Warren Griffin III was born on November 10, 1970, and grew up in Long Beach. His family is tied to Dr. Dre’s: Dre’s mother married Warren Griffin Jr., which makes Warren G Dre’s stepbrother, he is sometimes wrongly called a half-brother. He rapped in the trio 213 with Snoop Dogg and Nate Dogg, and it was he who got Dre to listen to Snoop’s demo.
Never a Death Row artist
Contrary to what is often claimed, Warren G was never signed to Death Row. He helped out around the label but did not want to live in his stepbrother’s shadow and signed with Def Jam in New York instead. His big hit still came out through Death Row: Regulate, his duet with Nate Dogg, came from the soundtrack to Above the Rim (released in March 1994, with the single following in April), the basketball film in which Tupac plays the gangster Birdie. Regulate reached No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and became Def Jam’s biggest single.
Beats for Tupac
In 2003 Warren G talked to dubcnn.com about Tupac. He said he never rapped on a song with Tupac but did produce for him. He described Tupac calling him late one night, when he was still broke and sleeping at his sister’s place: “Warren, I need a beat.” He named Definition of a Thug Nigga, How Long Will They Mourn Me?, Lie 2 Kick It and You Gotta Get Yours I Gotta Get Mine as his productions.
What is confirmed is How Long Will They Mourn Me? on Thug Life, Volume I (1994): the album credits Warren G, Nate Dogg and Jay as producers. That Nate sang the hook at his suggestion is Warren G’s own account. Definition of a Thug Nigga first appeared in 1993 on the Poetic Justice soundtrack. For the other titles there is only Warren G’s own word. He also recalled Big Syke being at those early sessions and called Tupac “an incredible worker.”
In the video without Tupac
In 1995 Warren G was among the friends who appeared in the Temptations video while Tupac was in prison.