Legendary Rapper Warren G Speaks To BuzzFeed

Regulators! Mount up.

Kevin Winter / Via Getty

2014 marked the 20th anniversary of one of hip-hop's smoothest albums ever: Regulate...G Funk Era by legendary rapper/producer Warren G. It defined the West Coast mellow rap sound and contained the multiplatinum hit "Regulate," which featured Nate Dogg and was one of the biggest singles Def Jam ever released.

Warren G is a Long Beach, California, native who formed the trio 213 with childhood friends Nate Dogg and Snoop Dogg. Later he collaborated with 2Pac, Dr. Dre, and Tha Dogg Pound.

Def Jam / Via Youtube

So smooth.

Def Jam / Via amazon.com

To commemorate the anniversary, Def Jam is releasing a remastered reissue of the album with special remixes by some of today's hottest DJs. BuzzFeed got a chance to talk to "the G child" himself and ask some questions we've wanted answers to since 1994:

Dan Meth / Via BuzzFeed

Was "Regulate" inspired by an actual night in Long Beach?

Warren: It was a combination of events I went through, a combination of events Nate went through when we was growing up. We put it all in story form and talked about the situations in one story that people could relate to.

Do you ever go back to "21 and Lewis"?

Warren: All the time. It's all love.

Dan Meth / Warner Bros. / Via BuzzFeed

The song features a classic sample from Michael McDonald's "I Keep Forgettin'." Were you a fan of McDonald and the Doobie Brothers?

Warren: Most definitely. My parents used to play it when I was a kid and that's one of the songs that stuck in my head so I was thinking I wanted to do something different instead of the same old hip hop. I thought, 'why don't I take a song that I liked from back then and recreate it in hip hop style?'

Dan Meth / Warner Bros. / Via BuzzFeed

Have you ever spoken with Michael McDonald about it? What did he think?

Warren: I met him a couple times. He's a real cool guy. He really respected and loved the record. He's still lovin' it: He's still getting a check and a good check too.

What made you decide to put the Young Guns sample in 'Regulate'?

Warren: Because I was watching it and [one of the characters said] said "We work for Mr. Tunstall as regulators. We regulate any stealing of his property and we're damn good too." The song was already finished and called 'Regulate' when I found it. It was just a perfect fit.

Dan Meth / Via BuzzFeed

What was it like being childhood friends with Snoop Dogg?.

Warren: We used to ride the city bus. Snoop is one of the coldest cats out there. We'd have bagging sessions, just bagging on everyone. Snoop would have everybody on the bus laughing. Those were some fun times, man, back in the day. We'd be on our way to see the high school football game up in Vet Stadium. We'd catch the bus but we'd be riding back in a car.

Dan Meth / Via BuzzFeed

What are you working on these days?

Warren: I'm still producing. I'll never stop that. I'm working with a cat named Mike Slice who DJ Booth put on the front page. Young cat. I'm into the new hip-hop. New music, period. As long as it catches my ear.

Dan Meth / Via BuzzFeed

We hear you're even set to produce the new record of K-Pop group BTS. Have you been to Korea before?

Warren: No, but I've been to Japan. I loved it. They was nice to me, man. Real good people. The food I couldn't eat like I wanted to, though. I ordered a steak in the hotel and it was the size of a... man, that thing was small. I had to order a bunch of them to get full. But it was good as shit though, the steaks. I even brought my father with me and we had a good time.

Dan Meth / Via BuzzFeed

Pot-laws in California have changed a lot in the past 20 years and its practically legal now. As someone who's rapped so much about marijuana, how do you feel about this?

Warren: I think it's good because it helps a lot of patients in need who have different diseases and helps with the healing process. I think it's a good thing. I aint never heard of marijuana killing nobody.

And now for a BuzzFeed exclusive: the premier of a "Regulate" remix by Photek

JD Ryznar / Via Youtube

One last question, Warren... have you ever seen the episode of the web series 'Yacht Rock' that fictionalizes the origin of 'Regulate'?

Warren: No.

You can follow Warren G on Twitter and Facebook and purchase the reissue album on CD or vinyl.