“Regulators…Mount Up!”
GENERAL By Beware on August 10, 2007 at 9:48 am
During the early 90s, Def Jam was knee deep in the shit.
With alternative grunge and Westside gangsta rap topping the pop charts, the NYC-based hip-hop label was losing its marketability. Lyor Cohen had just forced out creative genius Rick Rubin a few years previous, and with Rubin went most of the label’s momentum. While Def Jam did release a few platinum albums from their marquee players in ‘92, the one-time powerhouse was close to going under.
An unlikely savior would soon emerge however, in the form of a Warren G, a perceptive rapper/producer from the Eastside of Long Beach, CA.
In 1994, Def Jam released the album that can be credited for keeping their label afloat, Regulate…The G-Funk Era. Warren’s first album, which is a mere 12 tracks spread over 34 minutes, ushered in the more laid back version of west coast gangsta rap, which would eventually become known as G-Funk. Making stars out of the G-Child and his partner Nate Dogg, the album revived the prominence of the Def Jam name, and went on to sell more than three million copies.
Starting off with a fortifying quote from the movie Young Guns, over Warren’s synthesized version of Michael McDonald’s “I Keep Forgetting,” the album’s title track is symbolic of everything west coast rap has become known for. Except with “Regulate” and it’s almost R&B sound, there’s a completely different feel.
Laced with Warren’s tale of theft and Nate’s song of salvation, it has all the elements of a “gangsta” rap cut, but doesn’t deliver the menacing qualities. Warren’s mellow vocals, mixed with Nate’s crooning, give the chart-topping hit a serene feel. Rather than a rebellious one, like an album such as The Chronic can produce.
Although “Regulate” was the only track that featured the obvious star Nate Dogg, it was this careless and melodious sound that would lead to the album’s success and overall acclaim.
This G-Funk, which carries throughout the entire disc, is prominent in songs like “Do You See,” “And Ya Don’t Stop,” and the trunk rattling hit “This DJ.” Full of ride whistles, soft keys, funky guitars, and deep bass, each of the tracks flows flawlessly into the next. Providing perfect California cruisin’ music, instead of the gun-wielding LA riot jams of NWA, Dre, and Ice T.
In spite of their musical differences, Regulate… and classic Chronic album do have one major thing in common. At the time, both albums were showcases for each of these musical architects’ protégés. Since label differences wouldn’t allow for his esteemed Death Row colleagues to feature on his debut, G-Dub brought together some of Long Beach’s best up-and-coming talent.
In The Twinz, Jah Skillz, Mr. Malik, and The Dove Shack, Warren found the perfect accomplices to match the music he was making. In order to show what was next (“N, X, E, T”), each of them has a featured cut on the album, and all prove their worth. Whether it’s Jah Skillz getting her “flows on like Flo Jo in marathon,” on “Super Soul Sis,” or The Dove Shack lacing the bbq banger, “This is The Shack.”
This combination of raw talent, and Warren G’s overall creativity, is what made the album a bi-coastal classic.
It’s odd to think that with everything that’s gone on since, a West Coast rapper possibly saved the biggest hip-hop label on the East Coast. And, that if Warren’s album hadn’t pulled Def Jam from the brink, we might not have ever heard from currently distributed Def Jam labels like Skip-N-Slide and Def Jam South. Who knows, if weren’t for this album, Luda might still be rockin’ the radio waves, Jeezy could be doin’ fed time, and Rihanna would probably just be gettin’ rained on.
So, in hindsight, Regulate…The G-Funk Era changed more than just the face of west coast rap in the early nineties. It quite possibly changed the entire landscape of the hip-hop industry we know it today.
Warren G – Regulate…The G-Funk Era
Charli Baltimore Ft. Lil Wayne – Test Us
Chris Brown – You
Crystal Valentine – Boy Toy Ft. Joe Budden
J. Holiday – A Love Of Your Own
Rosco Ft Akon And Jadakiss – You Feel Me
Sean P – Clothes Off
Ugk Ft. Z-Ro – Trill Niggaz Dont Die
Wyclef – Johnny Dead
Yung Joc – Play Your Cards
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62 Comments
this is one of the first rap albums i ever bought. do you see was my shit back in the day. i’m loving the throwback reviews.
DAMN RIGHT!!!!!!!
i LOVE this album.
when i was what, 13? i’d mow the lawn to it every week. weird, yes. true, yes.
i still know damn near all the words.
the beginning of my set last night:
digable planets-9th Wonder (Blackitolism)
lil wayne-this is the carter
warren g-do you see
yeah kid. right on time.
my girlfriend LOVES my impression of the gangsta sermon. and who can forget yeasty, aka wonder bread….
god bless warren g.
Trackstar
New video from Icewater called ‘Animal’ featuring Raekwon and Inspectah Deck.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TTShmcfw_Tk
IceWater Inc !!! Biatch !
rae coming soon …
thats shits funny on one of the most mashing tracks on the album he spit that whats next/whats next/whats N_X_E_T but malik killed it
^^co-sign
For some reason that was one of my highlites of this album…the young boi malik killed that track
mmmmm, warren g.
Geessh….
Great article Beware, this is the first time I ever looked at this album from a labels’ stand point, thanks for the insight the facts you provide are amazing. I never thought that Def Jam would be having problems in the nineties at all. From what I can remember they had Redman, LL, EPMD, Run D.M.C. and JMJ, and plus many other highly talented artists…..But this album definitely erupted over here on the east….
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nice flip
OHHH yea….Public Enemy for sure
just checkin if my avatar worked…
aaahh… warren g.
i was going to marry him.
Man, I just spent an hour loading up about ten Long Beach Loosies for yall, but then when i checked to see how it came out….it just never posted. Fuck.
^ me tooooo.
he stayed on top of my “future husbands” list.
I STILL have that damn CD. The digital disc. Anything Compton, Watts, or South Central got bought. Even though Warren G was Long Beach AND Def Jam, I still fox with him… That cd had funny skits too.
And P, quit drooling… haha.
can’t help it. the man was (and will always be) beautiful.
love that disc… the follow up wasnt bad either…
Regulate is easily my favorite song of all-time. Classic.
g-funk is the 2nd worst sub genre of rap.
Grav check
Regulate was a Classic!! With Nate Dogg on the track you can’t go wrong. “If you Smoke like I Smoke then you’re High like every day!…” LOL
Damn thats harsh^Whats the worst sub-genre in rap then? Regulate was that joint, one of the smoothest hip hop songs ever.
I played regulate for the first time the other day for my lil’ coz.
You know, each one teach one.
He went crazy and stole my damn CD.
Great article Beware.
Wow Chris, we all got our own opinions, but how can you say that? G-Funk is one of my favorite kind of Hip Hop. The only sub-genre of hip hop i can truely not stand is Snap….so what is THE worst for you?
This DJ/This is the Shack combo was the roughest. I brought this tape to a picnic one day and rocked it on the Radio Raheem. At the end of the day, I didn’t have the tape anymore. I wasn’t even mad. I was drunk, though.
Yeah what’s the worst Chris?
P luvs light skinned aggins with scraggly facial hair….
^ LOL
you found me out.
east coast boom bap
just to piss off more people. :(
lol, uh oh.
Horrorcore is by far the worst….
That CD was, and still is pure flavor. Every time I hear “What’s Next?” I wonder… “Why the hell didn’t Mr. Malik drop an album?!”
I think I’m gonna go bump that CD and then listen to “I Getz Busy” like 10 times in a row!
^ Warren G. should run for public office. I’d move to Cali just to vote him over the Terminator.
got damn mind readers, i was JUST watching summertime in the LBC the other day repeatedly…
warren hit like a mack truck when he came out. i think niggas forget how cold warren really was.”regulators” was a retarded smash and “do you see” and “this dj” hit HEAVY in long beach. memories…
Horrorcore is by far the worst…
=============
100% agreed.
P likes ‘em light-skinned and scruffy, huh?
(note to self: don’t shave for a week, book flight to L.A.)
everybody needed to move to cali like.. yesterday.
Time will tell, P…I got a lot of fam out there and more on the way. As one of my boys once said, who just moved to the Valley and experienced his first earthquake…
“no fucking winter”
Yeah, that whole CD was tight, even though the motherfucker couldn’t spell.
That retarded intro to “This is the Shack” still puts a smile on my face…
Oh, and the worst sub-genre of rap is Crunk music, hands down.
>Oh, and the worst sub-genre of rap is Crunk music, hands down.
i don’t know, snap music is at a close second.
Regulate came on the iPod today while it was on shuffle mode.
P, I like visiting Cali, but I think I’d miss DC too much if I left for too long.
RONNIE – AHAHA YES! an average of about 300 days of sunshine a year. the other 65-66 are either overcast or raining but rarely go below 58°. :) i’m so mad i didn’t feel the earthquake tho. adrenaline rush like a muhfucka.
DOOGIE – you wouldn’t eeeeem remember DC. :D i’m just sayin..
I always considered snap to be an offshoot of crunk music; the exact same shit with even LESS effort put into, if that’s even possible.
Mr. Malik as in Malik form Illegal? If so his solo project was SHELVED… I had that promo advance on cassette back in the day. I may run across it one day when cleaning
the problem with cali is that it’s all shine and little substance.
thas cuz you looking in all the wrong places cam.
I always slept on that Regulate album, so thanks for posting. It does carry some cultural weight. But as far as carrying Def Jam through the mid 90s. Where did you get those facts from? Where you in the library at LBCC? Seriously, I was hoping you could link to that fact, because it’s interesting. Also, you failed to mention one of the main commonalities between Regulate and the Chronic…Warren is Dre’s little brother.
P, please! I been from Anaslime to Weirdowywood, back the The Beach…all the same! you might be the exception (cough*cough) but then again, that IS an East Coast p.o.v
I thought is was a dope review of the album…
http://www.robertchristgau.com/xg/rock/ahmad-94.php
But thanks again to Beware for hipping me to this socal gemstone.
and yet.. you’re still here.
Like Cindy Lauper sang “money changes everything”
One person’s perception is another’s reality.
Malik – Malik Goes On
http://www.zshare.net/download/3083057c13b29a/
Mista Grimm – Indo Smoke Feat Warren G and Nate Dogg
http://www.zshare.net/audio/3083138511ebb1/
Power 106 Freestyle Feat. Mixmaster Ken, Kurupt, Daz, and Warren G
http://www.zshare.net/audio/3083158605fd70/
Another great article – that stuff about Def jam is on point – people forget how much they were struggling. Def Jam West didn’t exactly blow up with Boss! Good work Beware and TSS
Shame, however, that somehow it degenerates in the comments into more slagging of crunk and snap, though – perfectly legitimate sub-genres that people who leave the house once in a while enjoy. What’s wrong with people? Get over it.
Warren G – Regulate (Dirty Version)
http://www.zshare.net/download/3083179e51cda9/
Warren G _ What’s Love Got To Do With It?
http://www.zshare.net/audio/3083195356913f/
Warren G – Return of the Regulator Intro Feat. Damone
http://www.zshare.net/download/3083214465bb12/
If you’ve never heard this, you’re in for a treat. Beat is amazing.
The Twinz – Eastside LB
http://www.zshare.net/download/30832592817fe5/
new review
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Passwords for all : westside