Regulate (song)

"Regulate"
Single by Warren G featuring Nate Dogg
from the album Regulate... G Funk Era and Above the Rim (soundtrack)
B-side
  • "Pain"
  • "Mi Monie Rite"
  • "Loyal to the Game"
ReleasedApril 23, 1994
Genre
Length4:11
Label
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Warren G
Warren G singles chronology
"Indo Smoke"
(1993)
"Regulate"
(1994)
"This D.J."
(1994)
Nate Dogg singles chronology
"Indo Smoke"
(1993)
"Regulate"
(1994)
"One More Day"
(1994)
Music video
"Regulate" on YouTube

"Regulate" is a song performed by American rapper Warren G featuring American singer Nate Dogg. It was released in the spring of 1994 as the first single on the soundtrack to the film Above the Rim and later Warren G's debut album, Regulate... G Funk Era (1994). It became an MTV staple[2] and the song reached No. 2 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and No. 8 on the R&B/Hip-Hop chart. "Regulate" was number 98 on VH1's 100 Greatest Songs of Hip Hop[3] and number 108 on Pitchfork Media's "Top 200 Tracks of the 90s".[4]

The West Coast hip hop track employs a four-bar sample of the rhythm of Michael McDonald's song "I Keep Forgettin' (Every Time You're Near)".[5] It also samples "Sign of the Times" by Bob James and "Let Me Ride" by Dr. Dre. The music video featured scenes from Above the Rim, including a cameo by Tupac Shakur. "Regulate" starts with a quote from Casey Siemaszko's character Charlie Bowdre from the 1988 film Young Guns:[6][7]

We regulate any stealing of his property - we're damn good too! ...But you can't be any geek off the street, gotta be handy with the steel, if you know what I mean, earn your keep.

  1. ^ "9 of the best Michael McDonald songs of all time". Smooth.
  2. ^ Keith Murphy (March 22, 2019). "Is the Death Row music from 'Above the Rim' the last great hip-hop soundtrack?". Andscape. Retrieved November 24, 2019.
  3. ^ "100 Greatest Hip Hop Songs". The Greatest. Episode 186. September 28, 2008. MTV Networks. VH1. Archived from the original on December 10, 2011.
  4. ^ "The Top 200 Tracks of the 1990s: 150-101". Pitchfork. August 31, 2010.
  5. ^ Miller, Michael (October 1994). "G Whiz". Spin.
  6. ^ "Regulate by Warren G. & Nate Dogg Songfacts". www.songfacts.com.
  7. ^ "Young Guns (1988)". IMDb.