Sam is great. Ren ,at 23, going home from a short busk ,saw 16 yr old Sam singing without music or mic and was captured by his. Voice. He offered his guitar and mic, but Sam didn't play. So Ren propped himself against a wall and played for him and let him keep all the money. First time Sam felt comfortable singing that way. Sam opened for Justin Beiber and just finished a solo tour. He and Ren have several videos and their original song Blind-eyed was Ren's first viral hit..and Sams. Ren's first success after 2 stem cell transplants. They are magic together. ❤❤❤

k, so the thing you can TRUST is that Ren's ability to make music has so often been so severely limited by his health (ie - he literally never knew when he'd have the energy/freedom from pain to make music, and literally never knew, when he had energy/freedom from pain, how long it would last) that he literally DOES NOT give his musical energy to anyone who doesn't blow *his* mind. Like, I know his health is however much better now, but he's clear in all his interviews that THIS IS NOT OVER; he only gets to have as much energy/as much freedom from pain as he does, if he guards his diet/sleep/activity carefully. And that means he doesn't have a lot of hours in a month to "give" to anyone else, since his own solo music is so important to him/deserves so much of what energy/freedom from pain it turns out he has. So. When you see "Ren and [any other name]" you can be pretty sure that this collaboration is gonna be SUPER WORTH YOUR TIME. Sam Tompkins is younger than Ren. The story of how they met seems to go as follows - Ren had been out busking and had tired and packed up and was on his way home when he ran across this kid singing on the street with no mic or guitar or anything. The kid's voice was incredible, but I guess he didn't have a crowd around him or anything. Ren offered to set his gear up and play guitar for Sam so Sam would have a mic. The rest is history. And there's even video of that day (the part I've seen, Ren is clearly exhausted - he's sick, and he already put in all the time he could doing his own busking, and now he's helping this kid see what he's capable of; he's sitting on the sidewalk playing his guitar, leaning up against a wall, while Sam sings). I think Sam has some it on his KZfaq channel, but he also immortalized that day in his recent video "Time Will Fly," where there are a couple of clips of him and Ren. Timeline wise, that was at some point before Ren was diagnosed with Lyme, or maybe right as he was being diagnosed with Lyme. Because Ren's said in an interview that when he got his first stem cell treatment (in LA) was the first time he had any real *return* of any of his health (even though still pretty shitty/super unpredictable), and he says the first thing he did with that extra health was to write "Blind-Eyed" with Sam. It then proceeded to go viral. BLIND-EYED IS ONE OF THE FEW SONGS THE BUSKING VERSION IS THE "WORST" VERSION OF, fyi. It's not cleaned up like Ren normally does for live videos; sound quality is crappy, video work isn't great. You'll likely go watch it at some point (it's worth watching! It's not shitty! It's a good performance! It's just imo not the best way to be introduced to the song)... but to start, your real three options are: - The MC Sessions - excellent live recording in studio. They *nailed* it; it's not to be missed. - official music video - studio produced track, ALMOST UNRECOGNIZABLE from the energy the Reniverse thinks of when they think of Blind-Eyed... lots of people love this one, but it's not on my personal list of top Ren tracks - Angry Car Park Attendant version - raw, live, not to be missed. They nailed it in a different way, lol. As you'll soon find, Sam Tompkins is amazing. His solo work is pop, which generally isn't my thing, BUT his voice is far too incredible for me to be able to ignore him, lol (and anyone who loves pop is gonna be WAY more into him than I am). And like Ren, he tends to do a bunch of different videos for his songs... but he was signed at whatever point and has label support. At some point in the past couple of years, Justin Bieber had Sam open for him in Trondheim Norway. Sam produced a short video about that little episode in his life and it's 100% worth a watch. The ones that spring to mind for me are: - "See Me" - I love the visualizer to this one, actually! - "(W)hole" - hands down my favourite Sam Tompkins song - "Time Will Fly" - a must-see for Ren fans, lol - "Lose It All" - another recent song the Ren fans have really gone for. Sam's just finished a North American tour in support of his most recent album. Hi Ren had already happened, meaning hundreds of thousands of new people had discovered Ren and fallen in love with his music and were watching everything he'd ever put out... thereby discovering Sam Tompkins just before his tour began. I think he was super happy with how it went. REN BEATBOXING - do The Hunger. Everyone will be yelling at you to do Loco, so I know you'll get to that one (it's on the very short list of Ren songs that aren't my cup of tea), but there's also beatboxing in The Hunger (not as much as Loco, but it's an element there) and imo it's a helluva track.

*ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED* congratulations! Youve found new ren friend sam tompkins! 😊 he's amazing 💜💜

Check out Ren and Sam's original composition, Blind Eyed (MC Sessions version)

Check out some solo Sam Tompkins. "Lose It All" is a great one. Emotional and it shows off his vocals.

Their collaboration is magical and full of joy in making music.

They used to announce on social media where and when they were next playing. One time they were late, and by the time they arrived the police had closed the street because there were a couple hundred people waiting. That green wheelbarrow in the background is how they transported the equipment.

Yes! Definitely do Blind Eyed and more Sam. He's incredible!

Very nice choice on the way down the rabbit hole. These two are a force of nature when put together and given a guitar, an amp and a mic. Crazy talent.

Thanks Will, great first choice for a Sam/Ren collab. Highly recommend "Blind Eyed", the MC Session version. It really highlights lots of variety from Ren and lovely vocals from Sam as well. EDIT: I love the way Ren gets lost in his busking performances. You can see there is so much feel to it. Also I imagine playing guitar, looping, pedaling, etc. while live busking can be quite challenging. Ren and Chinchilla have a couple of live busking vids on YT as well. Very R&B, I think you will love them. Good intro to Chinchilla as well. She's a beast with the vocals. They are currently working on another collab as well. Sam has a great solo career building. His first tour was last year, I believe. He also opened for Beiber once and has developed a friendship there. Beebs has mentored Sam and has been known to attend the occasional concert as well. Sam's got some great videos to choose from on his YT channel. He also recently posted a LIVE version of Hero, as a dedication to his recently passed Father. The performance is quite emotional and touching. Thanks again, Will.

This is my favorite Ren and Sam duets. Ren is definitely one of my favorite artists…and Sam is becoming one too. Check out Sam. Boy can sing ❤❤❤. Someone else is also amazing!!

REN and Sam busking…Improvising Stevie Wonders/M J and more….one of my favourites, mind blowingly good.

Thank you 🙏❤ Will ❤ for your 🐷 Ren & Sam Tompkins - Earned it/Mans World/Falling reaction! #ren #samtompkins #earnedit #mansworld #falling #brighton #shipstreet #busking

There both great!!

Ren and Sam's original song Blind Eyed is fantastic. (There are a lot of versions, but the MC Sessions version has the best sound quality.) Sam's solo work is also well worth checking out! His song Lose It All is my favorite.

You should check out Rens Spontaneous Jam Session stream. You'll love it.

Great Reaction to my favorite artist!!

Yes more sam.

Ren's guitar here is a '95 Japanese Fender Telecaster, not a Stratecaster. He mentions it in this short interview: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/otBijZWCuqeXlnU.html

Hi....that's not a Strat. It's a Telecaster. There's a video somewhere where Ren talks about his gear. If I recall correctly this is a Japanese made Telecaster. Fabulous sound (from both of them) bearing in mind his is a street performance.

Hero by Sam thompkins live...try not to cry 😢

Ren has an amazing gift for choosing who to collab with and then it becomes great chemistry. Ren with the Big Push, Chinchilla, Eden. He loves finding talented artists and lifting them up. If you do Blind eyed, personalIy I like the official video called Ren Bind Eyed ft Sam Tompkins that one or Blind Eyed ft. angry car park attendant, hysterical.

Just subscribe to you. Loving your reactions. Sam and Wren didn’t original song called “blind eyed” that I would 150% suggest I toss a few bucks but I gotta wait till payday. Much love. Also, Sam started out as a busker on the streets of Brighton and Ren found him and thought he was amazing and took him under his wing. kind of cool story.

you should do Sam Tompkins Lose it all live

I hope you choose to check out the Music Crowns version first of them doing their song "Blind Eyed" - it's one of my favourite live music captures on the interwebs! The angry car park attendant capture is fun too tho, & the official music video shows the kind of thing Ren can come up with production-wise, which is always interesting too. But the Music Crowns capture is just the two of them with Ren's guitar in a controlled studio setting.... & it's an absolute #Peach ;)

REN always 🔥🔥. Please try some of Sam's earlier catalogue like CRITICAL or KING'S or MY BROTHER or GOOGLE LUV or CHARLIE 🎶🎵🍯🤌🔥🙏✌️

Definitely do their "Blind Eyed" MC Sessions!! kzfaq.info/get/bejne/bOBnqMpkp8W3pKc.html Sam has some amazing solo stuff - Lose it All official video is one of my favorites!

🔥❤✌

So glad you discovered Sam Tompkins now too!! You definitely need to see blind eye that they wrote together. This music crowns version is my favorite, but there are several others they’ve posted on KZfaq. kzfaq.info/get/bejne/bOBnqMpkp8W3pKc.htmlsi=4y3MdBuFQrHG1jDD A couple from Sam, that I really love are Lose It All (live), and Time Will Fly.

Just had to correct you on the guitar, it’s a tele not a strat. 95 Japanese to be precise. My favourite guitar of his 😂🖤

Blind eye mc and video version

do check out The Big Push's LIVE performance of their song, "Sweet Little Lady." kzfaq.info/get/bejne/bc1xhaaTlZeXk6s.html. Yes, there is a studio / official video version, but this one is so cool! 😍