Regulators- Warren G Featuring Nate dogg (GUEST REVIEWER JOE AVELLA)

BFFs from back in the day! Warren G, Me and Nate Dogg circa 1995 at the AOL Email Release Party. Nate was pissed because natedogg@aol.com was taken

Maybe the illest jam to come off the soundtrack of a movie no one remembers (Above the Rim) 'Regulators' still holds up as an amazing blend of hard edged gangsta rap and smooth urban beats, and also introduced us to a grip of slang still residing in my vernacular today.


Regulators Slang Run Down

Since these girls peepin me…

looking, seeing

Ex: I'm peeping that last slice of pizza


I see my homey and some suckers all in his mix

in one's face, area; can't be ignored

Ex: Yo this pizza is all in my mix


I'm gettin jacked…

Robbed, mugged

Ex: Someone just jacked the last slice, bro


I best pull out my strap…

Gun / Gat / Pistol

Ex: Some one invent a pizza strap!


In this choice cut, the Regulators (AKA 213) tell one crazy adventure with such a casual recounting one can only assume it was business as usual for 213.


FYI 213 is the area code of the neighborhood Nate Dogg and Warren G reside and Regulate in. It's most of South Central LA. (It's also the name of their rap trio with Snoop Dogg. They love their double Gs!)


213 is a pretty big area to keep the peace, but Warren and Nate can handle themselves pretty well, as we soon shall see.


Prologue

Incredible intro. Maybe one of the best in hip hop. Not only do they get RIGHT TO THE HOOK but also drop a little Young Guns in for good measure:





Possibly where the term 'Regulators' originates? If I were Emilio Estevez I would have lost my shit the first time I heard this jam.


ACT 1

Nate Dogg and Warren G are out on an average night looking for each other and hos. Typical night:


Warren:

It was a clear black night, a clear white moon

Warren G was on the streets, trying to consume

some skirts for the eve, so I can get some funk

just rollin in my ride, chillin all alone


Before you can say 'Where's Nate?" Nate drops in, keeping the flow smooth as silk:


Nate:

Just hit the Eastside of the LBC

on a mission trying to find Mr. Warren G.

Seen a car full of girls ain't no need to tweak

all you skirts know what's up with 213


Bitches better recognize! And so the first of the Regulators many vices are introduced: Girls. So far, so good.


Warren:

So I hooks a left on the 21 and Lewis

some brothas shootin dice so I said "Let's do this"


Dice: vice #2. Warren's weakness? So far he's been pretty careless, especially for being in such a rough neighborhood.


Warren:

I jumped out the ride, and said "What's up?"

some brothas pulled some gats so I said "I'm stuck."


The conflict presents itself.




ACT 2

ARG!!!! Use your head bro! Warren G is out numbered and in a pickle. Now, one would think "why was he so open and friendly to a group of strangers in such a bad hood? I though he regulated there often? Shouldn't he be aware of the 213's rough element?"


Please. Once again, enter Nate Dogg:


Nate:

Won'tcha think of better things than some horny tricks

I see my homey and some suckers all in his mix


Nate sees his boy in trouble. Let's take a look at

Nate Dogg's Hierarchy of Importance:

1) His Boys

2) Dice

3) Guns / Straps / Gats

4) Hoes


Sorry hoes. You take a back seat to his homey who's currently being hemmed up. Oh, and in case you're wondering:


Joe's Hierarchy of Importance:

1) His Boys

2) Pizza

3) Guns / Straps / Gats

4) Smooth hip hop melodies


Warren:

I'm gettin jacked, I'm breakin myself

I can't believe they taking Warren's wealth

they took my rings, they took my rolex

I looked at the brotha said "Damn, what's next?"


FIRST MENTION OF BLING, but we're way deep in the cut. this is Act 2. Pretty upsetting. Bling should be mentioned up top. It's like a main character in any hip hop narrative. If it's not introduced in the first act, it becomes off putting.


Warren goes on:

They got guns to my head

I think I'm going down

I can't believe this happenin in my own town

If I had wings I could fly

let me contemplate


Hold up. "If I had wings I could fly"??????? Getting beat down by a gang sucks for sure, but perhaps you should be wishing for something more practical, like a strap.


Warren:

I glanced in the cut and I see my homey Nate


RIGHT ON TIME! Well not really. The best time would have been before they got Warren's wealth and starting beating him into a critical condition wishing for wings, but hey…


Nate:

Sixteen in the clip and one in the hole

Nate Dogg is about to make some bodies turn cold



Regulators Math

16 + 1 = Cold Bodies



now they droppin and yellin

it's a tad bit late

Nate Dogg and Warren G had to regulate


Nate has an interesting choice of words: "Nate Dogg and Warren G had to regulate" funny since I don't recall Warren doing much except receive a beating and pray for wings. Perhaps that's how regulating is done?


Imaginary Scenario:

Nate: Yo Warren, those punks over there are up to no good.

Warren: Right. Time to regulate?

Nate: Fo sho. Here's the plan: you go over there and distract them by getting your ass kicked. I'll sneak up from behind and kill all of them.

Warren: Got it!…Wait, what?


Nate continues:

I laid all them busters down

I let my gat explode

now I'm switching my mind back into freak mode

if you want skirts sit back and observe

I just left a gang of those over there on the curb


ACT 3

Here's where the story gets a little weird. If you're keeping score at home Warren G just got beaten half to death and was saved by Nate Dogg who just shot a bunch of dudes. After a quadruple homicide, these guys go after some babes. You think they'd be preoccupied with a trip to the ER or getting the fuck out of town. Plus, weren't these girls across the street?


Nate:

one of them dames was sexy as hell

I said "ooo I like your size."

she said "my car's broke down and you seem real nice,

would ya let me ride?"


Really? I would have said something like "Uh didn't you just kill like 6 guys? And your friend is bleeding out of his ear." Hoes. Am I right?


Warren and Nate's flip in and out of murder mode is classic psychopathic behavior:


Looking for a good time > get in a fight > kill a bunch of people > get babes


But good on them. If you're going to be the hood Batman and Robin (sorry Warren, you're Robin) you can't be wasting time or energy on conflicts of the spirit.


Nate:

I got a car full of girls and it's going real swell

the next stop is the Eastside Motel


Bros know how to treat a ho. Look, it may seem chauvinistic, but keep in mind these are hos. Not ladies. Hos that were wooed by the pick up line 'ooo I like your size' from a dude who just lit up a gang and his buddy who's no doubt gone into shock by now. Not the classiest broads.


And here's where the jam gets EVEN HOTTER!!!!!!


Before the advent of youtube and the microshort attention span, Warren G and Nate Dogg perfected the art of keeping the listener invested. At a point where most listeners would move on, 'Regulators' goes into an ill breakdown, giving the track it's smoothest moments yet:






Warren:

I'm tweaking

into a whole new era

G-Funk

step to this

I dare ya

Funk

on a whole new level


Nate:

the rhythm is the bass and the bass is the treble


Regulators Math 2

If Rhythm = Bass,

and Bass = Treble,

Shouldn't Rhythm = Treble??

Points off for open-ended equation


EPILOGUE

True to the story telling form, Nate puts a recap on the end which doubles as a message to potential busters looking for trouble on 213:


If you know like I know

you don't wanna step to this

It's the G-Funk era

funked out with a gangsta twist

if you smoke like I smoke

then you high like everyday

and if your ass is a buster

213 will regulate


RATE: 4/5 Wheezies. This masterpiece does have its flaws. The biggest being the lack of bling. Some of the personnel here at Review A Rap would be quick to point out this was their first single and therefore should have no bling to speak of. Wrong city. Both Nate and Warren had been rolling with Dre and Snoop for several years and had numerous appearances on the Chronic and Doggystyle. Those albums made serious coin and these guys certainly had duckets to show.


Warren even makes an appearance in the Nuthin' But a G Thang video rolling a joint:






Just being in that video give you a license to go buck wild, yet they don't. I'm also docking for open ended math equations and psychopathic behavior.

Donk-Soulja Boy (GUEST REVIEWER SUSIE GUTOWSKI)

Review by: Susie Gutowski

As a woman with a butt like a sandwich-bag full of JELLO, I always appreciate a song that promotes
female butt-awareness. So when it was time to review Soulja Boy's hit "Donk," I was more than excited
to sit back on my precious posterior and let the self-esteem meter go way up. Instead, what I got was a
stale booty send-up, completely lacking emotional connection with the donk in question.

In fact, Soulja Boy (who is responsible for the memorable ditty "Crank That") teaches us that any rapper
worth his weight in diamond teeth can do whatever he wants, including producing a song composed
entirely of choruses. I suppose his song inspiration come from well-known psychological research,
specifically: repetition breeds recognition.

These two phrases are repeated over and over again, making up nearly 90% of the song:
• "She got a donk/She got a donk/She got a donk/She got a donk."
• "Shake some with it/Shake some with it/Shake some with it/Shake some with it."

Yes, that’s it. She got a donk. Shake some with it. Statement of fact. Instruction. Rinse. Repeat.

Truth be told, Soulja Boy seems more concerned with creating cute little dances with his boys than
singing about fine ass. Why tease us with promise of pro-rump lyrics? That’s what we’re all here for. I
think Pablo Picasso said it best when he said “Big booty! I’m sprung!”

Wheezy rating: 2/5. We recommend Soulja Boy turn to some comparative literature and take some
notes before releasing his next record. We sincerely recommend these derrière-inspired jams:

Bubba Sparxxx (featuring Ying Yang Twins) - "Ms New Booty"
Sipping on Patron (blong blong blong!)
Shorty in a thong (wom wom wom!)
Ass get the jiggling, motherf*cking wigglin’/
Get that thing shaking, like she frost bit shivering/
Ass be delivering, all type of flashes, cashes/
Got these hoes shaking that molasses

Ludacris - "Money Maker":
And I just wanna take a little ride on your curves/
And get erotic, giving your body just what it deserves/
And let me give you some swimmin' lessons on the penis/
Back stroke, breast stroke, stroke of a genius.

Sir-Mix-A-Lot "Baby Got Back"
“My anaconda don’t want none unless you got buns, hon.”

You're better than this, Soulja Boy. Next time when I say DONK, you better scream "How high?!?"

THROWBACK Jay-z and JD- Money ain't a thang

Items mentioned in song that presumably are covered in diamonds/precious metals: rings, bracelets, chains, and a platinum gun.  

Or to better show you....

I'm going to say it, I think that Jay-z and JD think money IS a thang.  I mean, yeah they have a lot of it, but I think if they were to all of a sudden lose their money, it would be a "thang".  I understand something being a "thang" as something that has value.   I'm just saying it's like a high school girl saying, "I don't care if bobby likes me" but then ALL SHE DOES is talk about bobby.  I'd believe this song more if they said "Money ain't a thang" and then talked about Rollercoasters. 

Now, I'll pull myself past that conundrum so I can review the rest of this rap.....

One thing that gripes my grits are when artists say how rich they are when

 they are a brand new artists, or maybe over sell how popular they are.  Now, don't get me wrong, Jay-z is hard to beat.  But come on JD, you're not that popular....

"Know why? Cause I write the songs that the whole world sings" -JD

I bet that was originally Jay-z's line, and JD really wanted it, but no one had the heart to tell him that he isn't as famous as Jay-z so they let him have it. 

"Ya'll shit fo real till ya ship a mil" 

Disclaimer: Do not ship a million dollars cash in the mail.  I'd even feel uneasy about a check.  Just get a wire transfer.

Though I might be reviewing this song harshly, it has one of my all time favorite lines in a song.

"I've been spendin hundreds since they had small faces"

What I love about this line, is it doesn't matter how poor (me) you are.  You can relate to the time when there were hundred dollar bills with small faces.  I don't know what a platinum gun looks like, or a bracelet that is "frostbit" but I HAVE seen a hundred dollar bill with a small face, and it WAS a long time ago.  He must be doing really well if he has a good interest plan. 

Rate: 4/5 wheezies.  This might be surprising since I was being pretty sassy with this review.  But it was only because I care so much for it.  It's like, I'm in second grade, and this song is the boy I like but can only show it by being kind of mean.  Or like this....

Look, I don't understand a lot of what's going on in the song, and I can't identify with having that much money ever, but if you put this song on while you're driving, even if it's not a Bentley, you will enjoy yourself fully.  I do like this song a lot,  I just wish JD would know his place.

Tipsy-JKWON *WARNING AARON CARTER VIDEOS IN POST)

JKWON, WHERE DID YOU GO?!  Another tragic one hit wonder rap song, but still years later I can enjoy this little number.  I was reminded of it when I was doing karaoke and a girl picked this song to sing.  After proposing marriage to this karaoke girl, then kissing her on the forehead and telling her she is the best person alive, I decided I wanted to review this song. 

This song is a story.  A story about a night of partying, antics, drinking, and girls.  If you just read the lyrics, it paints a vivid picture of how you might see the night through Jkwon's eyes.  

"Now i'm lookin at shorty right in the eyes, 

Couple seconds passed now i'm lookin at her thighs, 

While she tellin me how much she hate her guy"

Oh, I think you know what it means when a girl is talkin about how much she hate her guy , Jkwon.  It means she wants to cry as she does sex things to you.  SUPER HOT.

It's a shame that Jkwon doesn't annunciate very well, because there are some pretty classy lyrics in this song!

"She smokin my blunt sayin she aint havin fun, 
bitch give it back now you don't get none"

Girl, you best learn yo manners.  If you complain, you don't get the blunt.  However, I'm not sure if this is innuendo.  I wouldn't put it past Jkwon to be skilled enough to make a sexual innuendo vague enough to make me question if it is, or isn't a sexual innuendo.  

"Bottom of the 9th in the series gotta score, 
If not i gotta move on to the next whore,"

I don't think you're allowed to move onto the next whore in baseball.  So I'd say that metaphor is halfway there.

"Homeboy trippin' he don't know I got a gun,"

If homeboy is trippin and he DOESN'T know you have a gun, imagine how much he's going to trip when he finds out you do have a gun.  

Now, this song has a hidden jewel in it that I didn't realize until just this week.  You know how he does the "1, here comes the 2, to the 3 to the 4"?  Well, he does that twice in each verse.  He will rhyme the following 5 to 6 lines with the last number said in that sequence.  So, if it was "1 here comes the 2 to the 3 to the 4"  he would rhyme everything after that with four.  (It reminded me of discovering something hidden in Lost!)  I thought it was pretty impressive!   However he does let it fall apart in the last 3 lines.  (Kind of like the last few seasons of Lost)  It was like basketball, 1 second left, down by 2 and you just made your shot at the 3 point line.  If it doesn't go in, looks like you'll have to move on to the next whore.

Total count of girls presumably banged throughout this song/house party: 4

Wheezy Rating:  3/5  A song just talking about getting tipsy seems like it wouldn't have any value, but there was much more to this song than meets the eye.  The storytelling seemed to trump most rap songs now a days, and the rhyme scheme though simple (I think we're taught to rhyme with numbers when we're 6) was clever and a fun thing to realize.  I took away a point due to him referencing his large bank account.  To recap,  you made one song, you talked about how much money you made in this song (which means while you were in the studio recording as a nobody, you rapped about your money) and proceeded to not have any other hits.  Automatic wheezy loss when new rappers discuss their finances in their first song.  Another wheezy was lost due to the insane similarities to Aaron Carter's -aarons party (come get it)

And, Jkwon, Aaron had other hits too......