MC Ren – The disrespected member of NWA

Music Groups generally have one front man and the other members are stuck in the background playing their position. In the case of NWA, history has failed to respect MC Ren appropriately. Yes, Dr. Dre, Ice Cube and of course Eazy-E were in the public eye during their reign on top and after NWA disbanded. During the groups rise, each of the members had their own voice but MC Ren was still somewhat of an underdog to me. For the next few years (After the break-up) MC Ren continued to make solo music like the rest of the group but his contribution to NWA was monumental. NWA was formed 30 years ago and 30 years later the movie Straight Outta Compton was released. This would have been the perfect opportunity to show how important MC Ren was to the NWA Legacy but of course his life wasn't filled with drama that hit the media much. I understand the movie had to be entertaining but there was still room to show MC Ren's contribution in a more respectful light.

I feel that young hip hop enthusiast need a full lesson on MC Ren. Not only was he one of the main writers in the group, he was possibly their best MC early on. Yes, maybe even better than Ice Cube at writing and rhyming. On NWA’s debut Album Straight Outta Compton, MC Ren wrote on 8 of the 12 songs, had 2 solo songs on the album and was a heavy influence on the direction of the songs. Did you know this? NWA dropped an EP called 100 Miles and Runnin’ before their second and final album Niggaz4Life. Just like on Straight Outta Compton, MC Ren was featured writing on EVERY song on the EP. When Niggaz4Life was released, the album credits show MC Ren as a writer on EVERY song except two tracks and he performed on every song except for those two tracks.

MC Ren had an amazing impact on NWA and West Coast Hip Hop. Our focus here is to educate fans who might not be aware of this West Coast legend. Countless MC’s from the West Coast have cited MC Ren as their favorite MC or a person of great inspiration. Outside NWA, MC Ren released 4 albums and an EP to critical acclaim. I challenge readers to research the career of MC Ren as this is only an overview to get the conversation started. At the end of the day, it’s the job of websites like Da Dome to report on artist in our culture who some would consider UNSUNG. Oh yeah, peace to DJ Yella who always played the background role. As for MC Ren, we appreciate you!

Peace

MC Ren "Same Old Shit" Explicit