So Sick

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 early 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 (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 music critics. Bill Lamb of About 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 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 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.

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 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 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. There is also a remix with rapper Joe Budden. Another remix is sung by Patrick Stump from Fall Out Boy, 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 released a reworking of the song called "Need You Most (So Sick)", from his debut mixtape, Fck Love*. The song was sampled by Pop Smoke for his 2021 song "Woo Baby" (featuring Chris Brown) contained in his second album Faith. Central Cee and Lil Durk's collaboration "Truth in the Lies" sampled the song's instrumental. In 2019, American rapper Luh Kel's song '"Pull Up" from the album "Mixed Emotions" also sampled this song.

References

References

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40. (October 27, 2025). "20 Questions With Luh Kel: The Rising R&B Star Talks Staying Confident & His Bond With Queen Naija".