West Coast Connection Forum
DUBCC - Tha Connection => West Coast Classics => Topic started by: myrealname on December 27, 2001, 06:00:28 PM
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By Jerry Barrow
Sometimes when you’re dealing with big dogs, you just gotta lay down the paper and give ‘em room to drop their shit. Thus, there is no pretty intro. No comedy. Just the facts. Over a Long Island Ice Tea at WWF World Warren G laid the smack down on Restless, why Dre didn’t drop any lyrics on his album, and just what he was doing the night of the D.O.C’s accident.
So, what’s up with Return of the Regulator?
With this project I feel like I’m starting from day one again. This is my fourth album. The first record I was hungry, the second one I was paid, the third record I was caught up in the Restless situation that wasn’t good at all but I had the hungriness and now Universal scooped me up and I’m hungry again. That’s why I called it Return of the Regulator. It feels like I’m starting all over again. That album is off the hook.
How long were you working on the album?
When Universal got at me I was half way through. I was six or seven songs into the album. They approached me this year and I got a new budget to do new stuff.
Why did you leave Def Jam in the first place?
My mom was sick from Cancer and I had been hearing about the merge (of Def Jam and Universal) and I was told that I wasn’t coming out until 2000. This was around ‘98. That meant waiting two years to put out an album and that’s crazy. I had to work and make money to take care of my mother. So I asked Russell and Lyor and they let me go.
How did Restless acquire your contract?
They broke Def Jam off. I had two or three albums to go on Def Jam and Restless paid for the rest of those records. That was one of the biggest mistakes I ever made. Restless had a lot of good people over there but they didn’t know how to work an established artist. The guy who rant the company, Joe Regis, didn’t give these people what they needed to make it happen for me. They used to come to me and complain. I came here for press in New York and they sent me to a Motel 6 and Joe Regis was up in a fiver star hotel. He running the company and calling every shot not letting people do their jobs.
You had a group under Restless, right?
I had the Five Footers and those people’s careers were in my hands and I couldn’t do nothing because of this dude. He didn’t know what the fuck he was doing and that hurt me. I still talk to the artists and let them know that when I get back in the game that I’m gonna come back and holla at them. The label was fucked up, my mother past, everything was fucked up then.
How much did you end up selling of I Want It All?
It was platinum but that wasn’t off of no kind of promotion. They only dropped one single. Instead of selling the album they sold singles. They sold a million singles. That could have been two million ALBUMS.
Was anybody helpful in anyway at Restless?
Rick Stackon, Tishaun Mackon, Cathy Moore were all helpful.
When did you finally decide to leave?
I was on the freeway once talking to Joe Regis on the phone and I was telling him what we need to do to win and he starts arguing with me. I was telling him that you can’t penny pinch. Def Jam wins. Universal wins. He had the nerve to tell me ‘I brought you back. I put you back in the game.’ I told him ‘You know what. I’m a grown motherfuckin’ man. If I was there I’d whoop your ass. You will not hear from me again.’ I ain’t talk to that fool since. It’s been about three years.
So there was no kind of negotiation to get you off of Restless?
Nope. I was dead broke. I had to file for bankruptcy a few months ago. Dead broke. How am I gonna make some money and this asshole don’t want to win. Everything just went down and shattered. It was simple enough to win but he just didn’t want to do it. Def Jam never sweated me about records I did. I ain’t no little kid. I been in the game eleven years. Def Jam and Universal respect me as an artist. This dude tried to run everything I did corporate America style and I ain’t with that bullshit. This is hip-hop.
Who called you from Universal?
Todd Rubinstein called a friend of mine, Steve Pudone. Steve told me Todd was asking about me. So I told Todd I was going through some legal stuff right now and once I get out of this I’ll holla. But Todd is a lawyer and he got me out of the paper work situation at Restless and Kevin Law called me from Universal and flew me out to New York to meet with him and Monty Litman. They showed me a great time. Everything they said, I loved it. After that, the word got out in the industry that I was a free agent and everybody started calling me. I took a pay cut to go build with Universal because I believe in their machine.
Why not go back to Def Jam?
Def Jam had got a more street edge. They really run the streets. Universal is more laid back, we gonna handle it, don’t trip. Def Jam is like ‘we movin’ now.’ Universal takes their time more. Both companies are super though. I gotta give it up to them both.
As an artist and producer who has been in the game this long, you are a rarity. What’s your secret?
I just want to win. I just want to keep my art moving. I dedicate my time and patience into making hit records. I listen to a lot of dope records that are out and then I’ll go back to someone like Anita Baker. If you listen to Rapture, they made every record so that it could be a single. That’s how you make a great album and win. A lot of people do four songs and say ‘these can be singles.’ And I take my time.
What’s the longest you’ve ever taken on one song?
Damn near a month with Dre on the first single, "Lookin At You." We’d be in the studio for two days rewriting verses. We’d do it and he’d come back the next day and be like ‘naw, I don’t like that. Let’s do it over.’ Dre is the hardest working man in the business. That’s real. He will stay in the studio for three days with no sleep. He don’t even nod!
Why didn’t he rhyme on the song with you?
What he told me was that Interscope wouldn’t let it happen because he has so much music coming out at the same time with The Wash soundtrack and the Training Day stuff. But I was like ‘Dog, this is me!’ But they was like it can’t happen. But I’m cool. We’ll do it next time.
Snoop and Nate Dogg are real big right now. Tell me about 213.
Originally it was four of us, me, Nate, Snoop and HD. We was hustlin and doin our thing but we wanted to do music. We were doing little clubs and colleges. This was around ‘88 or ‘89. We were teenagers. I’ll be 31 on November 10th. We just kept trying and trying. I kept telling Snoop and Nate and them that if we gonna win we gotta let this bullshit go. We did our little demos. Our friend Money B let us record in his house out in Long Beach and this kid DJ Enough would let us record for free.
Was it always the same formula; You make beats, Nate sings and Snoop raps?
I used to rap and DJ. Snoop was rappin and Nate was Singin’. Nate tries to rap, but he gotta stick to singin’. (Laughs) That’s my dog. He’s one of the greatest singers I’ve ever dealt with. It don’t matter if it’s a hook or whatever but Nate has an edge with ghetto shit. Nate will just sing. No reverb or nuttin on his voice. He used to sing in Church. Him and Butch Cassidy is cousins and they used to sing in church.
Keep it Gangsta is the catch phrase of 2001 and you come from an era when Gangsta Rap was a pariah. What are your thoughts?
It ain’t that much different it’s just that a lot of people take it too far gettin’ caught with guns and that ain’t what rap is about. To me, being gangsta is being a hog in the business. It don’t necessarily mean having fifteen goons and mashing on fools. This is a new era.
What’s so new about it? Not a lot of this stuff is new.
When I look at remakes like Lil Mo’s cover of Snoop that’s just her really respecting Snoop. And how Snoop redid Slick Rick. I wanna do over the D.O.C’s "Formula." That’s one of my all time favorite records.
I was with him the night of that accident. I was at the studio with him and bummed me a ride home to Long Beach.
What were ya’ll doing that night?
Dre and Doc were doing a video. He was doing that Yukon Jack and Coke. That’s 100 and somethin’ proof. That was way back in the day, but I can’t do that no more. I can’t even take Hennessy that much. I used to be a hog back in the day. I could drink you under the table.
Do you see any new talent coming out of Long Beach?
There is this one kid, E White. He’s very talented, He just gotta learn the business more and keep relationships. He wrote two songs on the album for me. I got love for him though. He’s The Twins cousin. The Twins was the first artists I had off of G Funk. They had some tight shit.
You took G Funk back to the original Funk and worked with George Clinton this time?
Yeah, I got my PHD in Funk. I got my certificate. He showed me a lot. He was sitting there once having a good time and he just started singing "speed dreaming...snoozin in the fast lane...noddin in overdrive...nappin in cruise control...." Then he told me go to the end of the song and record that. Then we went to the top and recorded another part "chalk in line...freeway of the mind." Then he told me to mute everything he just did and recorded it all over. When you played it back, it all went together.
He had the whole song layered in his head?
Yeah. Tweaked me the fuck out.
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tight long shit hommie , thanks
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Yea thnx
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This shit was tite tahnks dogg
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This shit was tite tahnks dogg
Tite! Let's talk about it in our italian topic. ;D
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dopeness
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Dope read, I really hope ROTR blows up for Warren, he deserves it, he seems to be one of the hardest working mofo's around.
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LONG...but tite!
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thanx a lot for postin that...wuz dope..
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That was doper than Whitney Huston and Bobby Brown. Thanks.