The man who helps put the G in gangsta rap, and who is arguably one of the smoothest rap/producers from the West Coast, is back with his first album in nearly four years, “The Mid-Nite Hour.”  Warren G is not only representing Long Beach California (LBC), now he is holding the key to the city.  Recently, LBC Mayor Beverly O’Neill named the first week in August “Warren G Week” because of his magnanimous contribution to the community. In addition, California State University in Long Beach bestowed him an honorary degree. Warren helped to implement programs for the youth like a midnight basketball league and the Willie McGinest Freedom School. He has also collaborated with City Councilwoman Laura Richardson with foundations to keep music in schools and to provide eyeglasses for children. These days the G may better represent Giver than Gangsta.

 

We caught up with Warren G on the set of his video “Get U Down Part 2.”  With him were some of the originators of the West Coast hip-hop movement.  Ice Cube, Snoop Dogg and B-Real all came together for a special dedication to Hurricane Katrina victims.

 

Could this compilation be the spark that the West Coast rap revival has been looking for? “We ain’t went no where,” says Warren. “The one thing that is hurting the West Coast is that these record labels, ain’t nobody from the West Coast the head of one except Dr.Dre (Aftermath Records). We don’t have no outlet—that’s why you ain’t really hearing the ‘West Coast Crack’ like it usually crack. All the guys in the offices are from NY and don’t really understand the West Cost.”

 

On his latest album, Warren chose to work with a new independent label out of Bellevue, Wash. called Hawino Records. “Hawino was cool and straight to the point. That’s what I like,” states Warren.  

 

The song not only speaks about the devastations of the hurricane but also addresses other social problems. It touches upon the military entanglements in the Middle East, outrageous police behavior that includes handcuffing little girls, and black on brown violence between the black and Latino gangs in Los Angeles. To address the latter of those issues, Warren brought in the notorious Latino motorcycle gang, the Mongols, to make an appearance in the video. There were no clashes between Latinos and blacks on set, only grilled burgers and cold beer. Between the tirades of mixed smoke signals from Snoop’s camp to the Mongols, an easy flowing afternoon turned into an evening focused on teamwork. Other collaborators for “The Mid-Nite Hour” album include Raphael Sadiq, Nate Dogg, Mike Jones and newcomers Frank Lee White, Chuck Taylor and Bishop Lamont.

 

Looking back over the last fifteen years of the controversial and highly celebrated careers of Warren G, Snoop Dogg, Ice Cube and B-Real, what is striking is that these sons of hip-hop have become the fathers. The question is do they have what it takes to raise the next generation of bad ass hip-hop kids? Do they have the ability to foster and mentor the young and the restless? It seems apparent when you speak with these gentleman that something is changing. A transition of sorts, perhaps brought on by their own young families. Warren has three children with one on the way, Snoop is a father of three and Ice Cube has four.

 

Speaking on what motivates him today, Warren G comments, “I don’t want my kids to be without a father. I want to see my kids grow up, be in high school and college, and see them be successful. I want to see my kids have kids. I want to be a grandfather. I don’t want to be another statistic out here. That’s what motivates me to talk and say what I say.”

 

Both he and Snoop are involved with Pop-Warner football—Snoop is the offensive coordinator for his son Corde’s team. Ice Cube is putting out movies that portray road trips with kids (Are We There Yet? 2005) instead of drive-bys with thugs ( Boyz n the Hood 1991). As kids, Warren and Snoop cycled influences from football, to gangs, to church and finally to music.

 

“As you can see, the music won,” says Warren. “I wanted to play football but I was F@#@ing up in school.   When asked what the hardest thing about being a father himself is he states, “Being a father, my weakness is having to give them a whoopin'. It hurts me, but I gotta do it.”

  

Almost everyone has a day where they feel like throwing in the towel and moving on—we asked Warren if he ever feels like quitting. “All the time,” he laughs. “Seriously, sometimes I get frustrated when you got people that you help start in the game and then they turn around and charge you $150,000 to be on your album? That’s frustrating. I’m not going to spit any names but you can’t let stuff like that get you down, you got to use it as motivation to keep going and put out something hot.”

 

Will Warren be able to generate enough steam to turn his latest project to platinum? That remains to be seen.  What is evident is that the years of experience in the game have taught him to be determined and confident.  He rhymes in the track “Make It Do What It Do”

  I helped start this thang, these suckas wanna act like they forgot my name

But without the G, you can’t spell the game

So it’s impossible not to have me in it

 It’s not gangsta unless it has the G in it.

His manager and Uncle Wron G comments, “Things get hard for everyone at some point. The mark of a superstar, the mark of a champion, the mark of a hero is that if they loose ground they will go back for it and get it. And they will sign their own checks.”

Today Warren still likes his cars, his homes, his jewelry and his toys, but his flossin’ priorities have big business on top.Warren smiles big as he states: “Flossin’, as a black man, is being able to own your own corporation, a humongous corporation.”

Warren G­­­­­­­­­­­­ is still riding, still regulating and still evolving.

Warren G

Formula for Success

“Keep your head on right and have good people in your corner. I consult with my father, my uncle, Dre and people who I consider family. Read, look, watch and listen. Keep pushing and don’t let nothing stop you from succeeding in what you want to do in life. Then once you get that deal, make sure that you take your money and invest just incase you have a rainy day.”

 

Formula for Success:

Ice Cube

“Be determined. You got to have a plan, everything starts with a plan and projections. See where you want to be and figure out how to get there. You know when I first started all I wanted to do was rap. I wasn’t thinking about none of this other stuff but I  used  to say at the end of the year I want to be here and then I’d try to figure out how do I get to the next step. That was when I started producing and then it just kind of lead to other things. To this day, at the beginning of the year, I come up with a plan on where I want to be at the end of the year and then throughout the year I figure out how I am going to get there. That is one of the keys to success being determined and not letting nothing stop you.”

 

 

B- Real.

Formula for Success

“Be yourself and say what is in your heart and hopefully people accept whatever that is.

If you fall, you have to get up. I could have let myself crumble but I got up, got back on the horse, and tried again. That’s what it is all about.”

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This article was originally published in Flossin Magazine. This article is edited by Edna Waters. This article is optimized for web by Steven Christian (Artist | Author | Podcaster).