Regulate… G Funk Era – Warren G – Released June 7th 1994, Violator Records
Regulate… G Funk Era is the 1994 debut album from LA-based rapper/producer, Warren G. The album enjoyed huge critical and commercial success, eventually resulting in triple platinum sales.
Snoop Dogg was originally meant to appear on the album but was prevented from doing so for contractual reasons, however fellow Dogg Pound alumni Nate Dogg and Kurupt do appear alongside other guest artists.
Given his background, connections and talent, Warren G’s ascent was inevitable. As the stepbrother of Dr Dre, he was close to the pulse of west coast hiphop for years. And as a founding member of 213, alongside Snoop and Nate Dogg, he helped put Long Beach hiphop on the map. He then put his groupmates in touch with Dre and the rest is history.
Rather than jumping on the Death Row bandwagon himself, however, Warren G decided to forge his own path and take G Funk to a whole new level.
As a rapper/producer somewhat under Dre’s shadow he had a point to make and he certainly made it with sick beats to out-Chronic, Dre all delivered in a much smoother, singalong style.
He also put his own stamp on the G Funk sound, expanding it from its original 70s p funk roots to incorporate silkier 80s R&B Jheri curl grooves from groups like Mtume.
So, although it still had an underground gangsta edge, it was much more suave than The Chronic and far more radio friendly.
Where Rhythm Is Life – And Life Is Rhythm
Given that it’s the pinnacle of west coast smooth, Regulate’s opening dialogue comes from the most unlikely of sources, the now mostly-forgotten 80s action western movie Young Guns, starring Emilo Esteves.
You might also recognise that whistle-sounding synth from Bob James’ Sign Of The Times, which De La Soul used a few years prior on Keepin’ the Faith.
But the main event, so to speak, and the reason Regulate was such a huge crossover hit, is due to its heavy usage of the 1980s Michael McDonald hit, I Keep Forgettin’.
Regulate is a masterclass in both sampling and song writing and how one can be used to elevate the other – oh, and it’s catchy as fuck too. Seriously, good luck getting this to stop playing in your head all day.
Track two, Do You See, starts off with a sample from Gil Scott Heron before launching into what might be one of the finest examples of pure g funk grooves ever devised.
It’s also one of two songs on this album to sample Mtume’s Juicy Fruit, a track which was also sampled that same year by Notorious B.I.G. on the track Juicy.
Gangsta Sermon is a short skit delivered in a jive preacher style before we get to Recognize featuring the Twinz. I absolutely adore the bassline on this one. The album promises funk and man does Warren G deliver.
Super Soul Sis features female rapper Jah Skillz and includes the immortal line, “I talk so much shit I got halitosis.”
Not a huge fan of this track compared to many of the others but Jah Skills does return later and smashes it.
We get another skit at the halfway mark, called the 94 Draft before moving on to another of the album highlights for me, So Many Ways, feat Lady Levi and Wayniac from the Twinz.
Lady Levi only released one album on Motown back in 1991, a poppy ragga/dancehall hiphop hybrid called The Legend Of Lady Levi. In addition to Warren G, she also collaborated with fellow west coast icons Dre Dre and 2 Pac.
This DJ takes a chord sample from Midnight Star’s Curious and yet another sample of Mtume’s Juicy Fruit.
The track was the album’s second single and was co-written by Snoop Dogg who was originally also meant to appear on the track but sadly couldn’t appear due to record company conflicts, so he simply has a writing credit on the track instead. (Which, it’s worth mentioning, is more than Warren G got for his work on Doggystyle.)
Track nine, This Is The Shack, was my least favourite back in the day and I always skipped it. Listening back now, it’s not as bad as I remember it, but I still find that intro very irritating and the main chorus synth melody similarly grating, so I’m happy to skip it again the next time I play this album.
What’s Next? Ah yes, now this one’s more like it. Got more of a straight-up gangsta vibe this with Warren G joined on the mic by his “little homie” Mr Malik.
And You Don’t Stop is based on a loop from Don Julian’s score to the 1973 blaxploitation flick, Savage! – the exclamation point being part of the title in case you weren’t sure the protagonist was a badass.
Warren G’s equally badass adoption of this groove, meanwhile, is so smooth he can drop Humpty Dumpty rhymes in the middle of it and still sound cool as fuck.
The final track, Runnin’ With No Breaks, is based on a loop from Les McCann’s Go On and Cry. G Funk aficionados will note it’s the same melody used on Snoop Dogg’s The Next Episode, from his debut Doggystyle.
This finale features Bo Roc and G Child and also sees the return of The Twinz. But if you ask me it’s Jah Skillz who’s the MVP of this track. It’s also a good choice to end what remains an effortlessly funky album.
Funk, On A Whole New Level
The G Funk Era may only have lasted a few years but resuled in some timeless albums. Albums like this, The Chronic and Doggystyle changed hiphop forever, raising the bar in terms of production and musicality, a legacy which continues to this day.
Dre may have launched the g funk movement with 1992’s The Chronic, Snoop may have then further popularised it with Doggystyle while others may offer valid arguments as to why Ice Cube invented g funk first.
Regardless, 1994’s Regulate… G Funk Era was when we hit peak g funk. For me it’s the best example of the genre and also the highest watermark before the style gradually began to recede.
The sound prevailed through 1995 though facing fierce competition from a resurgent east coast, as well as the growth of Southern hiphop.
The following year it had fallen out of favour, famously lampooned by DJ Shadow on his track, Why Hip Hop Sucks In ’96. But some sparks of quality remained, most notably the debut album from Foesum called Perfection.
At the beginning of the 90s g funk was the freshest sound around, however as the music industry appropriated it, it soon began to sound cliché. And for a while it seemed as though everyone, rappers and pop stars alike, had gone g funk.
But few could match the masters.
Perhaps, by creating an album with such quality and mainstream appeal, Warren G, accelerated this process. Yes, in case it’s clear, I’m saying the only problem with this album is that perhaps it was too good.
And of course, following the success of Regulate…. G Funk Era, comparisons between Warren G and his stepbrother Dre were inevitable. Indeed the album itself was, in part, inspired by that rivalry.
Both men were rapper/producers, though I maintain that Warren G is more of a well-rounded rapper and producer, whereas Dr Dre is a producer who also raps.
Please don’t make me answer who I think is the better producer, I’d say Warren G is certainly on par with Dre, though Dre is, obviously more successful. (Ain’t nobody wearing overpriced Warren G headphones.)
But Warren G wins in a rap battle, easily. Dre, love him though I do, can sound heavy and clunky at the best of times whereas Warren G’s just nimble and breezy whatever beat he’s on.
My only issue with this album, really, is that the songs are so short. There’s a few I’d love to hear go on longer, and a couple I’d happily jettison in order to accomplish this, but yeah, I guess when you’re crafting your debut in the shadow of one of the most successful hiphop artists of all time, you want to get as many different flavas as you can on there.
…Yeah, I know, I still feel you nudging me on the whole Dre Vs Warren G topic. I’m not going to say who I think is better overall because that’s impossible.
But what I will say is – if you’re going to force me to pick a g funk album to listen to, I pick this. If you ask, would I rather listen to this or The Chronic? I’m still going with this. And if the follow-up question is, “for all eternity?” The answer is still this. The G Funk Era for all eternity? Sure, bring it on.
Well, except for The Shack, I’m still skipping that one.