Ruthless for Life

Upon its release, Ruthless for Life received mostly positive reviews from music critics. Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic thought the album gives MC Ren "the opportunity to sound like a contemporary rather than a washed-up veteran", but added that "all of his ideas are a little shopworn". Soren Baker, in a review for Los Angeles Times, praised both the album's lyrics and its production, calling Ruthless for Life MC Ren's best work to date. Miguel Burke of The Source thought the album had some "monumental moments", where MC Ren "successfully updates the formula", but criticized the album's production and "annoying hooks" on some of the tracks. XXL reviewer Mr. Blonde called it a "surprisingly fresh return", adding that MC Ren "has matured his rhyme style". ==Track listing==

;Sample credits • Track 5 contains an interpolation of "Voyage to Atlantis" written by Marvin Isley, O'Kelly Isley Jr., Ronald Isley, Rudolph Isley, Ernie Isley and Chris Jasper. ==Personnel==

• Lorenzo "MC Ren" Patterson – vocals, executive producer • Premro "8Ball" Smith – vocals (track 2) • Marlon "MJG" Goodwin – vocals (track 2) • O'Shea "Ice Cube" Jackson – vocals (track 4) • Calvin "Snoop Dogg" Broadus – vocals (track 7) • Eric "RBX" Collins – vocals (track 7) • Jerry "Big Rocc" Brown – vocals (track 8) • Vernon "Tha Chill" Johnson – vocals & producer (track 8) • Precious "Peeps" King – vocals (track 11) • Leejon – background vocals (tracks: 3, 9) • Anthony "Ant" Banks – keyboards, arranger, programming, producer, recording (tracks: 3, 9) • James "Tre" Rabb – guitar (tracks: 3, 9) • Lenton T. Hutton – programming, recording & mixing (track 1), drum programming (track 7), producer (tracks: 1, 7) • Triston "T-Mix" Jones – producer & recording (tracks: 2, 5, 6) • Bobby "DJ Bobcat" Ervin – producer (track 4) • N. "DJ Raw Steel" Steele – producer (track 8) • Tony "Touch Tone" Issacs – producer (track 10) • Larry Johnson – producer (track 11) • Alan "Byrd" Tatum – producer (track 11) • Treyvon "Young Tre" Green – producer (track 12) • Tim Nitz – recording (track 1), mixing (tracks: 1, 10) • Jay Gonzalez – recording (track 4) • Carlos Warlick – recording (track 7), mixing (tracks: 4, 7) • Paul Andris – recording (tracks: 8, 10–12), mixing (tracks: 8, 11, 12) • Simon "Crazy C." Cullins – mixing (tracks: 2, 5, 6) • James Hoover – mixing (tracks: 2, 5, 6) • Michael Denten – mixing (tracks: 3, 9) • Tom Baker – mastering • Tomica Wright – executive producer • Giulio Costanzo – art direction • Peter Dokus – cover photo • Lucky Nantana – A&R • Mark Spier – sample clearances • Madeleine Smith – sample clearances ==Charts==