Warren G is one of hip-hop's quietest modern pioneers. Even after he helped Dr. Dre, his stepbrother, carve out a career-long groove with his sample selections for The Chronic, Death Row wanted nothing to do with him until he churned out his own Def Jam single, "Regulate", which they happily slapped their logo on after the fact. The song was his first major hit—his production and collaboration with Nate Dogg on Mista Grimm's "Indo Smoke" notwithstanding—and it has rightfully endured as his biggest.
But "Regulate" also overshadowed the rest of Warren G's output, so cleanly encapsulating G-funk that the song has become a deceptive stand-in for a frequently nuanced career. The album, Regulate… G Funk Era, was also released two years after Dre's solo debut, a post-N.W.A. team effort that pioneered a similar sound and is more frequently celebrated as a benchmark. But Regulate… was still momentous, hyper-local and ripe for national appetite at once, a sudden beam of light pointed directly on Long Beach.
Making a sequel to such a career- and genre-defining record might smack of desperation elsewhere, but Warren G is sincere with G Funk Era Part II. A year past the original album's 20th anniversary, this record may have missed its most marketable moment; in another way it's also perfectly on time. In a recent interview with Billboard, Warren G made a familiar veteran-rapper promise about bringing back a "sound that has been missing [in] hip-hop," but if anything, his return comes in the midst of a minor G-funk renaissance. Kendrick Lamar dabbled with and dissected the genre on To Pimp a Butterfly, and YG hit an unexpected stride over a Terrence Martin G-funk beat for his first post-shooting single last month. Meanwhile, DJ Quik is still tweaking and Snoop Dogg dropped the raps (again) on his last album for a smoother, adult-contemporary revision of the sound. The resurgence is part of a larger refocusing on California hip-hop, but G-funk has been brought along for the ride.
As advertised, Regulate... G Funk Era Part II sticks squarely to Warren G's roots. The production is clean, lush, and familiar, and with four tracks running just under 15 minutes long, it is pleasantly unambitious. There's no misguided attempts at recreating the original, and there also isn't a dud in sight. "My House", the first single, flips Madness' '80s hit "Our House" into a bouncing stomper. It's the same trick Warren pitched with "Regulate" and has been his strength all along, upending weirdly obvious records into unexpected slappers. Nate Dogg rebuilds Madness' hook into a dramatic street anthem and Warren, whose rapping has always been confidently breezy, lays claim to everything in sight.
The EP also serves as a tasteful tribute to Nate Dogg, who is featured on every track. "Saturday", the most upbeat number here, could anchor a barbeque anywhere in California, and Nate Dogg's vocals on the song bear out his mark as a stylistic innovator. Because of his most familiar riffs, Nate Dogg is sometimes pigeonholed as a monotonous baritone, but songs like "Saturday" not only stretch his upper register, they showcase his constant runs and clever vocal riffing.
Thankfully, this sequel rarely fetishizes Nate Dogg or his passing, and most of the songs breeze by with no mention of his death. It's best that way, as a restrained, unceremonious showcase. Jeezy's verse on "Keep on Hustlin'" is an exception, opening with a handful of bars eulogizing Nate Dogg, 2Pac, and Biggie at once before dropping an unfortunately dated reference to freeing Boosie Badazz, who has been out of jail for more than a year. The verse breaks the mood, but it's only momentary, and the rest of the EP could have believably been released at any point in the last ten years. That might be the best thing about G Funk Era Part II: it's not strained or pandering, as much as an effortless continuation. The EP might not be a foundation shaker like its namesake, but Warren G is proof that sometimes music is best when it stands still.
