"So Sick" is a song by American singer and songwriterNe-Yo. It was written by Ne-Yo, Mikkel S. Eriksen, and Tor Erik Hermansen for his debut studio albumIn My Own Words, while production was hemled by Eriksen and Hermansen under their production moniker Stargate. The song was released as the second single from the album. "So Sick" was successful on charts worldwide, reaching number one in the United States and the United Kingdom. It won the race to the UK number-one spot, scoring Ne-Yo his first UK number one and beating "Nature's Law" by Embrace, which only reached number two due to a large count of legal download sales of "Nature's Law" which did not register in the official charts. The song was featured in the video games Saints Row 2 and SingStar.
Background
Ne-Yo met Norwegian production team Stargate, consisting of Mikkel S. Eriksen and Tor Erik Hermansen, in a hallway at Sony Music Studios on West 54th Street, New York City after the duo had settled there in the spring of 2005. After finding out they produced R&B-oriented tracks, among others, they started on writing songs for his debut studio album In My Own Words 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 critics. Bill Lamb of About stated that the smooth instrumental of the song makes it stand out and appropriate to listen during mid-winter season. He was pleased with Ne-Yo's vocals, but noted that "more emotional involvement would have made his performance more memorable", while calling "restrained". A review from Contactmusic.com echoed the latter's comment, saying that his vocal rendition is "stunning", while complimenting the production a "melodic masterpiece".
Music video
The music video for "So Sick" was directed by Hype Williams and filmed in Aspen, Colorado. 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.
Covers, remixes and samples
There are five "So Sick" remixes. The official remix was produced by Trackmasters and features rap vocals by LL Cool J and sampled Michael Jackson's song "Human Nature". This remix first appeared on LL Cool J's eleventh album, Todd Smith. One features Jin. Another remix features labelmate Jay Z. Another remix which is sung by Patrick Stump from Fall Out Boy has also been known to cover the song. In 2007, saxophonist Kim Waters covered the song on track one on You Are My Lady. There is also one with Tupac Shakur. There is also a version that uses the "Seasons" riddim. The song's instrumental was sampled on Luh Kel's song "Pull Up" in 2019. Rapper The Kid Laroi released a reworked cover on his debut album, F Love.
