WARREN G BIOGRAPHY:

 
 West Coast rapper and hip hop producer Warren G was born Warren Griffin III on November 10, 1970 in Long Beach, California. He is the step-brother of the hugely successful record producer and west coast rap artist Dr. Dre. His biggest hit was the single "Regulate" a track featuring Nate Dogg which was released in 1994. The single was a g-funk track like most of Warren G's productions. According to Hit Music he sold 1,080,000 copies in the UK between January 1990 - 1999 and was ranked 92nd amongst the top selling artists of the decade.

 
  In 1992, Warren G formed the hip hop group 213 alongside Nate Dogg and rapper Snoop Dogg, and introduced the group to his step-brother Dr. Dre. Dre was impressed by the group and he even signed Snoop Dogg to his and Suge Knight's record company, Death Row Records. However, 213 broke up before releasing any records, and the three artists pursued separate careers within Hip Hop. Even though Death Row Records did not sign Warren G, his career began with some contributions to Dr. Dre's album The Chronic, which was released 1992, and Warren G was a regular contributor to many of the albums released on Death Row Records.

Warren G's continued to work on his debut album, and that album was released on June 7, 1994 via Def Jam in the form of "Regulate... G Funk Era". The album featured the hit single "Regulate", a gritty depiction of West Coast gang life which samples singer Michael McDonald's hit "I Keep Forgettin" and featured fellow 213 member Nate Dogg. "Regulate" reached #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart in 1994. Also on that disc was "This D.J.," a popular track and hit video on MTV. With help from these tracks and the positive reviews received from critics the album sold 176,000 in retail in its release week, hit #2 on the Billboard charts, and eventually went over 3x platinum.

He followed up with "Take a Look Over Your Shoulder (Reality)" which was released on March 25, 1997, which took his mellow approach and brought it even further into the mainstream. He scorrred a hit with a rap remake of "I Shot the Sheriff," the album was only a mid-level commercial successthough, only going gold.

Warren G then released his third solo album in the sahpe of "I Want It All" on October 12, 1999. The album represented a substantive, if not commercial, comeback for Warren G and is widely regarded as his most consistent record to date. The album offered listeners a jazz-rock fusion style theme and a host of guests including Mack 10, Snoop Dogg, Kurupt and Daz Dillinger from the group Tha Dogg Pound, Jermaine Dupri, and female rapper Eve. Compared to his successful debute album, Regulate... G Funk Era, this album contains less vocals by Warren G, instead he focuses more on the producing than lyricism. The first single, "I Want It All," sampled the song "I Like It" performed by DeBarge, which had a hit video that entered into heavy rotation on MTV and VH1. Warren G fully embraced his less-gangsta image at this time.

His 4th solo album was released on December 11, 2001. Return of the Regulator is a return to the roots of west coast gangster music and was voted best west coast album of the year, but despite this Universal did not properly promote the album and it flopped in sales, selling less than all his previous albums did. The content is not to blame for the flop, it is purely down to a lack of proper promotion. In 2003 Warren G, Snoop Dogg, and Nate Dogg reunited 213 and recorded the album The Hard Way with the single "Groupie Luv". The album was released in 2004 and entered at #4 on the Billboard charts, and caccording to TvT Records the album sold 500,000 units by December 16, 2004, certifying it gold. The albums official debut retail single, "Groupie Luv", was shot in Snoop Dogg's own house and directed by Chris Robinson, and saw the video debut for dancer Criscilla Crossland.

Warren G released a new solo album on October 11, 2005, his first in over 4 years. The album is called In the Mid-Nite Hour and was released on independent label Lightyear Entertainment. Warren G said he chose the name of the album because he stayed up all nights making it. The albums first single was "Get U Down" featuring rappers Ice Cube, B-Real, and Snoop Dogg, and the follow up single was "I Need A Light" featuring Nate Dogg. Unfortuantly neither single made it into the Billboard charts and the album peaked at number 80 on the Billboard 200 album chart only selling 14,800 in its first week.

Warren G is now working on an album with a young producer by the alias of Classic, and he stated he will get into this album once he is finished with the show called Celebrity Fit Club. As of 2006, Warren G has joined the cast of the fifth season of VH1's Celebrity Fit Club and also produced the theme song for Ice Cube's TV show, Black. White

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