1998 • Hip Hop / Gangsta • Ruthless Records\
CD Single
Living in Vancouver, I almost *never* come across hip hop records at flea markets or thrift stores.
Cantopop? Sure. Bhangra? Sure. City pop? Absolutely.
But hip hop? Slim pickings.
So when I see *any* kind of hip hop, I grab it and don’t even think about it.
MC Ren, of course, was the 6th member of N.W.A. Along with Ice Cube, he was one of their principal lyricists. And after Ice Cube left, Ren became the lead lyricist. In N.W.A., his gruff voice gave you the perfect counterpunch to Eazy-E’s high-pitched tone.
After N.W.A., he never had the same success as Dr. Dre, Ice Cube, or Eazy-E. I suspect part of that is because he preferred staying more low key. But he’s still making music, mostly putting out singles.
This particular single is a little confusing because the cover and title look *identical* to the album *Ruthless for Life*.
Which is why it helps to look at the tracklist on the back. I didn’t. Oh well. It was $1 at a thrift store.
There are 4 versions of “Ruthless for Life” here: the LP version, LP acapella version, clean radio edit, and instrumental.
And they’re all decent. It’s a good song. I dig it.
Apparently a lot of other people did too, because it hit #13 on the U.S. Hot Rap Singles chart.
