MC Ren

Lorenzo Jerald Patterson, better known as MC Ren, is a rapper, songwriter, and record producer. He established and owns the record label Villain Entertainment. While still in high school, he was signed to Eazy-E's Records in early 1987. He stayed with Ruthless after the group disbanded in 1991, before leaving the label in 1998.

Life
Lorenzo Jerald Patterson was born on June 16, 1969, in Compton, California. He was raised by his parents, two brothers, and a sister. His father used to work for "the government" before opening his own barbershop. Patterson joined the Kelly Park Compton Crips (of which Eazy-E would later become a member) to make money, but soon left and turned to drug dealing because he thought it was more lucrative. Patterson stopped dealing after a raid on the home of his childhood friend MC Chip, and instead focused on making music.

Lorenzo Patterson, a Nation of Islam member, converted to Sunni Islam after visiting a mosque in April 1993. In June 1993, he married Yaasamen Alaa, with whom he has five children. Anthony, his eldest son, is an aspiring rapper who goes by the stage name "Waxx" and has worked with other N.W.A members.

Carrer
Ice Cube was signed to Eazy-E's Ruthless Records while still in high school in 1987. When Ice Cube went to study for a year, rapper Ren was asked to write songs for the Eazy-Duz-It album, which was still in the works. After finishing the majority of the album, MC Ren was asked to join the group N.W.A, and they immediately began work on the album Straight Outta Compton. The album was completed in four weeks and released in August 1988 on a budget of US$8,000. The album became a major success despite almost no radio airplay or major concert tours, thanks to the single "Fuck tha Police"

Following the departure of Ice Cube from the group in 1989, N.W.A quickly released the EP 100 Miles and Runnin']]', which featured lyrics written by Patterson. Ni**az4Life, the group's second full-length studio album, was released the following year. This would be the group's final album, as Dr. Dre left due to financial disagreements with Jerry Heller. According to Patterson, it was widely assumed that Heller was the one who was being compensated.

Patterson began recording for his debut album, titled "Life Sentence at the time", in late 1992. The EP, which was released in the summer of 1992, was a commercial and critical success, and it went Platinum within two months. As N.W.A disbanded, Patterson began work on his first solo album, Kizz My Black Azz. Except for one song, which Patterson produced himself, the 6-track EP was produced by DJ Bobcat. Patterson reunited with Eazy-E in 1994 to produce their duet song "Tha Muthpukkin' Real." Three months later, on March 26, 1995, Eazy died of AIDS complications, In late 1993, Shock Of The Hour was released. The album debuted at number one on the R&B charts and sold 321,000 copies in its first month.