"So Sick" is a song by American singer-songwriter

Ne-Yo Shaffer Chimere Smith (born October 18, 1979), known professionally as Ne-Yo ( ), is an American singer and songwriter. Regarded as a leading figure of Contemporary R&B#2000s, 2000s R&B music, he is the recipient of numerous accolades, includi ...

, written alongside Norwegian production duo

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for Ne-Yo's debut studio album, ''

In My Own Words ''In My Own Words'' is the debut studio album of American singer-songwriter Ne-Yo. It was released by Def Jam Recordings on February 28, 2006. Conceived following his songwriting breakthrough with " Let Me Love You" for fellow R&B singer Mario in ...

'' (2006). Produced by Stargate, the song was released as the second single from the album on November 21, 2005, and received favorable reviews from

music critics Music journalism (or music criticism) is media criticism and reporting about music topics, including popular music, classical music, and traditional music. Journalists began writing about music in the eighteenth century, providing commentary on ...

. "So Sick" peaked at number one on both the US ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100, also known as simply the Hot 100, is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), o ...

and the UK Singles Chart. In Europe, the single topped the

Eurochart Hot 100 The European Hot 100 Singles was compiled by ''Billboard'' and ''Music & Media'' magazine from March 1984 until December 2010. The chart was based on national singles sales charts in 17 European countries: Austria, Belgium (two charts separately f ...

and entered the top 20 in 10 countries, including Denmark, Hungary, Ireland, Norway, and Switzerland. In

Australasia Australasia is a subregion of Oceania, comprising Australia, New Zealand (overlapping with Polynesia), and sometimes including New Guinea and surrounding islands (overlapping with Melanesia). The term is used in a number of different context ...

, the single reached number two in New Zealand and number four in Australia.

Background

Ne-Yo met Norwegian production team

, consisting of Mikkel S. Eriksen and Tor Erik Hermansen, in a hallway at

Sony Music Studios Sony Music Studios was an American music recording and mastering facility in New York City. The five-story building was a music and broadcasting complex located at 460 W. 54th Street, at 10th Avenue, in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood of Manhat ...

on West 54th Street,

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

after the duo had settled there in the early 2005. After finding out they produced R&B-oriented tracks, among others, they started on writing songs for his debut studio album ''

'' (2006) for which they produced six songs, including "So Sick". While Eriksen and Hermansen composed the music for the song, Ne-Yo penned the song's lyrics. "So Sick" centers on a character, who is tired of hearing love songs playing on the radio, as they remind him of his last relationship and breakup. Ne-Yo later confirmed that he got the idea for the song from a former girlfriend: "It's about the first time I fell in love with a girl in a way that I completely screwed it up. So it was a story that I didn't have to think really hard about putting it together. A lot of heartbreak went into that song, so that's why I think a lot of people dug it the way they did – because you can feel it."

Reception

"So Sick" received generally positive responses from contemporary

. Bill Lamb of

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stated that the smooth instrumental of the song makes it stand out and appropriate to listen during the mid-winter season. He was pleased with Ne-Yo's vocals but noted that "more emotional involvement would have made his performance more memorable", calling them "restrained". A review from Contactmusic.com echoed the latter's comment, saying that his vocal rendition is "stunning", while complimenting the Stargate production, defining it as a "melodic masterpiece". ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'' listed "So Sick" as the 41st best R&B song of the 21st century.

Music video

The music video for "So Sick" was directed by

Hype Williams Harold "Hype" Williams (born August 1, 1970) is an American music video and film director, film producer, and screenwriter. Early life Williams was born in Queens. He is of mixed African-American and Honduran descent. He attended Adelphi Univ ...

and filmed in

Aspen, Colorado Aspen is the List of municipalities in Colorado#Home rule municipality, home rule city that is the county seat and the List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous municipality of Pitkin County, Colorado, United States. The city population ...

. Shot in the snow as well as inside a mansion, Ne-Yo commented on filming: "The house we rented out was ridiculous. The walls turned, and there were heated floors. It was crazy." It saw heavy rotation on music video networks BET and

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

. Two music videos were shot for the song, the discarded version featured an urban imagery different to the winter-snow scenario of the original one. The music video on

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

has received over 365 million views as of July 2024.

Remixes

There are five "So Sick" remixes. The official remix was produced by Trackmasters and features rap vocals by

LL Cool J James Todd Smith (born January 14, 1968), known professionally as LL Cool J (short for Ladies Love Cool James), is an American rapper and actor. He is one of the earliest rappers to achieve commercial success, alongside fellow new school hip ho ...

and sampled

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Michael Jackson, one of the most culturally significan ...

's song "

Human Nature Human nature comprises the fundamental dispositions and characteristics—including ways of Thought, thinking, feeling, and agency (philosophy), acting—that humans are said to have nature (philosophy), naturally. The term is often used to denote ...

". This remix first appeared on LL Cool J's eleventh album, '' Todd Smith''. One features Jin. Another remix features labelmate

Jay-Z Shawn Corey Carter (born December 4, 1969), known professionally as Jay-Z, is an American Rapping, rapper, businessman, and record executive. Rooted in East Coast hip-hop, he was named Billboard and Vibe's 50 Greatest Rappers of All Time, the ...

. There is also a remix with rapper

Joe Budden Joseph Anthony Budden II (born August 31, 1980) is an American broadcaster and former rapper. He first gained recognition with his 2003 single " Pump It Up", which peaked in the top 40 of the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and preceded the release of h ...

. Another remix is sung by

Patrick Stump Patrick Martin Stumph (born April 27, 1984), known professionally as Patrick Vaughn Stump, is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. He is the lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the Rock music, rock band Fall Out Boy ...

from

Fall Out Boy Fall Out Boy is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Wilmette, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago, in 2001. The band consists of lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Patrick Stump, bassist Pete Wentz, lead guitarist Joe Trohman, and drummer A ...

, who has also been known to cover the song.

Track listings

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

Covers and samples

In 2020, Australian rapper

The Kid Laroi Charlton Kenneth Jeffrey Howard (born 17 August 2003), known professionally as the Kid Laroi (stylized as The Kid LAROI), is an Australian rapper, singer and songwriter. He was first discovered by Triple J Unearthed in 2016 at the age of 13. As ...

released a reworking of the song called " Need You Most (So Sick)", from his debut mixtape, ''

F*ck Love ''F*ck Love'' (stylised in all caps) is the debut mixtape by Australian rapper and singer the Kid Laroi. It was released on 24 July 2020 by Grade A Productions and Columbia Records. Production was handled by a variety of record producers over ...

''. The song was sampled by

Pop Smoke Bashar Barakah Jackson (July 20, 1999 – February 19, 2020), known professionally as Pop Smoke, was an American rapper. Born and raised in Brooklyn, New York City, he rose to fame with the release of his 2019 singles "Welcome to the Party (P ...

for his 2021 song " Woo Baby" (featuring

Chris Brown Christopher Maurice Brown (born May 5, 1989) is an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and actor. A Pop music, pop and hip-hop-influenced contemporary R&B, R&B musician who works in a variety of genres, he has been called the "Honorific nic ...

) contained in his second album ''

Faith Faith is confidence or trust in a person, thing, or concept. In the context of religion, faith is " belief in God or in the doctrines or teachings of religion". According to the Merriam-Webster's Dictionary, faith has multiple definitions, inc ...

''.

Central Cee Oakley Neil Caesar-Su (born 4 June 1998), known professionally as Central Cee, is a British rapper from Shepherd's Bush, London. Regarded as a leading figure in UK rap, he rose to prominence in 2020 with the release of his drill singles "Day i ...

and

Lil Durk Durk Derrick Banks (born October 19, 1992), known professionally as Lil Durk, is an American rapper. Regarded as a pioneering artist in the Chicago-based hip-hop subgenre drill music, he is often considered the subgenre's most commercially suc ...

's collaboration "Truth in the Lies" sampled the song's instrumental.

References

{{Authority control 2005 songs 2006 singles Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles Def Jam Recordings singles European Hot 100 Singles number-one singles Music videos directed by Hype Williams Ne-Yo songs Song recordings produced by Stargate (record producers) Songs written by Mikkel Storleer Eriksen Songs written by Ne-Yo Songs written by Tor Erik Hermansen Torch songs UK singles chart number-one singles