Warren G Album: “I Want It All [PA]”

By 1999, West Coast hip hop was advancing past g-funk on the heels of influential albums like

and

, ushering in a hard, fast, electronic sound in favor of the familiar slow, woozy, soulful g-funk sound that had dominated the coast for the past five years. As one of the forefathers of g-funk, this left Warren G in a strange predicament, but on his third album, 1999's "I Want It All," Warren just continues to do what he does best, and that is produce beautiful, laidback hip hop. The more I listen to all of his albums, the more I'm convinced that he's one of the best producers the west coast has ever had to offer; maybe even better than his half-brother Dr. Dre (Warren's sound is a little more focused, smooth, and musical; I like his ear for music better). Again, Warren adjusts his sound from his previous effort, 1997's ambitious

, which was largely influenced by smooth R&B and pop music. "I Want It All" is often every bit as smooth as his first two albums, and maintains the same appeal with hook-heavy structures, a laidback approach, and rich instrumentals. But most of all, his creative genius stands out once again. He abandons his woozy synths for some more live-sounding instrumentation, with lots of horns and guitars, but the sound is still smooth and dense. Again, the rapping is mostly handled by guests, including Nate Dogg, Snoop Dogg, Daz Dillinger, Kurupt, RBX, Mack 10, Crucial Conflict, Jermaine Dupri, Phats Bossalini, Reel Tight, El DeBarge, Val Young, Eve, Drag-On, Shadow, Neb Love, K-Bar, Slick Rick, Memphis Bleek, and Tikki Diamonds. With all these guests, lyrically it sometimes feels like a compilation, but Warren never leaves the spotlight, and it keeps a really smooth, friendly vibe. When Warren raps, he has a really likable persona, a very conversational flow, and he sounds like someone you'd want to hang out with. He's not menacing or gangster, he enjoys life and music. While I don't like it quite as much as his first two albums, Warren G's "I Want It All" is another fine effort by the production genius, and one I highly recommend.

After the intro, the album kicks off with "Gangsta Love," an excellent opening collabo with Nate Dogg, Kurupt, and RBX. The gorgeous beat has beautiful bass and smooth sax instrumentation, it's one of Warren's best beats on the album and the MCs lace it with light, laidback lyricism. Nate also offers a great performance on this track. Warren, Daz, and Kurupt rap about their struggles hustling over an upbeat track on "Why Oh Why." Another great collabo is the Crucial Conflict and Kurupt number "Dollars Make Sense," which is anchored by another fine West Coast beat and nice verses. The title track has a great feel to it, a real classy-sounding track with rich horns and keyboards, Mack 10 guests. Warren's verses take a step back, and he looks at his career as a humble man. Jermaine Dupri and Nate Dogg provide good performances on the well-produced "Havin' Things," and it's followed by possibly my favorite song here, "You Never Know." A sunny, funky beat allows Snoop, Phats Bossalini, and Warren to drop some conscious lyrics, and the hook by Reel Tight is nice. Warren dedicates "My Momma (Ola Mae)" to his mother, on a solo track with catchy, low-key production. "G-Spot" is an enjoyable soulful, emotional number featuring El DeBarge & Val Young on the hook. The production here is another highlight. Warren adjusts his sound to suit his Ruff Ryder guests on "We Got That," it sounds like an average Ruff Ryders track, and although it's good it doesn't stand out. "Dope Beat" is aptly titled, a simple song with smooth vibes, and "World Wide Ryders" is another excellent track, it sounds a lot like something from

. The cool "Game Don't Wait," a 213 reunion, and twangy "We Give You a Chance" with Slick Rick are solid late-album cuts. The album closes with a nice remix to the title track and an outro by Flavor Flav.

Warren G makes feel good music, and any time I pop one of his LPs into the player, it helps me relax and feel good. His constantly laidback vibes make for perfect listening on any occasion, and his musical genius can be appreciated on so many levels. It's definitely got a lot of mainstream appeal, but if you can't get into these beats then you should get your ears checked. "I Want It All" is another one for the collection for fans of Warren, g-funk, and West Coast hip hop.

"Regulate... G Funk Era" was tight... and this is almost a continuation of that album. "Dope Beat" reminds me of "Do You See" a little. This is however, much more laid back then "Regulators" was. With a new label deal, he must have more freedom now. He must have had fun doing this one, because it shows very well in the music. The best improvement over "Regulators" is the fact that there really aren't any skits, (except the Intro and Outro, which aren't really skits).

Same thing he's always done, not a lot of senseless violence, not swearing just to say bad words, and a tight old-school Hip-Hop sound. Some of the songs are corny though, "World Wyde Ryders" and "We Got That" come to mind (the lyrics don't even make sense). "Game Don't Wait," and "You Never Know" are almost ballads of some sort, and "If We Give You A Chance," and "My Momma (Ola Mae)" are kind of catchy... Not a bad album at all.

The best songs on the LP are "I Want It All" + the remix, "Gansta Love," "Why Oh Why," "You Never Know," "My Momma (Ola Mae)," "G-Spot," "Dope Beat," "Game Don't Wait," and "If We Give You A Chance." That's quite a bit.

Bottom Line: If you liked "Regulate... G-Funk Era," when it came out (and especially if you still do), you will definitely love this album.

After another 2 and a half year hiatus Warren returns with another solid cd. Just as good as his previous two, although this one heavily features other artists (only 2 songs don't have someone on them). The Production is, as always on his albums, tight and the beats are great through thewhole album. Warren does 11 of the 14 songs, Soopafly does 1, and Vada Nobles does 2. Has 1 classic, 3 average songs and the rest are good or great. I'd definitely recommend it for any G-Funk fan.

#2 - 9.5 (f/ Nate Dogg, Kurupt, & RBX)

#3 - 9 (f/ Daz Dillinger & Kurupt {Dogg Pound})

#4 - 10 (classic f/ Crucial Conflict - great beat and relaxing)

#5 - 7 (f/ Mack 10)

#6 - 8.5 (f/ Nate Dogg & Jermaine Dupri)

#7 - 8 (f/ Snoop Dogg, Phats Bossilini & Reel Tight)

#8 - 8.5 (dedicated to his late moms)

#9 - 9 (about the g-spot f/ El DeBarge & Val Young)

#10 - 8.5 (f/ Eve, Drag-On, & Shadow)

#11 - 7.5

#12 - 7 (f/ Neb Love & K-Bar)

#13 - 8 (f/ Nate Dogg & Snoop Dogg (213))

#14 - 8 (f/ Slick Rick & Phats Bossilini)

#15 - 8.5 (f/ Memphis Bleek, Drag-On, tikki Diamonds)

Warren Griffin III -- b. 11/10/70 -- Long Beach, CA

LONG BEACH - 213

check all my reviews

Warren G is the half brother of Dr Dre and its obvious that talent runs in the family from this cd. I bought regulate...the g funk era and i was craving more warren G(regulate...the g funk era was only 36 minutes long). This cd, i want it all is exactly what i was lookin for. Warren has the best flow and has learned to produced from dre which is a deadly combo. Look out for Dope beat and the title track; i want it all on this cd (my perosnal favorites)

After dropping a (relatively) weak second album Warren G comes back and this time he doesn't dissapoint at all! His new album brings us what Warren G does the best - smooth and laid back Long Beach G-Funk. But I feel like he took his game (production wise) on a higher level. Out of 14 songs there are maybe 3 or 4 that aren't good. But the other 10 are just BANGIN'! Warren G also uses the help of many guest artists from rappers like Snoop Dogg, Tha Dogg Pound, Nate Dogg and Jermaine Dupri to some East Coast rappers like Drag-on, Eve and Tikki Diamond. You also get Midwest grous Crucial Conflict on perhaps the best song on the album. And these are just some of the guests - there are more. On this album Warren G proves again that he's one of the 5 best producers on the West Coast. His rapping skills were never something worth saying a lof about, but he's still very solid on the mic, and like many good producers who also rap (such as Dr. Dre, Ant Banks and others) he knows how to fit his rapping to the beats perfectly. I also think that lyrically he's better than his first 2 albums, and he actually deals with more topics than the previous ones. Overall, I really love this album. Maybe it's not a 5 star album like the all-time classic "Regulate - G Funk Era" (that sold about 4 million copies!), but it's definitely better than the last album, and I feel that Warren G tried a few new direction in terms of beats, while still giving us, the public, some the G-Funk sound he helped create. This album didn't get a lot of success nationwide, since the label didn't promote it like it should have, but to me it's a winner, and Warren G is on top of his game.