Warren G and Nate Dogg, 'Regulate': Oral History
December 22, 2014 7:04 PM Subscribe
Two decades ago, Warren Griffin III and Nathaniel "Nate Dogg" Hale stormed the pop charts with "Regulate," a back-and-forth tale about an attempted car-jacking that goes down on a clear black night in L.A.'s Long Beach. Recorded in Warren G's apartment, the smooth, Michael McDonald-sampling quiet storm peaked at Number Two on the Billboard singles chart and became one of the defining songs of the 1990s. Rolling Stone talked to Warren G and his collaborators about the song that put West Coast hip-hop on a whole new level.
Too bad the old Wikipedia synopsis was removed, it was classic.
posted by Ian Scuffling at 7:18 PM on December 22, 2014 [25 favorites]
posted by Ian Scuffling at 7:18 PM on December 22, 2014 [25 favorites]
A post showed up on reddit's HHH that provides a good listening history for some of the G-Funk. Basically it starts looking at DJ Mustard's production and traces it back to some of its G-Funk roots. It provides a pretty good companion playlist for the article.
posted by yeahwhatever at 7:34 PM on December 22, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by yeahwhatever at 7:34 PM on December 22, 2014 [2 favorites]
Too bad the old Wikipedia synopsis was removed, it was classic.
That was quite an enlightening summary for this square Anglo-Australian who's been listening to 'Regulate' for 18 years, bracketed by New Order and Cast.
posted by paleyellowwithorange at 8:49 PM on December 22, 2014 [1 favorite]
That was quite an enlightening summary for this square Anglo-Australian who's been listening to 'Regulate' for 18 years, bracketed by New Order and Cast.
posted by paleyellowwithorange at 8:49 PM on December 22, 2014 [1 favorite]
Oh wow, the Wikipedia Talk page for the song. o_O
posted by paleyellowwithorange at 9:31 PM on December 22, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by paleyellowwithorange at 9:31 PM on December 22, 2014 [1 favorite]
Came for the Yacht Rock references, and was not disappointed. (Side note: Hunter Stair, one of the actors in the series, actually reposted all the episodes in HD -- including this one.)
Billboard also did a piece on this milestone earlier this year. They interviewed McDonald, Warren G, and others, and it includes this gem:
posted by theoddball at 9:36 PM on December 22, 2014 [8 favorites]
Billboard also did a piece on this milestone earlier this year. They interviewed McDonald, Warren G, and others, and it includes this gem:
Recently, Warren found himself at a bar mitzvah in Universal City with his pals from Far East Movement, and he was shocked to discover that the newly anointed man of the hour and his friends all knew the lyrics.Regulate: hard enough to get bleeped on radio in 1994; bar mitzvah throwback in 2014.
"I was like, 'You gotta be kidding me,'" Warren says. "I went up and did 'Regulate' in the bar mitzvah, and it was real cool. I hung out, ate with them, and just had a good time."
posted by theoddball at 9:36 PM on December 22, 2014 [8 favorites]
RIP, Nate Dogg. :(
posted by mynameisluka at 10:56 PM on December 22, 2014 [5 favorites]
posted by mynameisluka at 10:56 PM on December 22, 2014 [5 favorites]
Along with Michael McDonald, also samples the awesome Bob James ("Sign of the Times") and Dr. Dre ("Let Me Ride"), which in turns samples .....
posted by blucevalo at 12:49 AM on December 23, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by blucevalo at 12:49 AM on December 23, 2014 [2 favorites]
It seems like every story pitch meeting has one person saying "know what's twenty years old? That Lisa Loeb song about staying/Hootie & The Blowfish/that black hole sun video!"
*stunned silence*
Everybody: "oral history!!!!"
*group high five*
posted by dr_dank at 4:26 AM on December 23, 2014 [1 favorite]
*stunned silence*
Everybody: "oral history!!!!"
*group high five*
posted by dr_dank at 4:26 AM on December 23, 2014 [1 favorite]
It's part of our pop culture: "It was twenty years ago today..."
posted by paleyellowwithorange at 4:30 AM on December 23, 2014 [3 favorites]
posted by paleyellowwithorange at 4:30 AM on December 23, 2014 [3 favorites]
Hey, the boomers did it all over the eighties (case in point ^) and then the gen-xers did it with all the punk nostalgia in the late nineties/early noughties, now it's our turn.
posted by MartinWisse at 4:59 AM on December 23, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by MartinWisse at 4:59 AM on December 23, 2014 [2 favorites]
"I still remember Regulate and Warren G...could that have been back in the sweet summer of nineteen ninety three?"
I mean, nostalgia for Regulate dates back to at least 2005, people.
posted by Frowner at 5:40 AM on December 23, 2014 [4 favorites]
I mean, nostalgia for Regulate dates back to at least 2005, people.
posted by Frowner at 5:40 AM on December 23, 2014 [4 favorites]
Wow, from the talk page on the Wikipedia article, in one of the few sections that is not about the synopsis:
According to this article, Nate Dogg does not appear in the video due to a conflict between Def Jam and Suge Knight. A book that you can't read directly of the internet is cited. But if you've ever watched the video, CLEARLY you will see Nate Dogg in it. Please fix this.And one of the most frequent "the synopsis breaks rules and will be deleted every time" guys responds:
Your belief that you see Nate Dogg in the video does not constitute a published reliable source.posted by Flunkie at 5:54 AM on December 23, 2014 [2 favorites]
As popular music styles go, rap music's baseline nostalgia level is much higher than pop or rock, at least as high as country or blues, probably not quite as high as Dixieland.
And g-funk, and gangsta rap in general, is more nostalgic than most rap subgenres. The defiantly familiar samples, the rose-colored back-in-the-day-ism, often as not related to the innocence of youth, the melancholic reminiscing about times good and bad... where was I going with this? Oh, yeah, I think the nostalgia for 'Regulate' dates back to before the original recording sessions.
posted by box at 6:03 AM on December 23, 2014 [1 favorite]
And g-funk, and gangsta rap in general, is more nostalgic than most rap subgenres. The defiantly familiar samples, the rose-colored back-in-the-day-ism, often as not related to the innocence of youth, the melancholic reminiscing about times good and bad... where was I going with this? Oh, yeah, I think the nostalgia for 'Regulate' dates back to before the original recording sessions.
posted by box at 6:03 AM on December 23, 2014 [1 favorite]
Two decades ago
NO how dare you
posted by poffin boffin at 7:40 AM on December 23, 2014 [2 favorites]
NO how dare you
posted by poffin boffin at 7:40 AM on December 23, 2014 [2 favorites]
Regulate: hard enough to get bleeped on radio in 1994; bar mitzvah throwback in 2014.
Listening to the vevo cut of Regulate, I'm noticing more edits that I don't recall from back in the day. Gat, clip, & ho are conspicuously missing.
posted by dr_dank at 9:58 AM on December 23, 2014
Listening to the vevo cut of Regulate, I'm noticing more edits that I don't recall from back in the day. Gat, clip, & ho are conspicuously missing.
posted by dr_dank at 9:58 AM on December 23, 2014
Came for the article, stayed for the Jens Lekman reference.
I'd love to read more articles about the music aspect of hip-hop. I wish this was more of a thing. I feel like the focus is more on personalities and less on craft in mainstream media.
posted by Ruki at 4:10 PM on December 23, 2014 [2 favorites]
I'd love to read more articles about the music aspect of hip-hop. I wish this was more of a thing. I feel like the focus is more on personalities and less on craft in mainstream media.
posted by Ruki at 4:10 PM on December 23, 2014 [2 favorites]
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Funny story - when "Regulate" came out, I could not for the life of me place the sample. I knew it, and it drove me crazy as hell. But this being pre-Askme-internet, there was no hive mind to query.
Then Yacht Rock came out, and I could finally die. Complete.
Yacht Rock, previously
posted by Pogo_Fuzzybutt at 7:16 PM on December 22, 2014 [5 favorites]