The day is finally approaching when Ren releases Sick Boi. To say I am exhilarated is a massive understatement. For weeks he’s been teasing us with releases from the upcoming album and everything so far has simply blown me away.
For anyone who doesn’t know who Ren is, then please indulge me- Ren Erin Gill is a welsh born singer, songwriter, rapper, guitarist, pianist, drummer, beat boxer, poet, producer and DJ. His talent is beyond all human comprehension. Yet his life has been one of many tragedies. These experiences have left their mark on Ren and this shows in his music, storytelling and visual accomplishments.
When Ren was younger and living in Wales, his best friend was feeling on the edge. He was crying out for help, but tragically as his friends rushed to aid him, Joe took his own life by leaping from the Menai Bridge in Wales. Ren was pretty much the first person on the scene and a huge search and rescue mission was undertaken, but to no avail. Joes body was never found. As if this wasn’t enough heartbreak for a young man to go through, having lost his best friend in the worst possible way, Ren began to struggle himself. For many years Ren had been told he was depressed, had CFS/ME and that his problems were all psychological.
Ren refused to take the doctors advice and medications, which in many cases made him worse. At some stages of his life he was bedridden for 23 hours a day and simply taking a shower was an excruciating exercise. After many years, Ren finally found a doctor in Belgium who was willing to help. Here, Ren was diagnosed with Lyme disease, which had been running rampant through his body for the best part of a decade. It had caused brain damage, psychosis, depression, autoimmune issues and had basically turned Ren into a walking zombie.
Ren underwent stem cell treatment and for the first time in years began to feel human again, but the war was far from over. Ren had succumbed to something called Mast Cell Activation Syndrome, meaning that his body has an immune response to nearly everything. He is limited to a diet of a few meats and a handful of vegetables, otherwise his body can simply go into anaphylaxis, or leave him bedridden for days. However, all is not lost! Ren is currently in Toronto receiving yet more treatment in the hope that one day he will be free from his pain and suffering.
In spite of all Rens ailments and struggles, he has still managed to create, not just music, but visually stunning masterpieces and has done all this while not being signed to a record label- he was originally signed by Sony, but they parted ways by mutual agreement when RENs health deteriorated.
Rens debut album, ‘Freckled Angels’ in 2016 was a beautifully crafted piece of art, but now, in 2023, Sick Boi is set to take the world by storm.
Ren hit some heights at the end of last year and the beginning of this when his video ‘Hi Ren’ went viral on YouTube and Ren himself has just hit 1million subscribers on that platform.
Sick Boi is a collection of songs written during some very dark times and the pain and emotion contained in these tracks is quite evident, but Sick Boi is essentially a hip hop album, dealing with some very current and historical issues faced by humanity and Ren tackles them head on with passion, empathy, dystopia and above all, lyrical genius. So please, if you’ve never heard of Ren, or perhaps heard a track and thought it wasn’t for you, I beg you to take a deeper dive into this rabbit hole!
Who knows, we may even knock Ed Sheeran and The Rolling Stones off the top spot, because, believe me, Ren has more talent than 95% of artists around in the current music scene.
I guess what I’m asking is that you support this self styled revolutionary and if you haven’t already then maybe pre order Sick Boi-
www.renmakesmusic.co.uk
He also recently donated £21000 to the RNLI crew who helped search for Joe’s body that fateful night, so I guess you could say he’s just an all round great guy.
Thanks for listening and please also give Ren a listen too. He genuinely is incredible.
Peace, love and unity my people 😘