Sick Boi is the second studio album by Welsh rapper Ren. It was released on 13 October 2023 through The Other Songs as his first studio album in nearly eight years, following Freckled Angels (2016).
| Sick Boi | ||||
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 13 October 2023 | |||
| Length | 64:57 | |||
| Label | The Other Songs | |||
| Producer | Ren Gill | |||
| Ren chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Sick Boi | ||||
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Background
editSick Boi is a self-written and self-produced record that sees Gill "drawing from a lot of things that [he has] worked on over the years". He personally described it as a "victory" over his health and viewed it as empowering to "pull something off like this", as he spent the previous year living in Canada to undergo medical treatment for his chronic diseases.[1] The album delves into the "agony of his struggles" and offers listeners a "perspective that most people don't have".[2] Gill challenged himself to create a "hiphop only" record which came out as a "kaleidoscopic, genre-spanning effort" that focuses on his personal struggles, according to the rapper.[3] In an interview with NPR, Gill revealed that the project was partially inspired by a "hyper-polarization" that is going on in the world according to him, leading to a "division" that hinders humans "to progress as a species".[4] Talking to the Official Charts Company, Gill named "The Hunger" and "What You Want" as the oldest tracks on the record that he had sitting around "for a while". However, when he tied the record together, the songs "made sense".[2]
Critical reception
edit| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [5] |
| And It Don't Stop | A[6] |
| Clash | 7/10[7] |
| Laut.de | [8] |
| Louder Than War | [9] |
Sick Boi was critically well received, with Robert Christgau hailing Ren as "a rapper whose articulated singsong combines startling clarity with polysyllabic vernacularity" and unlike much of anything he had heard before.[6] Writing for Clash magazine, Robin Murray called the album a difficult but "often inspired" and thoughtfully composed work.[7] Wayne Carey of Louder Than War named Sick Boi as "album of the week", saying that Ren produced "the most ambitious" album they had heard in years. Carey called the project a "mammoth" that offers a "harsh tale" of health.[9]
Commercial performance
editOn 16 October 2023,[10] this album was placed at number two in the midweek charts with Rick Astley's Are We There Yet? being the number one album in the first chart update that the Official Charts Company released for the week. For most of the remainder of the week, Astley was number one in their updates, with Ren being only 133 sales behind Astley when the update was issued on Wednesday. At that point it was decided that a £4.99 digital version of Sick Boi would go on sale via Ren's website on the Thursday, with a number of exclusive tracks, securing 4,533 more sales on the last day of tracking and the number one spot when the Official Albums Chart was released on 20 October 2023. In the end Sick Boi clocked up a sales total of 18,653, including 6,226 CDs, 2,036 LPs and 8,619 digital downloads, putting him 6,996 copies ahead of Astley, who debuted at number two.[11][12][13][14]
Removal of Sick Boi track from streaming platforms
editAfter the musician KUJOBEATS issued a copyright claim against the music video of the Sick Boi track,[15] Gill released a video on his YouTube channel on 29 August 2024 detailing his perspective on the situation, including the removal of the track from other streaming platforms. Gill claims that the copyright claim is wrongful and that he legally bought an unlimited-use license to a sample through the music-licensing platform BeatStars from KUJOBEATS.[16] Gill also announced a "beat down", a kind of diss track, against KUJOBEATS, which he subsequently released on September 5 2024.[17]
Track listing
edit| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Seven Sins" | 4:35 |
| 2. | "Sick Boi" | 3:13 |
| 3. | "Animal Flow" | 2:55 |
| 4. | "Money Game, Pt. 3" | 6:34 |
| 5. | "Lost All Faith" | 3:49 |
| 6. | "Genesis" | 2:56 |
| 7. | "Murderer" | 3:30 |
| 8. | "Suic*de" | 4:09 |
| 9. | "Illest of Our Time" | 3:10 |
| 10. | "Love Music, Pt. 4" | 3:24 |
| 11. | "Uninvited" | 2:54 |
| 12. | "What You Want" | 3:16 |
| 13. | "The Hunger" | 2:27 |
| 14. | "Down on the Beat" | 3:54 |
| 15. | "Masochist" | 3:23 |
| 16. | "Loco" | 3:21 |
| 17. | "Wicked Ways" | 3:15 |
| 18. | "Sick Boi, Pt. 2" | 4:11 |
| Total length: | 64:57 | |
Charts
edit| Chart (2023) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Albums (ARIA)[18] | 28 |
| Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[19] | 30 |
| Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[20] | 83 |
| Scottish Albums (OCC)[21] | 1 |
| UK Albums (OCC)[22] | 1 |
| UK Independent Albums (OCC)[23] | 1 |
| UK R&B Albums (OCC)[24] | 1 |
| US Billboard 200[25] | 137 |
| US Heatseekers Albums (Billboard)[26] | 2 |
| US Independent Albums (Billboard)[27] | 26 |
References
edit- ^ Herd, George (18 October 2023). "Rick Astley faces chart challenge from new boy Ren". BBC News. Retrieved 20 October 2023.
- ^ a b Griffiths, George (17 October 2023). "Ren aims for Number 1 with Sick Boi: "This album is a victory over my health"". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 20 October 2023.
- ^ "Ren gives us a track-by-track rundown of his new album 'Sick Boi'". Rolling Stone UK. 13 October 2023. Retrieved 20 October 2023.
- ^ Rascoe, Ayesha (15 October 2023). "Welsh musician Ren's new album 'Sick Boi' is rooted in medical pain". NPR. Retrieved 20 October 2023.
- ^ "Sick Boi". AllMusic. Retrieved 16 May 2024.
- ^ a b Christgau, Robert (15 May 2024). "Consumer Guide: May, 2024". And It Don't Stop. Substack. Retrieved 16 May 2024.
- ^ a b Murray, Robin (18 October 2023). "Ren - Sick Boi". Clash. Retrieved 16 May 2024.
- ^ Cerezo, Anthony (13 October 2023). "Kritische Töne, clevere Slam-Poetry und Rap-Angeberei". Laut.de (in German). Retrieved 20 October 2023.
- ^ a b Carey, Wayne (15 October 2023). "Ren: Sick Boi – review – ALBUM OF THE WEEK!". Louder Than War. Retrieved 20 October 2023.
- ^ "Official Albums Chart Update on 16/10/2023". Official Charts.
- ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100 | Official Charts". Official Charts.
- ^ "REN". Official Charts. 26 October 2023.
- ^ "Ren Outpaces Rick Astley for First U.K. Albums Chart Title". Billboard.
- ^ "Charts analysis: Ren scores first No.1 with Sick Boi | Analysis | Music Week".
- ^ Ren. "Ren - Sick Boi Official Music Video". YouTube. Archived from the original on 5 September 2024. Retrieved 5 September 2024.
This video is no longer available due to a copyright claim by KUJOBEATS.
- ^ Ren (29 August 2024). Why Sick Boi is off all streaming platforms / youtube - the KUJOBEATS and Ren situation. Retrieved 5 September 2024 – via YouTube.
- ^ Ren (5 September 2024). Ren - KUJO BEAT DOWN. Retrieved 5 September 2024 – via YouTube.
- ^ "ARIA Top 50 Albums Chart". Australian Recording Industry Association. 4 December 2023. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
- ^ "Ultratop.be – Ren – Sick Boi" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 19 November 2023.
- ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – Ren – Sick Boi" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 18 November 2023.
- ^ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 21 October 2023.
- ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 20 October 2023.
- ^ "Official Independent Albums Chart Top 50". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 21 October 2023.
- ^ "Official R&B Albums Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 21 October 2023.
- ^ "Billboard 200: Week of October 28, 2023". Billboard. Retrieved 24 October 2023.
- ^ "Heatseekers Albums: Week of October 28, 2023". Billboard. Retrieved 24 October 2023.
- ^ "Billboard 200: Week of October 28, 2023". Billboard. Retrieved 24 October 2023.