Of all the hip hop I’ve managed to listen to to date, I’d say virtually all of it tries to at least partially match the music to the lyrics. What I mean by that is that, if the lyrics are about being a criminal, the music underlying the verses (not the choruses) is usually rough-edged, whether the production is sparse or dense.

But this record… well, it’s a slick R&B record in terms of the underlying music, and when Warren G (or whomever) sings. But the lyrics are often about coming up hard. It’s…incongruous to put it mildly.

I get why this record is a big deal. It’s really catchy – some of the songs here are among the catchiest hip hop I’ve ever heard – and I think I actually knew “Regulate” from when it came out. (That’s really rare for me to remember a hip hop track that wasn’t an absolutely massive hit.) But I wouldn’t like this music if someone was singing over it let alone rapping.
Also, I don’t know rappers but somebody here really sounds like Snoop at times. I guess one of them sounds a bit like him? Because I looked up the credits and he’s not here.

I really don’t know what to do with this. I don’t like it, which is to be expected, but I think I like it even less than most west coast hip hop I’ve heard from this era. On the other and I don’t think it’s bad, and I recognize that it’s its own unique beast. (It sure doesn’t sound like other hip hop from this era that I’ve heard.)

So I am just guessing here.

7???/10

PS What is the title supposed to mean? I feels like he wanted to title it G Funk Era but someone was worried they wouldn’t know “Regulate” was on it.

PPS As usual, the skits do not help at all.