Two west coast veterans have united with the revitalization of hardcore ’90s gangster rap in mind. MC Ren, known for his dazzling abilities on the microphone alongside Ice Cube, Eazy-E and Dr. Dre in N.W.A., has not released an album of his own since 1998’s Ruthless For Life. Ren was involved with two new N.W.A. tracks “Hello” and “Chin Check” which were released in 2000 from a dismissed reunion album.
While it won’t be alongside Dr. Dre, MC Ren will be returning to the microphone alongside another of Dre’s former artists in RBX as The Concrete Criminals. “Ren is anti-fucking-industry. He ain’t trying to fuck with nobody,” RBX told HipHopDX on Thursday. “Ren is where I was almost about to go,” said the Long Beach emcee about his reclusive friend. Both rappers have endured label contract struggles along with former associations. “He almost said, ‘It’s just me and my family and friends. Fuck that rap shit.'”
Despite nearly hanging up the lyrical laces, a mutual association, Rocc, brought the emcees together. After hearing what RBX and Rocc were working on, MC Ren reconsidered retirement. “[Ren] ain’t workin’ with nobody, and he chose to come back and work with us, that’s a blessing. This is an indication that we did something right for the old school heads. We’re bringing back a classic sound. The time wasn’t over yet [then]. Some people was just tired of doing it, and the industry got tired of dealing with the knuckleheads. So they got tired of the music, and went with the watered-down version, ’cause you don’t have to worry about Chingy running up in the studio with guns,” said RBX. “Ren heard The Concrete Criminals, it took him back, and he wanted to be part of that. We went into the studio and started cutting, and it’s being wrapped up right now.”
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The Concrete Criminals trio has yet to announce a label, but promises a 2008 release date. Presently, RBX is set to release Broken Silence next month, which features appearances and production by Snoop Dogg, LMNO and DJ Rhettmatic.
