Warren G.

The quiet love affair between hip-hop artists and soft rockers—such as Jay-Z’s Coldplay fascination—reached an early apex with the 1994 smash “Regulate,” which featured rapper Warren G. and his 213 cohort Nate Dogg riding lazy G-funk circles around Michael McDonald’s yacht-rock staple “I Keep Forgettin’.” That love of the laid-back has served Warren G. well over the years, and he doesn’t stray from it much on the new The G-Files, which sees everyone from Raekwon to Snoop Dogg to Travis Barker dropping through the haze. When he does court a younger crowd (as on chipper cash-in single, “Ringtone”), it only demonstrates that Warren G. works best when he’s not letting anything—even the passage of time—harsh his mellow. 

Updated 11/01/2009