Warren G

Warren Griffin III (born November 10, 1970) is an American rapper, record producer, and DJ known for his pivotal role in the rise of West Coast rap during the 1990s. Considered a pioneer of the G-funk sound, he achieved mainstream success with the 1994 single "Regulate", a duet with Nate Dogg. Griffin significantly contributed to Snoop Dogg's early career, even introducing him to Dr. Dre, who later signed Snoop.

Griffin's debut album, Regulate... G Funk Era, debuted at #2 on the US Billboard 200 chart, selling 176,000 copies in its first week. The album later went on to sell over 3 million units in the US, earning 3x multi-platinum certification. The single "Regulate" spent 18 weeks in the Top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100, with three weeks at No. 2, while "This D.J." reached No. 9. Both songs earned Grammy nominations.

Three tracks from his second album, Take a Look Over Your Shoulder, reached the Top 40, as did his 1998 duet with Nate Dogg, "Nobody Does It Better". Both Take a Look Over Your Shoulder and his next album, I Want It All, were certified gold, marking the last of his albums to attain certification. His 2001 comeback attempt, The Return of the Regulator, failed to match his earlier commercial success. Along with longtime collaborators Snoop Dogg and Nate Dogg, Griffin formed the hip-hop trio 213, named after Long Beach's area code, releasing an album titled The Hard Way in 2004.

Griffin's next two albums, 2005's In the Mid-Nite Hour and 2009's The G Files, were self-produced and released independently. In the 2010s, he experienced a resurgence in popularity within the digital age. In 2015, he released Regulate... G Funk Era, Part II, an EP featuring archived recordings of Nate Dogg, who had passed away in 2011. In 2017, "Regulate", which was certified platinum in 1994, went multi-platinum, propelled by digital downloads.