Wikipedia

Renegades (One Ok Rock song)

"Renegades" is a song by Japanese rock band One Ok Rock. The song was produced by Jamil Kazmi, written by Takahiro Moriuchi, Ed Sheeran and Masato Hayakawa of Coldrain, and was released on 16 April 2021 as the lead single from the band's tenth studio album Luxury Disease.[1][2][3]

"Renegades"
Single by One Ok Rock
from the album Luxury Disease and Rurouni Kenshin Saishūshō: The Final Soundtrack
Released16 April 2021 (2021-04-16)
RecordedFebruary 2020
StudioDecoy Residential Recording Studios (Suffolk, England)
Genre
Length4:04
LabelFueled by Ramen
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
One Ok Rock singles chronology
"Wasted Nights"
(2019) 		"Renegades"
(2021) 		"Broken Heart of Gold"
(2021)
Audio sample
Music video
"Renegades" on YouTube

The song serves as the main theme for the live action film based on a manga series, Rurouni Kenshin: The Final.[4]

An acoustic version of "Renegades" was later released onto digital and streaming platforms on 30 July 2021.[5]

Background

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A week prior to the release of the single on 9 April 2021, the band shared a 30-second teaser of the music video on YouTube to hype up the release of the single, which would be slated for release on 16 April 2021.[6][7]

Composition

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"Renegades" has been described by critics as being an alternative rock and a pop rock song.[8][9][10] The track runs at 154 BPM and is in the key of F minor. It runs for four minutes and 5 seconds.[11] The song was written by Takahiro Moriuchi, Ed Sheeran, Masato Hayakawa, David Pramik, Adam Hawkins and Jin Jin.[12]

According to NME, "Renegades" is all about conveying an urgent message that calls into question about the current state of affairs in the world around us, and this would be how "Renegades" serves as an anthem for renegades who refuse to allow their battles and passions to be ignored.[1] In an interview with J Rock News, Moriuchi would express how the song connects to being the main theme for the Japanese blockbuster Rurouni Kenshin: The Final, in which he would say that "Renegades" relates more to the protagonist than the overarching plot of the film.

"A lightness, love, and hope that shines from within. I think those aspects really connected with our band."[13]

In another interview which was uploaded to the official One Ok Rock YouTube channel, Moriuchi would also explain about how "Renegades" needed to hark back to more of a rock sound in order to properly convey the message of the song, which has lots of anger in it.

"I think we need to trace back to our early intentions. I think anger can only be truly expressed in rock music. So it’s our duty as rock musicians to play rock."[13]

Music video

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One Ok Rock performing the song in front of a massive artificial sun within a mountainous region.

The music video for "Renegades" was released alongside the single on 16 April 2021, and was directed by Toshi Atsunori.[14] The official video was released on the Fueled by Ramen YouTube channel, while a Japanese version of the video was released simultaneously on the band's official channel.[15]

The video starts off with individuals in desperation, struggling and in complete despair. As the video showcases these individuals, who eventually come together to form "The Renegades" as the song describes. The band performs the song in a different setting altogther to begin with, though as the crowd forms, the cliff face openes up as the renegades walk towards the band and then back the way they came from, with the band following in tow. The frontman, Takahiro Moriuchi, singing the song as well as the other band members performing the song are then suddenly transported to a mountainous region as an artificial sun forms behind them as they sing the rest of the song, calling out to the renegades who walk towards them, before they stare at the sun and watch the band perform the final chorus as the video ends.

The two major differences in the Japanese version of the music video is that there are Japanese subtitles and in the second pre-chorus lyrics "For all the lies and the burden that they put on us / All of the times that they told us to just because" were replaced with "Surikomare nuri kasanerareta / Uso wa bokura wo nomikonda".

The Japanese video for the song surpassed 2 million views within the first 24 hours of being published.[16] By the end of its first week, both videos (Japanese and International) would tally up to a combined total of 7.5 million views.[17][18]

As of June 2024, the music videos for "Renegades" have over 55 million views on YouTube combined.

Track listing

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CD single
No.TitleLength
1."Renegades"4:04
2."Renegades - Japanese Version"4:04

Personnel

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Credits are adapted from the liner notes of Luxury Disease.[19]

One Ok Rock

Additional personnel

Charts

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Certifications

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Streaming certification for "Renegades"
Region Certification Certified units/sales
Japan (RIAJ)[26] Platinum 100,000,000†

† Streaming-only figures based on certification alone.

References

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  1. ^ a b Daly, Rhian (16 April 2021). "ONE OK ROCK share new single ' Renegades', co-written with Ed Sheeran". NME. Retrieved 22 April 2021.
  2. ^ Tuck, Dylan (16 April 2021). "NEWS: One OK Rock drop new single, 'Renegades'!". Dead Press. Archived from the original on 17 May 2021. Retrieved 22 April 2021.
  3. ^ Wilson-Taylor, James (24 June 2022). "ONE OK ROCK ANNOUNCE NEW ALBUM 'LUXURY DISEASE'". Rock Sound. Retrieved 20 July 2022.
  4. ^ Claire Layug, Margaret (19 April 2021). "Ed Sheeran works closely with ONE OK ROCK for 'Rurouni Kenshin: The Final' theme song". GMA Network. Retrieved 22 April 2021.
  5. ^ "Renegades (Acoustic)". OneOkRock.com. 30 July 2021. Retrieved 15 August 2021.
  6. ^ Carter, Emily (9 April 2021). "ONE OK ROCK tease new single Renegades, co-written by Ed Sheeran". Kerrang!. Retrieved 22 April 2021.
  7. ^ Rogers, Jack (9 April 2021). "ONE OK ROCK ARE RELEASING A NEW SINGLE CALLED 'RENEGADES' NEXT WEEK". Rock Sound. Archived from the original on 26 April 2021. Retrieved 22 April 2021.
  8. ^ Mortensa, Mala (16 April 2021). "ONE OK ROCK RETURN WITH ED SHEERAN CO-WRITTEN ANTHEM "RENEGADES"—WATCH". Alternative Press. Retrieved 22 April 2021. Existing at the intersection of gritty alt rock and radio-ready pop, the song stands easily as a rousing anthem for the masses.
  9. ^ Yian Lu, Lim (27 April 2021). "One OK Rock ties up with Ed Sheeran for Rurouni Kenshin movie theme song". Yahoo. Retrieved 2 November 2021. The English language alternative rock song also serves as the official theme song for live-action Japanese film Rurouni Kenshin: The Final, which was released in Japan on 23 April.
  10. ^ Stickler, Jon (16 April 2021). "One OK Rock Drop New Single Renegades Co-Written By Ed Sheeran". Stereoboard. Retrieved 22 April 2021. The pop-leaning rock track reflects on the current global circumstances, and serves as the theme song for the upcoming Japanese film Rurouni Kenshin: The Final, out on April 23.
  11. ^ "Key and BPM of Renegades by One Ok Rock". Musicstax.com. Retrieved 23 April 2021.
  12. ^ London, Amanda (19 April 2021). ""Renegades" by ONE OK ROCK". Song Meanings+Facts. Retrieved 23 April 2021.
  13. ^ a b "ONE OK ROCK shouts rebellious rallying cry in "Renegades"". J Rock News. 14 April 2021. Retrieved 23 April 2021.
  14. ^ Fueled by Ramen (16 April 2021). "ONE OK ROCK: Renegades [OFFICIAL VIDEO]". YouTube. Retrieved 22 April 2021.
  15. ^ One Ok Rock (16 April 2021). "ONE OK ROCK - Renegades Japanese Version [OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO]". YouTube. Retrieved 22 April 2021.
  16. ^ "One Ok Rock - Renegades Japanese Version [OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO]". (Wayback Machine). 16 April 2021. Archived from the original on 17 April 2021. Retrieved 23 April 2021.
  17. ^ "ONE OK ROCK: Renegades [OFFICIAL VIDEO]". (Wayback Machine). 16 April 2021. Archived from the original on 23 April 2021. Retrieved 23 April 2021.
  18. ^ "ONE OK ROCK - Renegades Japanese Version [OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO]". (Wayback Machine). 16 April 2021. Archived from the original on 23 April 2021. Retrieved 23 April 2021.
  19. ^ Luxury Disease (CD liner notes). Fueled by Ramen. 2022.
  20. ^ "One Ok Rock Chart History". Billboard. Retrieved 22 July 2021.
  21. ^ "Weekly Combined Singles Chart – May 3, 2021". Oricon. Archived from the original on 2021-04-28. Retrieved January 11, 2022.
  22. ^ "Weekly Digital Singles Ranking". Oricon. Archived from the original on 21 April 2021. Retrieved January 11, 2022.
  23. ^ "One Ok Rock Chart History". Billboard. Retrieved 25 April 2021.
  24. ^ "One Ok Rock Chart History". Billboard. Retrieved 3 May 2021.
  25. ^ Billboard (21 December 2021). "JAPAN TOP SONGS 2021 - Billboard Japan Hot 100 Year-End Chart". YouTube. Retrieved 7 June 2022.
  26. ^ "Japanese single streaming certifications – One Ok Rock – Renegades" (in Japanese). Recording Industry Association of Japan. Retrieved July 2, 2023. Select 2023年5月 on the drop-down menu
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