Bangor, UK · singer-songwriter · hip-hop

Ren

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Welsh artist whose long-form narrative songs built an enormous audience almost entirely outside the industry — story-rap virtuosity on his own terms.

Ren, born Ren Gill, is a musician from Bangor in north Wales. He works across rap, folk and acoustic singer-songwriter modes, often within a single track, and is known for long, narrative songs that unfold as monologues or dialogues rather than following conventional verse-chorus structure. Chronic illness, including a long period of Lyme disease, shaped both his subject matter and a career that developed largely away from the traditional industry.

His audience grew primarily through YouTube and social platforms, where videos such as "Hi Ren" — a sustained argument between the artist and his own inner voice — circulated widely. He has since released full-length projects independently and toured on the strength of that following.

singer-songwriterhip-hop