Rap star Warren G is looking forward to visiting his Lethbridge on his first ever Western Canadian tour, June 4 at the Blarney Stone.
Warren G has been a cornerstone of the west coast rap scene ever since he broke out of the bustling Long Beach scene with his breakout 1994 CD ‘Regulate … G Funk Era.”
“I’ve been to Vancouver, but I’ve never toured any other city,” said Warren G over the phone from his home in Los Angeles, whose real name is Warren Griffin III
“I had no idea there were so many cities in Canada. That’s just great. I knew about Vancouver and Toronto and Quebec. I hope there isn’t any turbulence over the Rockies,” he observed. One of the Tracks, “Let’s Get High’ on his latest CD, ‘the G-Files,’ features Blink 182 drummer Travis Barker.
“That’s my buddy. We’ve done a lot of shows together, but we’ve both been working so much, but we said we need to do a song together. So I wrote one and the rest is history,” he said.
Warren G is Dr. Dre’s half brother and grew up with with Snoop Dogg and Nate Dogg, but is a fixture behind the scenes producing for other rappers. He even worked with 2Pac. But he has had several huge hits of his own since exploding on the west coast rap scene in 1994, including ‘This DJ,’ and ‘Do You See,’ and ’Regulate,’ plus a reggae style reworking of ‘I Shot The Sheriff.’
“It’s been really cool to do something people really love. And working with 2Pac was great,” he said.
Warren G’s tour begins in Red Deer followed by Lethbridge and Calgary, then numerous B.C dates.
He and his DJ will be touring this time, but next time he’ll be bringing a full band.
“I like playing with the band the best. I mean, if I mess up, then they know when to catch up. I like that I can talk to to the audience. I like them both. It’ll be a great show anyway, but when I come back with the band, it will be a great show,” he said.
“People don’t just want to hear rapping all day long. People want to hear a story — something they can relate to,” he said adding he will also be on the lookout for new talent to work with.
“I just like to help people. I’m always on the lookout for new people who could be the next to explode. I’ll be accepting all demos. I mean I’ve got my people, Snoop and Dre. I want to give back. That’s what it is all about,” he continued.
“A lot of people can rap, but you really have to know how to create a song. That’s what was great about working with 2Pac. He was very professional. He already knew what he was going to talk about as soon as he heard the beat,” he said adding the basic essence of rap music hasn’t changed since 1994, other than there are more people using live instrumentation now.
He is currently working on the follow-up to his seventh CD, ‘The G Files.’
“I’m working on the CD. ’m putting together the songs and recording the beats. But I’ll know when to start recording,” he said.
“I still keep producing a lot of music. I’ve met a lot of great people and had a lot of great times,” he said adding though he used his talent to get out of Long Beach, he often returns to give back either to perform to give anti-gang talks and help out any way he can.
“Long Beach is just like any other neighbourhood. There’s lots of, gangs, athletes, normal people and lots of police. There’s a lot of talented people there and they use their talent to get out of there. That’s what I did, but I still come back. I’ll run anti-gang programs and work with the Boys and Girls Club there,” he said. The Boys and Girls Club of Long Beach gave Warren G an award for commitment to the youth and community late last year.
“It feels good. It means a lot. For people who aren’t familiar with me, this means I’ve succeeded. I mean I’ll use profanity in songs, but it is only to get the point across. On every record I do, there’s songs you can party and have a good time too, but at the end of the day, there is always a message. So it’s good to be recognized by my city,” he said.
The G- Funk express tour pulls into Lethbridge, June 4 at 9 p.m. at the Blarney Stone. Special guests include $Truck, Jeff Spec & Narai, Just B and City Real. Advance tickets are $25 from the Balrney stone, Blueprint, Boarderline and Infamous.
