhaps even bigger than one could imagine. As someone who worked in radio marketing and entertainment marketing, he’s mostly given me hope for the future of music.
This is why he’s our debut Artist Spotlight.
Ren’s Discography
Freckled Angels (2016) – LP
The Tale of Jenny & Screech (2019) – EP
Demos (Do Not Share) Vol 1 (2020) – EP
Demos (Do Not Share) Vol 2 (2020) – EP
Violet’s Tale (2022) – EP
Sick Boi (2023) – LP
Read more Ren on Amplify the Noise
