R.I.P. Nathaniel D. Hale a.k.a. Nate Dogg 1969-20011

March 16, 2011 5:38 AM

41 year old rapper, singer, G-Funk ambassador Nate Dogg died last night. Nate is remembered by Snoop and Daz, but his death will leave a mark on the entire rap music world. Videos below the fold.

Regulate
Oh No
Next Episode
Area Codes
Bitch Please
21 Questions
Can't Deny It

posted by paisley henosis (71 comments total)

And, because somebody is going to post it, here's the Hale And Oates / Yacht Rock about Regulator.
posted by paisley henosis at 5:39 AM on March 16, 2011 [7 favorites]

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posted by parmanparman at 5:48 AM on March 16, 2011

I was surprised to hear this; didn't know about his health issues. TBH Nate Dogg pretty much dropped off my radar after "Regulate" and "Next Episode" until "Ooh Wee" w/Ghostface. I have many fond memories of being a certain age and thinking Regulate was really awesome, so thanks for providing part of the soundtrack for me, Nate.
posted by dubold at 5:49 AM on March 16, 2011 [1 favorite]

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posted by hominid211 at 5:55 AM on March 16, 2011

2nd mp3 I ever had, back when 3mb seemed big and 96kbps seemed good, was Regulate. RIP.
posted by inigo2 at 5:55 AM on March 16, 2011 [1 favorite]

He's my age. Damn.

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posted by Sailormom at 5:57 AM on March 16, 2011

Sidenote -- are all VEVO videos censored like that Regulate video linked above is? Never noticed that before.
posted by inigo2 at 5:58 AM on March 16, 2011

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Back in the day where you had to pick 16-32 songs for your mp3 player, Regulate was routinely in the chosen group. Now, half the songs on my iPod I skip through, simply because it's easier to get the album than just the song and a random fill is half trash.
posted by dflemingecon at 6:00 AM on March 16, 2011 [1 favorite]

Rethinking it, I guess VEVO just plays the original videos, which were generally made for MTV, so were censored to begin with. Sorry for the derail.
posted by inigo2 at 6:02 AM on March 16, 2011

16 in the clip and one in the hole.

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posted by allkindsoftime at 6:05 AM on March 16, 2011 [3 favorites]

and the sound of malt liquor spattering against the pavement is heard from coast to coast.
posted by quonsar II: smock fishpants and the temple of foon at 6:06 AM on March 16, 2011 [2 favorites]

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posted by neushoorn at 6:07 AM on March 16, 2011

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posted by fizzix at 6:14 AM on March 16, 2011

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Regulate is still on my workout playlist.
posted by KGMoney at 6:34 AM on March 16, 2011

Hey Hey aye yayee!
posted by cashman at 6:34 AM on March 16, 2011

Smoke weed everyday.

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posted by cashman at 6:35 AM on March 16, 2011 [2 favorites]

Brief synopsis of "Regulate":

Warren, unaware that Nate is surreptitiously observing the scene unfold, is in disbelief that he's being robbed. The perpetrators have taken jewelry and a name brand designer watch from Warren, who is so incredulous that he asks what else the robbers intend to steal. This is most likely a rhetorical question.

Nate Dogg, having just arrived in the east side of Long Beach, seeks Warren. On his way to find Warren, Nate passes a car full of women who are excited to see him. Regardless, he insists to the women that there is no cause for excitement.

Warren makes a left turn at 21st Street and Lewis Ave, in the East Hill/Salt Lake neighborhood[7], where he sees a group of young men enjoying a game of dice together. He parks his car and greets them. He is excited to find people to play with, but to his chagrin, he discovers they intend to relieve him of his material possessions. Once the hopeful robbers reveal their firearms, Warren realizes he is in a less than favorable predicament.

Meanwhile, Nate passes the women, as they are low on his list of priorities. His primary concern is locating Warren. After curtly casting away the strumpets (whose interest in Nate was such that they crashed their automobile), he serendipitously stumbles upon his friend, Warren G, being held up by the young miscreants.

Warren, unaware that Nate is surreptitiously observing the scene unfold, is in disbelief that he is being robbed. The perpetrators have taken jewelry and a Rolex Watch from Warren, who is so incredulous that he asks what else the robbers intend to steal. This is most likely a rhetorical question.

Observing these unfortunate proceedings, Nate realizes that he may have to use his firearm to deliver his friend from harm.

The tension crescendos as the robbers point their guns to Warren's head. Warren senses the gravity of his situation. He cannot believe the events unfolding could happen in his own neighborhood. As he imagines himself making a fantastical escape, he catches a glimpse of his friend, Nate.

Nate has seventeen cartridges (sixteen residing in the pistol's magazine, with a solitary round placed in the chamber and ready to be fired) to expend on the group of robbers. Afterward, he generously shares the credit for neutralizing the situation with Warren, though it is clear that Nate did all of the difficult work. Putting congratulations aside, Nate quickly reminds himself that he has committed multiple homicides to save Warren before letting his friend know that there are females nearby if he wishes to fornicate with them.

Warren recalls that it was the promise of copulation that coaxed him away from his previous activities, and is thankful that Nate knows a way to satisfy these urges. Nate quickly finds the women who earlier crashed their car on Nate's account. He remarks to one that he is fond of her physical appeal. The woman, impressed by Nate's singing ability, asks that he and Warren allow her and her friends to share transportation. Soon, both friends are driving with automobiles full of women to the East Side Motel, presumably to consummate their flirtation in an orgy!

The third verse is more expository, with Warren and Nate explaining their G Funk musical style. Warren displays his bravado by daring anyone to approach the style. There follows a brief discussion of the genre's musicological features, with special care taken to point out that in said milieu the rhythm is not in fact the rhythm, as one might assume, but actually the bass. Similarly the bass serves a purpose closer to that which the treble would in more traditional musical forms. Nate displays his bravado by claiming that individuals with equivalent knowledge could not even attempt to approach his level of lyrical mastery. Nate goes on to note that if any third party smokes as he does, they would find themselves in a state of intoxication almost daily (from Nate's other works, it can be inferred that the substance referenced is marijuana[8]). Nate concludes his delineation of the night by issuing a threat to "busters," suggesting that he and Warren will further "regulate" any potential incidents in the future (presumably by engaging their antagonists with small arms fire).
posted by skwm at 6:44 AM on March 16, 2011 [46 favorites]

Regulate was a good tune (well-produced by Dr. Dré) and I thought it was super smart to write a "gansta" rap song that portrayed black street thugs as cowboys in a classic American western. White people loves cowboys.

So basically, what skwm said.

Also riding on the back of the success of the film Young Guns wasn't too stupid either.
posted by three blind mice at 6:49 AM on March 16, 2011 [1 favorite]

St Ides promotional cassingle featuring Nate Dogg.

"Down at the corner store you know what I'm lookin' FOOOooor... st ides... st ides...."
posted by josher71 at 6:49 AM on March 16, 2011 [1 favorite]

skwm: "Brief synopsis of "Regulate""

Gee, it sure is funny when people talk all fancy about gangster rap music, like win-wink-nudge-nudge use of loquaciousness. Tee-hee! You're so edgy!
posted by ShawnStruck at 6:55 AM on March 16, 2011 [9 favorites]

Heyyyy-yyyy-ey...


Smoke weed every day.

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posted by Jon_Evil at 6:57 AM on March 16, 2011 [3 favorites]

So basically, what skwm said.

What skwm said is what someone had made up and put on wikipedia for giggles. There was a thread here about it a while back but I can't seem to find it.

Also, the cassingle! Wow. I still have a few.
posted by cashman at 6:58 AM on March 16, 2011

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posted by electroboy at 6:58 AM on March 16, 2011

Here's to the one in the hole.

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posted by deezil at 7:00 AM on March 16, 2011

Man, I remember hearing that song constantly when it came out... the sense memory is somehow irreplaceably tied to playing Shadowrun on the SNES - I think because some part of the bass line is very similar to Shadowrun's score (or at least seemed so at the time). This was before I got TKK's '13 Above the Night' and played that on repeat as a replacement soundtrack. Wow, memories...
posted by FatherDagon at 7:05 AM on March 16, 2011

His performance on Oh No is amazing. Also I Got Love and the rest of that album is sick sick sick.
posted by Potomac Avenue at 7:05 AM on March 16, 2011 [1 favorite]

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posted by oneironaut at 7:14 AM on March 16, 2011

> What skwm said is what someone had made up and put on wikipedia for giggles.

There were several. Here's another. It's good to [cite].
posted by Burhanistan at 7:16 AM on March 16, 2011

That was the synopsis on Wkipedia for a while: link


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posted by jabberjaw at 7:19 AM on March 16, 2011

Not a huge Nate Dogg fan (I mean, what the hell is a G-funk ambassador) but that Yacht Rock video is out of control.

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posted by phaedon at 7:22 AM on March 16, 2011

I'd like to thank you for watchin over my D-O-double G's
And would you keep an extra eye on Nate Dogg especially

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posted by Uther Bentrazor at 7:44 AM on March 16, 2011

I love his turn and the chorus on Where I Wanna Be.
posted by Kylio at 7:49 AM on March 16, 2011

Don't worry. You were plenty hard. You were all along.
posted by sourwookie at 7:51 AM on March 16, 2011

I'm a Nat (or N@). I'm a "IV"; my father had the same name, and his father before him and his father again. My father (otherwise a staunch pacifist) told me when I was very young that if anyone insisted on calling me Nate, I had his permission to punch them in the face. The only time I let people call me "Nate" is when they call me "Nate Dogg."

Peace out, G.
posted by Eideteker at 7:56 AM on March 16, 2011

      
[40 oz}=.
        .
        .
       ....

posted by Homeboy Trouble at 8:01 AM on March 16, 2011 [40 favorites]

RIP Nate Dogg (ft. Nate Dogg)
posted by uaudio at 8:02 AM on March 16, 2011 [8 favorites]

Seriously sad, he will be missed...

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Hey, hey, heyy, smoke weed everyday!

Gonna have to break out a blunt tonight and put on some old schoolness
posted by handbanana at 8:06 AM on March 16, 2011 [1 favorite]

Mount up.

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posted by SmileyChewtrain at 8:27 AM on March 16, 2011

I was in 7th grade when this came out, probably into some alt/indie stuff, but "Regulators" was totally inescapable on MTV and the radio. I'm pretty sure everyone my age knows and has memorized this song. Every single line is over-the-top ridiculous and hilarious. The way he lays them bustas down and lets his gat explode, then switches his mind back into freak mode IN THE VERY SAME LINE without even pausing to take a breath. Have sex and death ever been so callously intertwined?
posted by naju at 8:36 AM on March 16, 2011 [3 favorites]

I've always had an inexplicable weakness for this one.

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posted by Go Banana at 8:38 AM on March 16, 2011

Regulate was totally a middle-school jam that I didn't appreciate until years later.


"and the sound of malt liquor spattering against the pavement is heard from coast to coast."

Something that delighted me when reading the Iliad was that pouring out a drink on the ground for your dead homies goes back to at least pre-Hellenist Greece.
posted by klangklangston at 8:42 AM on March 16, 2011 [6 favorites]

So, this is how it's going to be. I really don't want to grow old. RIP Nate.
posted by Flex1970 at 8:42 AM on March 16, 2011

Haven't listened to regulate in a while, but man I remember when I had every line memorized. I think it was 5th grade. I distinctly remember a dance party in a friends garage and all of my other white suburban friends singing along.

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posted by thankyouforyourconsideration at 8:57 AM on March 16, 2011

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posted by zombiehoohaa at 8:57 AM on March 16, 2011

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posted by ph00dz at 8:58 AM on March 16, 2011

Oh dear. For years I'd found myself wondering what ever had happened to him—I never saw anything about his health problems that I recall, and as far as I know he'd been more or less off the radar since 2001. Regulate was a little bit before me (I would have been, you know, nine), but, for better or worse, I can't help but suspect that some day you'll find me pacing the grounds of the nursing home quietly singing the refrain from Area Codes under my breath. RIP.

Hoes. Hoe-ooo-oh-ooo-oes…
posted by wreckingball at 9:03 AM on March 16, 2011

♪
posted by geekyguy at 9:08 AM on March 16, 2011

Next stop is the Eastside Motel in the sky. Rest in peace, Nate.
posted by bayani at 9:14 AM on March 16, 2011 [1 favorite]

Regulated.
posted by Damienmce at 9:30 AM on March 16, 2011

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posted by Lutoslawski at 10:01 AM on March 16, 2011

Hope you ready for the next episode.
posted by OverlappingElvis at 10:04 AM on March 16, 2011 [3 favorites]

Regulators, mount up!

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Hold up, heyyyyyyyyy ...

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and what cashman said.

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posted by mrgrimm at 10:10 AM on March 16, 2011

Truly a sad day for hip hop. Nate defined the g-funk sound as much as Dre and Snoop did.
posted by gnutron at 10:14 AM on March 16, 2011

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posted by threetoed at 10:50 AM on March 16, 2011

I'm really taking this one hard. His voice was the single best thing about the nineties. He passed unbelievably young. No one but no one but NO ONE could rip a hook like he. There's so many examples I could cite, and a lot of them are already in the links y'all have shared. Can't Deny It is on my mind because without his hook, it's a mediocre song at best. Or Lay Low, because I've never been able to listen to it just once. Always gotta back that one up for another.

Guess I'd been holding out hope he would bounce back from those strokes and we'd get to hear him sing again. RIP Nate. Thank you so much for sharing your music.
posted by EatTheWeak at 10:50 AM on March 16, 2011 [2 favorites]

This came in an e-mail from a friend:

Nate Dogg

Who died yesterday...
Now you have made
Your own body
Turn cold

— E.J. Thribb, aged 17.
posted by alby at 10:54 AM on March 16, 2011

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posted by ego at 10:57 AM on March 16, 2011

REGULATORRRRRRRRRRRRS - Mount up!

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posted by Juffo-Wup at 10:59 AM on March 16, 2011

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posted by defenestration at 11:09 AM on March 16, 2011

The first thing I did when I heard about his death was look up the Regulate video. Truly a hip-hop classic.

But for me, I'll always remember Nate Dogg for his verse on Snoop Dogg's "It Ain't No Fun (if the Homies Can't Have None)", off the DoggyStyle album. Any time I hear that, it takes me right back to high school, when we all used to bust out singing:

When I met you last night, baby....
Before you opened up your gap,
I had respect for you lady....
But now I take it all back...

'cause you gave me all your pussy,
and you even licked my balls,
just leave your number on the cabinet...
and I promise baby, I'll give you a call...

Next time I'm feeling kinda horny,
you can come on over, and I'll break you off....
and if you can't, fuck that day, baby....
Just lay back, and open your mouth...

'cause IIIIIIIII....have neveerrrrrrr.....meeee-et a giiiiiiiiiirrrllllllll...........
thaaaaaAAAATTTTT....I loooove, in the whole wide woooooorrlld.....

RIP, Nate Dogg. You did your thang, and you will be missed.
posted by KillaSeal at 11:49 AM on March 16, 2011

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posted by nonliteral at 11:51 AM on March 16, 2011

'Cause it wasn't a hit until Nate Dogg was on it.
posted by djduckie at 4:14 PM on March 16, 2011

The TJ Swan of our day.

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posted by box at 4:25 PM on March 16, 2011

I'll supply the music; you supply the lyrics. Hold up!

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posted by stannate at 5:02 PM on March 16, 2011

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posted by chunking express at 7:57 PM on March 16, 2011

Who is gonna step up and sing such badass choruses for rappers now?

NO ONE.

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posted by XhaustedProphet at 10:35 PM on March 16, 2011

But how old was he in dogg years?
posted by snofoam at 10:51 PM on March 16, 2011

An awesome Nate Dogg tribute mix from DJ Steve1der & Dubcnn. Seriously, don't miss it.
posted by rollbiz at 6:25 AM on March 17, 2011 [3 favorites]

I regret that he had only one life to give for g-funk.
posted by klangklangston at 10:43 AM on March 17, 2011 [1 favorite]

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posted by joedan at 12:00 PM on March 17, 2011

Nate Dogg mourned at funeral service. Includes video, images of snoop's new Nate Dogg tattoo, and this paragraph:

He fought a hard fight. The last three years were unbelievable. He didn’t give up. He just had a talk with God and gave up. Two hours before that he was fine. He wanted to go to heaven and hang with his boys. He loved Tupac. He recorded with him. He wanted to hang with Biggie. But the most important thing is that he can walk around heaven with his favorite artist of all time, Michael Jackson.

posted by cashman at 10:16 AM on March 27, 2011