Lorenzo Jerald Patterson (born June 14, 1969 in Compton, California, better known by his stage name MC Ren, is a rapper who formed part of the group N.W.A.

Biography

Born in Compton, he joined the gangsta rap group N.W.A. in 1987. He was featured on his friend Eazy-E's debut album. Following the success of that album, Ren contributed vocals on the Straight Outta Compton (1988) album as well as writing several tracks after Ice Cube left the group in 1990.((( MC Ren > Biography ))) allmusic. Retrieved on 2009-01-09. As part of N.W.A., MC Ren wrote and performed three solo recordings, two of which - 'Just Don't Bite It' (from the 100 Miles And Runnin' E.P.) and the follow up album track 'She Swallowed It' (Efil4Zaggin) cemented his status as a songwriter.

N.W.A. became the first gangsta rap group to gain mainstream success. However, as their album Efil4zaggin reached the #1 spot on the Billboard 200 in 1991,N.W.A album charts. AMG. Accessed 2008-01-04. financial conflict between Dr. Dre and Ruthless Records led to the group disbanding.N.W.A biography. Allmusic. Accessed 2008-01-03. Group member Eazy-E, along with the group's manager, was accused of skimming money. Dr. Dre left to form Death Row Records. MC Ren subsequently released his debut EP with Ruthless in 1992, entitled Kizz My Black Azz. Surprisingly enough, with little commercial promotion, the album went platinum. During the remainder of the 1990's, MC Ren would drop solo LP's such as Shock of the Hour, The Villain in Black, and Ruthless for Life. Throughout this time, MC Ren along with the likes of Dre, Warren G, Eazy-E, Snoop Doggy Dogg, and Tupac were instrumental in pioneering what would become known as 'G Funk' - a direct evolution from the N.W.A. sound. This sound can actually be traced back as far as the 1987 N.W.A release 'Dopeman'. However it wasn't until the N.W.A group split that the likes of MC Ren, Dre and Eazy developed their own brand of G Funk.