Renee (song)

Infobox Single
Name = Renee


Artist = Lost Boyz
Album = Legal Drug Money
Released = 1996
Format =
[Recorded = 1995
Genre = East Coast hip hop
Length =
Label = Uptown
Writer =
Producer =
Chronology =
Last single = Jeeps, Lex Coups, Bimaz & Benz
This single = Renee
Next single = Music Makes Me High

Renee was the most popular hit by the Lost Boyz and their only song to penetrate the Top 40 of the U.S. pop charts. The song peaked at #33 on the U.S. Hot 100 chart, #13 on the R&B charts, and #3 on the rap charts in 1996. The song, which was a part of the Don't Be a Menace soundtrack [http://www.mywire.com/pubs/Muze/2007/02/01/631178?extID=10051] , samples the Janet Jackson song Funny How Time Flies (When You're Having Fun)," found on her Control album and never released as a single in the United States.

The song describes a young man (the narrator) who meets a woman ("Renee") while coming back from "John Jay" The narrator promptly attempts to initiate a relationship. The song describes that Renee is studying to be a lawyer, while the narrator is a writer. The pair date for several weeks before she is shot to death [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C00E1DB1130F93AA15750C0A96F958260] . The moral of the song is "ghetto love is the law that we live by," describing the inevitable suffering of tragedy by those raised in crime-ridden areas [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D05E1DF173EF930A25753C1A960958260] [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C05E1DF1238F931A3575AC0A960958260&sec=&spon=] .

The story described in the song has been reported to be true, though the woman's name in real life is not Renee.

References