Late last week, N.W.A member MC Ren dropped his latest single “King Villain.” Produced by Hushdegod, the song marks the first solo track in nearly five years from the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame inducted MC, an accolade that the artist born Lorenzo Patterson addresses in his lyrics.
In speaking with Ambrosia For Heads this past weekend, Ren opens up about making the song. “The record is just me talking sh*t, some ‘villain sh*t,’” he says of his moniker for more than 30 tears. “I’m letting fools know they ain’t sh*t, they’re wack, and my sh*t is hard. I’ve got other [things coming], but for ‘King Villain,’ that’s the vibe I got from the beat…the beat was so different and moving.” Notably, Ren’s son Waxx, who has followed in his father’s footsteps, showed him the track, before helping on the technical side. “My son engineered it, and Fredwreck mastered it for the icing on the cake. This is the first time in all my career that I had a mic at my house to record. I’ve had equipment to do beats and sh*t like that, but I never had it where I could just record from the house. So now, I just go in there and get down.”
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The song and its beat offer a contemporary vibe for MC Ren. “With this track, I wanted something different. A lot of people from my era stick to the script a lot of the times and don’t want to go from that blueprint,” he tells AFH. “On ‘King Villain,’ I just wanted to do something totally different, get out of my element and try something totally new. From here on out, I just want to do new sh*t. I might rap on a Reggae record, a Rock record, or whatever. I’m just wanting to do something different, and not the regular type sh*t. I’m open [to] new things.”
MC Ren says he’s now inspired again after having so much going on during the long wait. “Since ‘Rebel Music’ and ‘Burn Radio Burn,’ a lot of sh*t happened, like the Straight Outta Compton movie came out, theRock & Roll Hall Of Fame [induction happened], and doing hella shows with Ice Cube. So, I was cool for a minute, just chilling, and doing those things. Now, it’s like what I told E-A-Ski the other day, I’m super inspired right now.” On the album front, Ren last released Renincarnated in 2009. He’s also worked with E-A-Ski and Compton’s Most Wanted member Tha Chill since.
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As far as more music coming from MC Ren, the legend assures his fans that more is coming. “We’re in here all day, and all night working and recording trying to bang some songs out. We’ll be watching TV and [Waxx will] ask me if I want to go mess with some vocals. And we’ll just go in there and get down. He’ll be doing his thing, and I’ll be doing mine and we’re getting inspiration off of each other. I’ve been recording for a long time, but being in here with Waxx and him engineering my sh*t is one of the best feelings I’ve had recording in my whole career. Having my son right here, knowing how it’s supposed to sound, engineering my sh*t. It’s just so dope right now. I’m inspired to record right now.”
Notably, at least one of Dr. Dre’s sons, Ice Cube’s son, O’Shea Jackson, Jr., and Eric Wright, Jr. (aka Lil Eazy-E) have all pursued music careers.