Album Review: Warren G - Regulate...G Funk Era II (and where I mostly just talk about the original album)

Because we have reached peak 90s nostalgia at this point, it’s only fitting that rapper Warren G would (unceremoniously) release a “sequel” to his debut record, 1994’s Regulate…G Funk Era.

The four song, five track EP, quietly unveiled earlier this month, Regulate….G Funk Era II, takes unused Nate Dogg vocal tracks in an attempt to recreate the undeniable chemistry the duo created in 1994 with the timeless classic, “Regulate.”

But all part two made me do was revisit the original album, which I originally had on cassette when I was around 11, listening to it in my Walkman with my headphones so my parents wouldn’t hear ALL the swear words contained inside.

G Funk Era II isn’t unlistenable by any means, but throughout the four rather short songs on it, it fails to reignite the original creative spark that Warren G and Nate Dogg had 21 years ago. It certainly doesn’t help that Nate has been dead since 2011, and it certainly doesn’t help that the “G Funk” sound, while still incredible to the ears, was something that was really left in the 1990s—only really being revived recently by heir to the west coast throne, YG.

Production wise, the songs on part two come off sounding like bloated, early 2000s big budget hip-hop—nothing nearly as smooth or as genuine sounding as what one would hope for sequel to one of rap music’s most auspicious debut records, especially on the true (and flaccid) opening track “My House,” which borrows a slight idea from the Madness song of a similar name, and finds Warren to the G just naming off everything that is his.

Dude apparently has a lot, according to this song.

The middle tracks, “Saturday” and “Keep on Hustlin’” are both a little more palatable, but again, musically, it’s the generic, watered down G Funk—but at least Warren G and the bevy of special guests featured on each track keep it somewhat interesting to listen to.

The EP’s final track, the creeping, somewhat goofy sounding, “Dead Wrong,” is also another misstep—a story song, but unlike “Regulate,” it does not stress the importance of the buddy system, but rather it discusses an untrustworthy ho that Warren has gotten himself involved with.

The whole thing is over in less than 20 minutes, and for something that bills itself as a project that wants to keep the memory of Nate Dogg alive, it seems like a bit of a thoughtless gesture that is too little, too late.

However unimpressive G Funk Era II is, it did send me running to the iTunes store with $6.99 to download a copy of the original album. And what is surprising, in listening to this as a grown ass man, is that Nate Dogg is only on ONE SONG—“Regulate.” For a duo that is damn near synonymous with each other, how Nate Dogg was not featured on more than one song on this album, I just don’t know…

…or maybe I do. The thing that separates Regulate…G Funk Era from its G Funk predecessors, like Doggystyle and The Chronic is that Warren was somehow able to escape the wrath of Suge Knight and Death Row Records, which explains the truly laid back, smooth vibe on the album. Sure it can be a little violent at times, but it is nowhere near as menacing or as hard as Dre and Snoop were in their very early days.

To my knowledge, Warren G was never really able to recapture the success of Regulate with any subsequent albums, but for some reason, he’s not written off as a 90s hip-hop one hit wonder the way Skeelo or Ahmad Lewis may be, and that may be because Regulate is stacked with hits—none of them exactly as timeless and incredible as the title track, but “Do You See,” “So Many Ways” and “This D.J.” are all packed with Warren’s smooth flow, structured around catchy hooks, and backed by a cleaned up version of that G Funk sound.

Since we’re at peak nostalgia for the 90s right now, Regulate…G Funk Era II serves as nothing more than a friendly reminder of a different time. While it is not looked on as fondly or as groundbreaking as its more threatening counterpart in The Chronic (and let’s face it, that is a pretty heavily flawed record too) the original Regulate…G Funk Era is a small slice of the 90s pie that is worth revisiting.

The original Regulate...G Funk Era is available on Def Jam. Its sequel was self released.