Hip Hop Underrated: MC Ren

”Ren is a villain and you’re just a hostage, so whenever I’m steppin’ cover ya head head like an ostrich.

Groupies been waiting for this suckas been haitin’ for this.

Ya know why because so many are relatin’ to this.

Jealous is how the villain intentionally, but they’ll start to love it because I made it eventually

Pumpin the music I keep the music like pumpin cuz Ren ain’t in it for nothin’ I keep the average crowd jumpin yo’.” - MC Ren (If It Ain’t Ruff).

Those are the words of Lorenzo Patterson also known as MC Ren. He was one of the founding members and frontline lyricist of the West Coast pioneering Gangsta Rap group NWA. He is also one of the greatest and most unsung emcees in Hip Hop history.

MC Ren was born Lorenzo Gerald Patterson on June 16, 1969 in Compton, California. Patterson grew up in the Compton neighborhood known as Kelly Park and was a member of the Kelly Park Crips street gang along with his childhood friend Eric “Eazy-E” Wright.

As a member of the Crips Patterson was a heavily involved in drug dealing, but after a crackdown by law enforcement he shifted his focus away from gang life and decided to become involved in making Hip Hop music as a rapping emcee. When Patterson’s friend Eazy-E, who was also moving away from the gang life, started forming a supergroup of local Hip Hop talent, he asked Patterson to join his ensemble. It was here that the group known as NWA was born and so was MC Ren.

“Ruthless, plenty of that and much more

So at the party, Ren is controllin the floor

that you step and do your dance routine

It ain't a dream my man, you're in a gangsta scene

with a villain doin damage on a 24 track

With confusion to finish my conclusion

Arhytomatic rhymes from a radio cat

You can't take what I got coz I'll be takin it right back” - MC Ren (Quiet on Tha Set).

Joined by producer André “Dr. Dre” Young, Antoine “DJ Yella” Carraby, and fellow emcee O’Shea “Ice Cube” Jackson, MC Ren became a frontline rapper of the NWA ensemble in 1987. On the group’s full length 1988 debut album Straight Outta Compton, Ren was featured on the title track, the controversial “F-ck Tha Police”, “Compton’s N Tha House”, “Something Like That”, as well as two solo tracks: “Quiet on tha Set” and “If it ain’t Ruff”. Ren also served as a co-writer on Eazy-E’s solo debut album Eazy Duz It

Following the success of Straight Outta Compton and Eazy Duz It, Ice Cube left the group due to a business fued. In Cube’s absence Ren would go on to be the main frontline lyricist of the group and would be very instrumental in the success of the group’s second full length album Efil4zaggin in 1991.

It was during this time that Dr. Dre was also in the midst of a fued with Eazy-E and the group’s manager Jerry Heller. Dre eventually left the group and in his departure NWA was effectively broken up. While still signed to Eazy E’s Ruthless Records, Ren embarked on a solo career and from its very beginning he showed certain promise. MC Ren’s first solo album was the EP Kizz My Black Azz in 1992.

“Now throw your hands in the air and let me see ya slap a hoe

Start the violence going on through an MC Ren show

I don't give a f*ck if n*ggaz is fighting in the crowd

I only got one concern, that's my vocals pumping loud

I'm standing on the stage I got my n*ggaz to my right

I bust a couple of verses

Then jump in the crowd and get with the fight” - MC Ren (Final Frontier).

In his first solo EP Ren masterfully shows off his upbeat energy and aggressive landing lyricism that contributed to why NWA was so iconic. When you listen to songs like the title track and Final Frontier you hear an emcee who definitely matched the talent of fellow NWA alumni like Ice Cube and D.O.C. The rest of the world of Hip Hop appreciated Ren talent as well considering that the album was a big success and eventually went platinum.

Ren’s solo success would continue with the 1994 release of his first full length solo album Shock of the Hour, but the album would soon be followed by the untimely death of Ruthless Records owner Eazy-E. In the aftermath of Eazy’s untimely death Ren’s commercial success would gradually lessen. Without Eazy and the proper backing from what remained of Ruthless Records there was not a lot of interest and focus put on Ren like that of his fellow former band mates Ice Cube and Dr. Dre, so Ren unfortunately was not able to obtain the level of commercial heights that he should have.

Though he never reached the level of commercial success that he should have, the culture of Hip Hop never forgot about him. He would eventually be reunited with his former band mates on record and on tour numerous times in the future. To this day Ren is highly regarded as one of the greatest emcees in Hip Hop history.

In 2015 MC Ren was portrayed by actor Aldis Hodge in the 2015 biopic hit film Straight Outta Compton and in 2016 he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame with rest of his band mates of NWA.

Though he has been heavily overlooked when discussing the greats of Hip Hop, MC Ren is truly one of the greatest of all time and one of Hip Hop’s most underrated.