I was perusing the rap blogs and came across a new song by Warren G. featuring Nate Dogg called "My House", which is presumably on his new album Regulate…The G-Funk Era 2. As you'd expect, the song is trash, but you weren't ever going to listen to it anyway as you've probably not listened to anything Warren G has done since his first album in 1994(!!!!!). I love Warren G as much as the next chap - which is to say not very much - but his sunset happened many moons ago. See what I did there?
Anyway, despite the fact that nobody gives a shit about Warren G he will always be the guy (along with Nate Dogg-RIP) who brought us "Regulate" from the Above The Rim Soundtrack and his debut album Regulate…The G-Funk Era, which was a great album. Standing in the shadows of his step-brother, Dr. Dre, can't be easy, but he made the best of it and turned in a great addition to the early- to mid-90s West Coast canon. Plus he brought us the Dove Shack (a singing ass rap group in the tradition of DRS and other singing ass rap groups that aren't worth mentioning) who brought us "Summertime in the LBC". Life has been better since that song's release.
But let's go back to "Regulate" because something has ALWAYS thrown me off about this song. It's entirely possible that I'm the only person who has been perplexed by (or even thought about) this in the history of ever. And maybe its so obvious to others that nobody gave it any thought. Now, this could be because Warren G can't spell for shit and I guess they'd already pressed up the album before ANYBODY caught the "what's next what's next what's N-X-E-T" on the song, which is spelled right on the liner notes and CD cover "What's Next", so everybody was distracted by trying to figure out if our education failed us or if his education failed him. Distraction is a bitch, ya know.
If your name is Distraction, I mean the noun, not the you. And by noun, I mean like a distraction…you know what? Never mind.
On the song "Regulate" these are the pertinent lyrics (courtesy of genius.com):
[Verse 2: Warren G and Nate Dogg]
So I hooks a left on 21 and Lewis
Some brothers shootin' dice, so I said, "Let's do this"
I jumped out the ride and said, "What's up?"
Some brothers pulled some gats, so I said, "I'm stuck"
Since these girls peepin' me, I'm a glide and swerve
These hookers lookin' so hard they straight hit the curb
Onto bigger, better things than some horny tricks
I see my homies and some suckers all in his mix[Verse 3: Warren G and Nate Dogg]
I'm gettin' jacked, I'm breakin' myself
I can't believe they takin' Warren's wealth
They took my rings, they took my Rolex
I looked at the brother, said, "Damn, what's next?"
They got my homie hemmed up and they all around
Can't none of them see him if they goin' straight pound-for-pound
They wanna come up real quick before they start to clown
I best pull out my strap and lay them busters down[Verse 4: Warren G and Nate Dogg]
They got guns to my head, I think I'm goin' down
I can't believe it's happenin' in my own town
If I had wings, I would fly, let me contemplate
I glanced in the cut and I see my homie, Nate
Sixteen in the clip and one in the hole
Nate Dogg is about to make some bodies turn cold
Now they droppin' and yellin', it's a tad bit late
Nate Dogg and Warren G had to regulate[Bridge 1: Nate Dogg]
I laid all them busters down, I let my gat explode
Now I'm switchin' my mind back into freak mode
If you want skirts, sit back and observe
I just left a gang of hoes over there on the curb[Verse 5: Warren G and Nate Dogg]
Now, Nate got the freaks and that's a known fact
Before I got jacked I was on the same track
Back up, back up cause it's on
N-A-T-E and me, the Warren to the G
You know these lyrics. Everybody knows these lyrics. White people know these lyrics. And that's great. But here's the problem:
Did Warren G get robbed by his ACTUAL homies and Nate eventually murdered them, ya know, THEIR ACTUAL HOMIES? Like his NEIGHBORHOOD homies? Sure he says he can't believe he got robbed in his own town, but this nigga got robbed ON HIS STREET.
It's a pretty well known fact that Warren G, Nate Dogg, and Snoop Dogg are members of the Rollin' 20s Crips, of which the street location that is given is part of their territory. But as with most hoods, going from street to street can dictate which set you're from, so that's not really the problem.
Here's the fuckin' problem. And it's not that I love bad bitches.
Snoop and Warren G are from 21st Street and Lewis Street, the very street Warren turned down (and is featured on his album cover) and got robbed. It's obviously late at night so let's assume some members of his own set were the niggas out there shooting dice because who the hell sees random niggas shooting dice and tries to jump into the game if you don't know at least one person…solo? Plus, it ain't like RANDOM niggas would be out there shootin' dice on another man's set. So am I to believe that Warren turned down his OWN street, possibly even driving by his own damn house, and got got by his own people? If you look at Google Maps, turning left on 21st and Lewis (as he did) means he could only be coming from one direction since Lewis is only a cut through between 20th and 21st Streets. So this nigga was LITERALLY on his block.
So he got robbed by his people, or by his people's peoples…ON HIS SET…and his fellow gang members were then gunned down by ANOTHER OF THEIR MEMBERS, Nate Dogg?
I know the streets are trash and shit, but did this nigga really get robbed by his own people on a song he wrote? Did they have a gangland monthly member meeting, or perhaps an Emergency meeting the next day to discuss what happened? Obviously Nate and Warren didn't care, they went back to procuring the hoes that Nate was previously procuring. But this seems like a problem that would need to be addressed right? Like, if you rob me, and you're my man, on our block, we're going to have a problem. You gonna have to see these cats at the next meeting, right? But if I can't even drive down my own street which represents a gang OF WHICH I'M A DUES PAYING MEMBER, without getting robbed by my fellow members, we have problems! THEN Nate killed them all? Did he just take out the rest of the gang? Their gang?????
Now, I realize that this is the kind of thing that I've spent entirely too much time thinking about. But am I trippin? Set trippin' possibly…
…or did Warren basically get robbed by his fellow gang members?
Shouts to the 90s.