Jordan Cardy (born 21 February 1996), known by his stage name Rat Boy, is a… Read Full Bio ↴Jordan Cardy (born 21 February 1996), known by his stage name Rat Boy, is an English musician from Chelmsford, Essex. He studied at Chelmer Valley High School in Chelmsford and went on to study Art at Colchester Institute. Despite being dyslexic, he began writing songs in his spare time, releasing songs on SoundCloud under the name "Rat Boy", a name given to him by his school friends who claimed he looked like a rat. After college Cardy was hired and subsequently fired from Wetherspoons, which provided inspiration for his first release on SoundCloud, The Mixtape.

He sent "The Mixtape" to various record companies and in response Drew McConnell (bassist for Babyshambles) arranged for Rat Boy to have a meeting with him, Cardy was subsequently signed to Parlophone in early 2015. In addition to this "The Mixtape" was featured in NME Magazine and played by radio stations including BBC Radio 1, Radio X and BBC Radio 6.

Rat Boy was added to the BBC Sound Of 2016 Longlist, an annual poll in which over 100 Music Specialists select artists they believe will be successful within the next 12 months. In December 2015, MTV released its Brand New for 2016, an annually released article and webseries containing artists to watch out for during the upcoming year. Rat Boy was shortlisted along with 10 other artists including Bonkaz, Jack Garratt and Rationale. He was also nominated for the Best New Artist 2016 by NME magazine, which he subsequently won, along with performing his single "Move" at the awards ceremony.

In April 2017, Cardy's song "Knock Knock" was sampled on Kendrick Lamar's song "Lust", taken from his fourth studio album, Damn. When he found out about the sample, he tweeted his appreciation for it.

On 11 August 2017 Rat Boy released his long-awaited debut album Scum. The album was initially released with 13 tracks, however a deluxe 25-track version was also released. The deluxe version included more than 15 minutes of skits, samples and interludes, as well as an extra song "Sad Sad" featuring fellow indie musician Mallory Merk. The album reached 15 in the uk album chart.

In December 2017, Cardy supported Liam Gallagher on his UK solo tour.

On 25 January 2019 Rat Boy released the studio album Internationally Unknown which was recorded in 2018.

Rat Boy featured on McFly's 2020 album, "Young Dumb Thrills" under a song of the same name.

CHIP ON MY SHOULDER
Rat boy Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Yeah, woo
La, la-la-la, la-la-la, la, la, la
La, la-la-la, la-la-la, la, la, la
La, la-la-la, la-la-la, la, la, la
La, la-la-la, la-la-la, la, la, la

Ripped Dickies and I'm rollin' 'round the city
Somethin' in my pocket, don't tell the committee

Gotta get the slime, pick the lock and drop crime
For it's the last time you' ever take whats mine
The bar was quite nitty so I got a Uber car share
If I get caught it won't just be a caution
I weren't the law abider in the past life
But now I've got to settle this and take punishment, like

Chip on my shoulder
I've got a chip on my shoulder
And everybody knows it
I've got a chip on my shoulder
Chip on my shoulder
I've got a chip on my shoulder
And everybody knows it
I've got a chip on my shoulder

No regrets, hands cuffed in a cop car
Blood on my Louis shag, it's a blem where it's at
It was the principal, we thought he was invincible
Now we invisible 'cause I went biblical
I'm a sinner, put my hands up, I'll admit it
I need a permit so I got permission to transmit it
But now it's far too late to get myself correction
I blame the school, they should've shown me some attention

Chip on my shoulder
I've got a chip on my shoulder
And everybody knows it
I've got a chip on my shoulder

La, la-la-la, la-la-la, la, la, la
La, la-la-la, la-la-la, la, la, la

La, la-la-la, la-la-la, la, la, la
La, la-la-la, la-la-la, la, la, la

Overall Meaning

The lyrics to RAT BOY's song "Chip On My Shoulder" paint a picture of a rebellious and unapologetic individual who, despite having a chip on their shoulder, is determined to right a wrong. The song starts with the singer dressed in ripped Dickies and rolling around the city with something in their pocket, determined to exact revenge. They plan to pick the lock and drop the crime for it to be the last time anyone takes what's theirs.

Despite admitting to not being a law abider in their past life, the singer has decided to settle this and accept their punishment. They are willing to face the consequences of their actions, and even with blood on their designer handbag, they have no regrets. They even blame the school for not giving them enough attention and leading them down this path.

One interesting aspect of the song is the use of ambiguous language that makes it hard to tell whether the singer is an anti-hero, a villain, or a misunderstood victim. The lyrics can be interpreted in various ways, and there is no clear-cut moral lesson, leaving room for listeners to form their own conclusions. Also, the cheerful melody of the song could make a listener miss or minimize the seriousness of the lyrics.

Line by Line Meaning

Ripped Dickies and I'm rollin' 'round the city
I'm wearing torn Dickies and wandering around the city

Somethin' in my pocket, don't tell the committee
I have something in my pocket that I don't want authorities to know about

Gotta get the slime, pick the lock and drop crime
I need to steal something, pick a lock, and commit a crime

For it's the last time you' ever take whats mine
I won't let anyone else take what's mine again

The bar was quite nitty so I got a Uber car share
I took an Uber because the bar was sketchy

If I get caught it won't just be a caution
If I get caught, the consequences will be more severe than a warning

I weren't the law abider in the past life
I didn't follow the law in the past

But now I've got to settle this and take punishment, like
But now I need to face the consequences and accept my punishment

Chip on my shoulder
I have a grudge or grievance that I can't let go of

I've got a chip on my shoulder
I can't shake off my resentment or anger

And everybody knows it
Everyone is aware of my negative feelings

No regrets, hands cuffed in a cop car
I have no regrets even though I'm in police custody

Blood on my Louis shag, it's a blem where it's at
There's blood on my designer clothes, and it's proof of where I've been

It was the principal, we thought he was invincible
We did it for the principle, because we thought he couldn't be defeated

Now we invisible 'cause I went biblical
Now we're invisible because I took extreme measures to get what I wanted

I'm a sinner, put my hands up, I'll admit it
I've done wrong, and I admit my guilt

I need a permit so I got permission to transmit it
I needed permission to do something, so I got it before proceeding

But now it's far too late to get myself correction
But now, it's too late for me to make things right

I blame the school, they should've shown me some attention
I blame the school for not giving me the attention I needed

Lyrics © Wixen Music Publishing, Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: HARRY TODD, JOHN KING, JORDAN CARDY, LIAM HAYGARTH, NOAH BOOTH, TIM ARMSTRONG

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

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