“Ballad of a Menace” was CPO’s first single, released in 1990 on Capitol Records. It’s the first track on their debut album To Hell and Black also released in 1990.
The song features MC Ren, who also produced this track and the rest of the album.
The song is featured in the video game GTA V.
[Intro: MC Ren]
Kick that beat in, Ren
Aww yeah
We gon' get busy one time for the motherfuckin' bitches out there in Compton
To this slow, slow, slow beat
We got my man Chip in the house
My man Young D, my man Donovan
And I am the incredible MC Ren and my man Lil Nation's gonna do it somethin' like this
[Verse 1: Lil' Nation]
This is the ballad of a menace
Not to be confused with that of a grimace
I'm in this to be number one when I step upon and walk the streets
Stalk the meat like that of a predator
Blow the brains out the head of my competitors
I'm a product of your sins, though you say I never heard of ya
A killer, a dope dealer, gangster murderer
Merciless maniac, monical manipulation
Primary focus of your local police station
I roll coal in my 'llac [?], doin'
A jack move
As I groove the gangsta melody
Passin' crack to a nine-year-old
And I've been told pimpin' ho's is a felony
But I'm not a doctor or lawyer, I wasn't made to be
Ever Luciferic because I get paid to be
There ain't no rehabilitatin' me, pull a gat on your grandmother
Then take her social security
The boundary lines of my jurisdiction expand from day to day
Ruler of all I survey
And with that, load up my gat then I pack
So I can buzz on the suckers that you replenish
This is the ballad of a menace
[Chorus: Ice Cube]
I'm a menace-
I'm a m-m-menace-
I'm a m-
I'm a m-
I'm a menace to society
I'm a mena-
I'm a menace to society
[Bridge]
"It looks like you're going to be in the record business"
"Don't you think that's a pretty good idea?"
"Oh, yeah!"
[Verse 2: MC Ren]
This is a ballad of a menace, Ren will finish and diminish
All the suckers that thought they could flow like me that was in this
Society wishes for my death or my downfall, but they playin' theyself as if they playin' some roundball
'Cause I'm terrorizin', the territory I'm steppin' on
Endangerin' citizens while I'm keepin' my weapon on
My [?] like a psycho, 'cause to me it was fittable
I just got word, the Ruthless Villain was critical
Let's get it straight, the ones that want some can come with that
Illiterate suckers, yo' I make you look dumb with that
Stumble and fumble 'cause I'ma crush 'til you crumble
So you can stutter and stutter. but keep it down to a mumble
MC Ren is never taken as the sucker
In other words, I'm a bad mother-
So next time I walk your streets you should know
To lock your doors and close your windows
And if you was thinkin' that protection could stop me
It takes a continent full of suckers to drop me
And for me to be vicious yo' it's valid
While I'm conductin' and producin' a ballad of a while I'm flowin' like a menace
[Chorus: Ice Cube]
I'm a menace-
I'm a m-m-menace-
I'm a m-
I'm a m-
I'm a m-
I'm a menace to society
I'm a mena-
I'm a m-m-m-menace
I'm a m-
I'm a m-
I'm a menace to society
[Verse 3: Lil' Nation]
I come out bussin' like a gauge
Nobody's safe when I'm enraged
Sacrifice the suckers and all the weak brothers that run in fear
I'm the menace to misery, answer the knock at your door and open it, AK delivery
Best known for bein' unsympathetic when I pick 'em
'Cause sympathy is for the pathetic and to the victim
Smoke one and smoke another, mercy's my only incapacity, yo
'Cause I'm a hard brother
Maniacal madman, son of Mephisto
Bound to go to hell since I was a embryo
A criminal, standin' in a gangsta lean
Steppin' with Ren The Villain, co-runnin' everything
Your mother, your sister, your daughter, your wife, and if you was reincarnated I would snatch your second life
In it for the money, down for me, myself, and I, you see?
And forget the community
I know in conclusion that death is my destiny, forget it
'Cause shootin' ill brothers is left in me
So write my malevolent epitaph, put it in the book of Guinness
And title it "The Ballad of a Menace"
[Chorus: Ice Cube]
I'm a menace-
I'm a m-m-menace-
I'm a m-
I'm a m-
I'm a menace to society
I'm a mena-
I'm a m-m-menace
I'm a m-
I'm a m-
I'm a menace to society
I'm a menace-
I'm a m-m-menace-
I'm a m-
I'm a m-
I'm a menace to society
[Outro: Ice Cube]
I'm a menace-
I'm a m-m-menace-
I'm a m-
I'm a m-
I'm a menace to society
Ballad Of A Menace (Radio Edit) was written by MC Ren & CPO Boss Hogg.
Ballad Of A Menace (Radio Edit) was produced by MC Ren.
CPO released Ballad Of A Menace (Radio Edit) on Tue Aug 07 1990.