MC Ren
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MC Ren is the stage name of Lorenzo Jerald Patterson (born June 14 in Compton, California, 1969), a rapper and hip hop producer.
Biography
Born and raised in Compton, California, MC Ren joined up with the groundbreaking gangsta rap group N.W.A. as he finished his senior year at Dominguez High School in Compton. He contributed hard-hitting vocals on the Straight Outta Compton (1989) album and soon found himself a much more valuable member of the group after Ice Cube departed in 1989.
N.W.A. became the first hardcore rap group to gain mainstream success. However, as their album Efil4zaggin reached the #1 spot on Billboard in 1991, financial conflict between Dr. Dre and Ruthless Records led to the group disbanding. Dr. Dre left to form Death Row Records. MC Ren subsequently released his debut album with the help of Eazy-E in 1992, entitled Kizz My Black Azz. Surprisingly enough, with little commercial promotion, the album went platinum. MC Ren's next album, Life Sentence, was scrapped while converting to the Nation of Islam with guidance from his DJ, DJ Train. Shock of the Hour (1993) was released the next year containing a few singles, none left any lasting impression.
MC Ren soon found hard times when DJ Train died in a house fire before the release of the ill-fated Villain in Black (1996). Before leaving Ruthless Records, Ren released Ruthless For Life (1998) which proved a worthy comeback. He appeared on the posse cut "Some L.A. Niggaz" from Dre's 2001, but only spoke the intro and did not actually rap on the track.
As of 2002, Ren was working on another album. His lyrical abilities have been displayed with many guest appearances with artists from Ice Cube, Kurupt, Snoop Dogg, Paris, The D.O.C., Cypress Hill and many others.
His most recent work has appeared on some more politically-oriented projects, specifically Paris' album Hard Truth Soldiers V.1 as well as on Public Enemy's album Rebirth of a Nation ((2006).
Solo discography
- 1992 Kizz My Black Azz (Ruthless)
- 1993 Shock of the Hour (Ruthless)
- 1996 The Villain in Black (Ruthless)
- 1998 Ruthless for Life (Ruthless)
- 2006 Renincarnated (TBA)
External links
- [NNDB entry for MC Ren]
- [MC Ren lyrics]
- [MC Ren interview @ thaformula.com]
- [MC Ren interview @ World Wide Connected]
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