Ren. Is this guy a genius or just passing fad?
Discussion
Ronstein said:
Like all art, it's pointless posturing to some and utterly 'real' to others. Anything that's not mainstream is polarising, but it all comes down to personal taste (unless you're a critic, in which case it's about how clever you can make yourself look, IMO)
It's not for me, but I love Cardiacs and Zappa, which many hate with a passion, so each to ttheir own.
Absolutely It's not for me, but I love Cardiacs and Zappa, which many hate with a passion, so each to ttheir own.
Ren's music hits the right chords in my soul. It's hard to explain, much of his recent stuff has been rap and hiphop, two genres I would not normally give much time to. I'm not the only one that's seen Hi Ren, felt something, and then fallen down the rabbit hole that is Ren's back catalogue. He's not just a rapper with a guitar.
Though there is a little bit of ironic humour for me in reading the some of the comments here about how he's a an early eminim and such when the lyrics in one of the verses of Hi Ren is:
Let me break the fourth wall by acknowledging this song:
Ren sits down, has a stroke of genius
He wants to write a song that was not done previous
A battle with his subconscious, Eminem did it
(Played on guitar?) Plan B did it!
Man you're not original, you criminal rip-off artist, the pinnacle of your success is stealing other people's material
Ren, mate, we've heard it all before
As said tho, Art is subjective.
Edited by Rivenink on Thursday 19th October 15:25
I'm a fan. And the great news is that Sick Boi hit the number one spot in the Album Charts today.
https://www.officialcharts.com/charts/albums-chart...
https://www.officialcharts.com/charts/albums-chart...
AnotherGuy said:
I'm a fan. And the great news is that Sick Boi hit the number one spot in the Album Charts today.
https://www.officialcharts.com/charts/albums-chart...
Not bad for a guy who's spent most of his days in the last year in a hospital hooked up to an IV. https://www.officialcharts.com/charts/albums-chart...
I've recently discovered Ren. I saw a section of Hi Ren on Tik Tok and was immediately intrigued, I like Hip Hop so I decided to watched it all on YouTube.
I can see why people wrote it off as no good. Initially I wasn't sure, the long guitar intro with some duff notes, the odd vocal thing he does. The rapping and the story was captivating but the end where the negative side takes over I felt it ruined it as a song. On my first listen I approached it with the wrong mindset, I was expecting a tune I could to add onto a playlist. It's not a traditional song, it's a performance piece.
I watched it a couple more times and it got under my skin, I've gone down the rabbit hole, I've been watching reactors on YouTube, have seen takes from vocal specialists, guitar specialists, rappers, videographers, an opera singer and a psychiatrist. They all pick out unique insights I'd not caught myself, like the duff notes on the guitar are intentional to represent the negative side of him coming through. Everyone is impressed and seems to have an emotional reaction to it. It's definately art.
He got his album to number one with no label behind him, using the power of social media. Hi Ren is his most popular song and it's 9 minutes long and an emotional roller coaster so he's doing it all in his own unique way, like recording the audio as a live performance. I'm impressed, I'm going to say genius.
I can see why people wrote it off as no good. Initially I wasn't sure, the long guitar intro with some duff notes, the odd vocal thing he does. The rapping and the story was captivating but the end where the negative side takes over I felt it ruined it as a song. On my first listen I approached it with the wrong mindset, I was expecting a tune I could to add onto a playlist. It's not a traditional song, it's a performance piece.
I watched it a couple more times and it got under my skin, I've gone down the rabbit hole, I've been watching reactors on YouTube, have seen takes from vocal specialists, guitar specialists, rappers, videographers, an opera singer and a psychiatrist. They all pick out unique insights I'd not caught myself, like the duff notes on the guitar are intentional to represent the negative side of him coming through. Everyone is impressed and seems to have an emotional reaction to it. It's definately art.
He got his album to number one with no label behind him, using the power of social media. Hi Ren is his most popular song and it's 9 minutes long and an emotional roller coaster so he's doing it all in his own unique way, like recording the audio as a live performance. I'm impressed, I'm going to say genius.
Edited by Escy on Wednesday 1st November 01:37
Polly Grigora said:
Anyone that can play a guitar could add the rest, if he makes it big millions of others will follow
Nothing special
Each to their own though
And yet they haven't. Why?Nothing special
Each to their own though
I can play all sorts of things on several instruments. Dimebag, Jimmy Page, Bonzo.
Ita a completely different kettle of fish though, to have written and produced such things.
Pretending 'anyone can do that' is just silly.
I've come into this a bit late, but YouTube threw Hi Ren onto my feed the other day so i gave it a listen.
First play was a "what the..?!!?" but it was interesting enough for me to watch it all the way through. Then i listened (and watched) again and the more you listen the better it gets.
I then got hooked on watching reaction videos, and its incredible how many of the Reaction-makers end up either in tears or obviously emotional. And its not like it appeals to a niche audience - vocal coaches, classical musicians, rappers, producers, hip-hop artists... all seem to find something in the performance that hits them hard.
It's not an easy listen for sure. Its not a track you can listen to with one ear.
First play was a "what the..?!!?" but it was interesting enough for me to watch it all the way through. Then i listened (and watched) again and the more you listen the better it gets.
I then got hooked on watching reaction videos, and its incredible how many of the Reaction-makers end up either in tears or obviously emotional. And its not like it appeals to a niche audience - vocal coaches, classical musicians, rappers, producers, hip-hop artists... all seem to find something in the performance that hits them hard.
It's not an easy listen for sure. Its not a track you can listen to with one ear.
Joey Ramone said:
Early Eminem with an acoustic guitar, basically.
That's what I got from it, concept of the song on the 1st page is similar to 'Guilty Conscience' by Eminem and Dre, first riff is 'Suck My D***' by Eminem and the main riff for the song is the beat for 'Rap Game' by D-12 or very close to it. Well, firstly I'd like to just say I absolutely love a lot of underground music, especially UK HipHop. I'm knocking on in years, but I still DJ regularly, and I still buy brand new UK underground HipHop Music.
I also love acoustic Folk music, and play guitar and sing myself, and perform at open mic nights.
And I have qualifications in music.
I started my comment with those facts, to at least give my opinion on Ren a little credibility, although music is subjective to the listener, and there is no worst or best.
I have listened to everything I can find by him, just to give myself a decent and fair chance of forming a realistic opinion.
I don't think he's a very good singer, he's ok nothing really horrible about his tone or vocal technicality to say he's 'bad', I just think he's very average and have heard much better buskers.
I don't think he is a very good guitarist, he's got a few tricks he obviously learned while having classical lessons, but there is a lot more (in my opinion) to playing guitar well, than to simply hit the right notes at a good speed. As for strumming, I think most people who pick up a guitar for a couple of years can strum as well as that, learn a few barre chords etc.
I don't particularly like his style of rapping, it just doesn't work for me, although I appreciate others love that London street slang style of rap, and his subject matter is ok, I just don't see the 'genius' in it at all. It doesn't really 'flow' and it's just stuttery and disjointed to my ears, but hey, if you like it than fair play.
I personally find him ok, very average, but visuals leave a lasting impression, and I think his videos are what grabs people's attention. His music is slightly unique and a bit different, and I guess it's cool to like something that isn't the 'norm', and I think the people who call him a genius really have not got a very wide range of musical experience. There are much much better (technically and musically) examples of unique & different music, both new and old, which most people have never heard of, and until you really get into digging into the archives of music, you would probably never find.
He's young, he's trying to be unique, and he's trying to be deep & meaningful, and I say fair play to the lad I hope he does well. If people think he is a genius, then I cannot argue with them, they like what they like, it's that simple. There is no wrong or right in music.
Over all, I think he is 'meh'.
I also love acoustic Folk music, and play guitar and sing myself, and perform at open mic nights.
And I have qualifications in music.
I started my comment with those facts, to at least give my opinion on Ren a little credibility, although music is subjective to the listener, and there is no worst or best.
I have listened to everything I can find by him, just to give myself a decent and fair chance of forming a realistic opinion.
I don't think he's a very good singer, he's ok nothing really horrible about his tone or vocal technicality to say he's 'bad', I just think he's very average and have heard much better buskers.
I don't think he is a very good guitarist, he's got a few tricks he obviously learned while having classical lessons, but there is a lot more (in my opinion) to playing guitar well, than to simply hit the right notes at a good speed. As for strumming, I think most people who pick up a guitar for a couple of years can strum as well as that, learn a few barre chords etc.
I don't particularly like his style of rapping, it just doesn't work for me, although I appreciate others love that London street slang style of rap, and his subject matter is ok, I just don't see the 'genius' in it at all. It doesn't really 'flow' and it's just stuttery and disjointed to my ears, but hey, if you like it than fair play.
I personally find him ok, very average, but visuals leave a lasting impression, and I think his videos are what grabs people's attention. His music is slightly unique and a bit different, and I guess it's cool to like something that isn't the 'norm', and I think the people who call him a genius really have not got a very wide range of musical experience. There are much much better (technically and musically) examples of unique & different music, both new and old, which most people have never heard of, and until you really get into digging into the archives of music, you would probably never find.
He's young, he's trying to be unique, and he's trying to be deep & meaningful, and I say fair play to the lad I hope he does well. If people think he is a genius, then I cannot argue with them, they like what they like, it's that simple. There is no wrong or right in music.
Over all, I think he is 'meh'.
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