"Ballad of a Menace" is a single by American hip hop group Capital Punishment Organization, released in 1990 as the lead single from their debut studio album To Hell and Black, by Capitol Records. The song later appeared in the Grand Theft Auto V in-game radio station West Coast Classics.

"Ballad Of A Menace"
Single by Capital Punishment Organization featuring MC Ren
from the album To Hell and Black
B-side"Ren's Rhythm"
Released1990
Genre
Length4:33
4:16 (radio edit)
LabelCapitol Records
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
Capital Punishment Organization singles chronology
"Ballad Of A Menace"
(1990)
"'"This Beat Is Funky"'"
(1990)
MC Ren singles chronology
"'"We Want Eazy"'"
(1989)
"Ballad of a Menace"
(1990)
"'"We're All in the Same Gang"'"
(1990)

The song was written by CPO's rapper Vince 'Lil' Nation' Edwards and N.W.A's rapper Lorenzo 'MC Ren' Patterson, whom also produced the song along with CPO's producer Daron 'Young D' Sapp. It was mixed at Audio Achievements by Donovan "The Dirt Biker" Smith, and mastered at Bernie Grundman Mastering by Brian "Big Bass" Gardner, to propelled the group to mainstream popularity.

The song has its radio edit version shortened from the original 4 minutes 33 seconds to 4 minutes 16 seconds, and an official remix version titled "Ballad Of A Menace (Homicidal Theme Remix)" with its length of 6 minutes 57 seconds.

Track listing

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Adapted from Discogs[1]

7", vinyl, promo
No.TitleLength
1."Ballad Of A Menace (Radio Edit)"4:16
2."Ballad Of A Menace"4:33
CD single, promo
No.TitleLength
1."Ballad Of A Menace (Radio Edit)"4:16
2."Ballad Of A Menace"4:33
3."Ballad Of A Menace (Homicidal Theme Remix)"6:57
12", vinyl
No.TitleLength
1."Ballad Of A Menace"4:33
2."Ren's Rhythm"3:30
3."Ballad Of A Menace (Homicidal Theme Remix)"6:57
4."Ballad Of A Menace (Radio Edit)"4:16
5."Ren's Rhythm (Radio Edit)"3:32
Maxi-single, cassette
No.TitleLength
1."Ballad Of A Menace (Radio Edit)"4:16
2."Ren's Rhythm (Radio Edit)"3:32
3."Ballad Of A Menace"4:33
4."Ren's Rhythm"3:30
5."Ballad Of A Menace (Homicidal Theme Remix)"6:57

Samples

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There were three songs sampled in the original track:[2]

"Ballad Of A Menace (Homicidal Theme Remix)" contains samples from the songs:[3]

The song was sampled in the 1994 song "Bad Mutha Fucka" as performed by Mike D Chill[2]

References

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  1. ^ "C.P.O. - Ballad Of A Menace". Discogs. Retrieved 2017-03-06.
  2. ^ a b "Ballad of a Menace by C.P.O. feat. MC Ren on WhoSampled". WhoSampled. Retrieved 2017-03-06.
  3. ^ "Ballad of a Menace (Homicidal Theme Remix) by C.P.O. feat. MC Ren on WhoSampled". WhoSampled. Retrieved 2017-03-06.