By shelz.
If it ain’t broke don’t fix it. Long considered words of wisdom, plenty of folks live by this quote. However, the concept gets a little questionable when artistic ventures are involved. Artistry is liquid. It moves, it flows and it changes shape and form. Unless, of course, the above cliché has an artist painting by numbers off the template of previous scores. Sometimes that works but sometimes it doesn’t.
Warren G stood as Prince of G-Funk during the pre-millennium Cali reign. His mellow presentation was a refreshing change from the myriad of rapping, cap-peeling gang-bangers who flooded out of the door NWA shot open. He was the calm of a west coast storm that even had suburban kids wanting to kick Officer Friendly’s ass.
Fast forward to 2009 and Warren G is back with The G-Files. It’s a throwback of sorts as Warren’s production and delivery have remained somewhat static in an ever changing left coast musical landscape. For the curmudgeonly, fist shaking Hip-Hop elderly this may be viewed as a well deserved break from what they are hearing on the radio these days. For the Warren who? crowd though, its probably going to come off as dated.
The album definitely contains some decent tracks. “West is Back” is patented Cali melody. Warren, Halla and Mr. Lucc muse over the laid-back mid-tempo track about California’s contributions to the Hip-Hop culture and how they plan to make a repeat performance. It’s a back patting homage to their state that would serve your ride’s speakers well on a warm day especially if you have a top you can put down.
“Let’s Get High” is pretty self explanatory. Lyrically, it’s your average ode to chronic intoxication. The track however is a slow, dense grove that’s topped off superbly by rap’s favorite tatted up percussionist, Travis Barker. The live instrumentation adds an enjoyable depth to the song especially if you’re not down for 3 verses of puff puff pass.
“100 Miles and Runnin” provides the hottest feature and an equally enjoyable back and forth between Warren and Raekwon. Of course Warren can’t surpass the Chef, but he keeps up better than most would expect. It’s during this song we hear the gangsta incarnation of Warren G that is more reminiscent of 213 than Regulate….G Funk Era. Rae’s flow is effortless over the eerie track which, by the way, sounds nothing like Warren’s big brother’s original. Then there is “Suicide,” which will transport you back to the days when Cube was throwing away his last empty bottle of activator. It’s ’94 all over again.
Warren does attempt to round out his retro-ness with some updated concepts, but some of them sound contrived. There is talk of picture texting and an odd shout out to mobile phone service carriers on “Ringtone” which is really no more than a grown man version of “Kiss Me Thru the Phone.” The track is solid, but the lyricism and the hook are flat and manufactured. “Swagger Rich” puts Warren at the helm of the swag bandwagon which should have lost a wheel by now. It’s the obligatory club song with the pop princess hook handled by Cassie Davis (no not THAT Cassie, another one). Mr. G’s partner in rhyme is Snoop and it’s Snoop’s verse that keeps this out of place attempt at Pop-Hop afloat, but barely. Also, there is the untimely “Skate Skate.” It’s not horrible, but the idea of a man who is staring down the barrel of 40 recording a skating rink song is just weird.
Ray J makes an appearance handling the hook on “Crush” and Nate Dogg shoulders the crooning duties on “100 Miles and Runnin” making the 213 family complete for yet another go round.
So does the retro feel of The G Files work for Warren G? Well that depends on how you felt about it the first time around. Generally the album is solid for what it is, and this is Warren G’s sound. But in a time where hardcore regionalism has taken a back seat to a more fusion oriented sound, he may be digging too deep into the crates for the new millennium fan.
Out of 5
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