The Villain in Black

After the release and success of his critically acclaimed debut studio album Shock of the Hour in late 1993, M.C. Ren immediately began working on his sophomore album. The deaths of D.J. Train and Eazy-E would however prove to be a huge setback and Ren stepped off the scene for a while. Meanwhile, he continued his work with the Nation of Islam and visited Egypt in mid-1995. Following his return from Egypt, M.C. Ren continued to work on his album, this time however scrapping all the material he recorded with DJ Train. Enlisting Cold 187um and Dr. Jam to produce his album, Ren began recording new material. While making The Villain in Black, M.C. Ren was closely affiliated with the Nation of Islam, which had a large impact on the some parts of the album's content. Black nationalist Khalid Muhammad appeared in the track "Muhammad Speaks", where he spoke about the history of the rights of African Americans. He also made a cameo appearance on the closing track "Bring It On". ==Track listing==

;Sample credits • Track 1 contains a sample from "If It Ain't Ruff" written by Lorenzo Patterson and Andre Young as recorded by N.W.A. ==Personnel==

• Lorenzo "MC Ren" Patterson – vocals • Gregory "Cold 187um" Hutchinson – vocals, producer, recording, mixing, arranging • Jerry "J-Rocc" Brown – vocals • Kevin "KM.G" Gulley – vocals • Kervin "Triggaman" Paul – vocals • Harold "Khalid Abdul Muhammad" Moore Jr. – voice • Tamara "Tski" Rasmussen – additional background vocals • Mike "Crazy Neck" Sims – guitar • Henrik "Doctor Jam" Milling – producer • Jess "Big Jess" Willard – producer, programming • Lasse Bavngaard – producer • Rasmus Ødum Berg – producer • Jesper "Jokeren" Dahl – producer • Nicholas "Coldhands" Kvaran – producer • Mark "The Don" Paladino – recording, mixing • Donovan "The Dirt Biker" Smith – recording, mixing • Eric "Eazy-E" Wright – executive producer • Don Cunningham – art direction, design • Peter Dokus – photography • Giulio Costanzo – design, layout • Madeleine Smith – sample clearance ==Charts==