Warren G:
It was a clear black night, a clear white moon,
Warren G was on the streets, tryin' to consume
Some skirts for the eve so I can get some funk,
Just rollin' in my ride, chillin' all alone...

"Regulate" is a song performed and produced by [Warren G], and featuring [Nate Dogg]. It was released in 1994 on the [Regulate... G-Funk Era|eponymous Warren G album], and was originally featured in the 1994 sports-[drama] [Above the Rim]. "Regulate" became a remarkably popular song upon its release, the single having gone [RIAA Certification|Platinum], and having been nominated for both an [MTV] Movie Award for Best Movie Song in 1995 and a [Grammy Award] for the Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group in the same year.

"Regulate" is widely considered one of the first chart-topping smash-hits in the genre of Gangsta Funk -- [G-Funk]. Combining the lyrical elements of [Gansta Rap], a genre that itself was on the rise at "Regulate"'s release, with a low-[tempo] [funk] track, "Regulate" is a [manifesto] of the [Long Beach, California|LBC] gang philosophy that gang involvement is reprehensible and ugly, but that it is, for some, an inescapable reality that has to be dealt with practically. Before [Warren G], groups like [N.W.A.] and individuals like [Ice T] glorified the admittedly fearsome street cultures of [South-Central Los Angeles] and [Compton] with tales of thuggish homicide, drug dealing and extortion. "Regulate" took gang violence, and encapsulated it in a story of two friends seeking each other to go on the prowl for girls together.

Nate Dogg:
They got my homey hemmed up, and they all around,
Ain't none of them seein' if they can go straight pound for pound;
I gotta come up real quick before they start to clown,
I best pull out my strap, and lay them bustas down.

As "Regulate" is a narrative rap, I will summarize its plot, so that you might understand my case better. At the beginning of the song, [Warren G] is walking the streets of [Long Beach, California|Long Beach] looking for girls. Concurrently, [Nate Dogg] is driving in search of [Warren G|Warren]. [Warren G|Warren] turns a corner ("So I hooks a left on the two-one and Lewis") to see some unsavory characters shooting [craps]. When he tries to join the game, they pull their guns and mug him, taking his jewelery. Before they can actually deal any physical damage to [Warren G|Warren], [Nate Dogg], who happens to be driving nearby, is noticed by some "hookers" in their own car, who crash beside the mugging as a result of being distracted by Nate's showy driving ("Since these girls peepin' me, I'ma' glide and swerve,/These hookers lookin so hard, they straight hit the curb"). [Nate Dogg] sees [Warren G|Warren] getting mugged, pulls his gun, and kills the muggers before they can hurt his friend. They then ride off in [Nate Dogg|Nate]'s car, with the girls (whose car broke down from hitting the curb?), in the direction of the "East Side Motel". Now, of course, if you aren't into [G-Funk], or [rap] in general, this plot sounds [Did the girls really see Nate kill those muggers and still take off with him?|absolutely ridiculous]. But take a few mental notes: The [protagonist]s of "Regulate" aren't robbers; they aren't cop-killers; they aren't drug dealers. They're just two guys, looking for girls, only ONE OF WHOM carries a gun, and, as we can see, entirely for protection. As someone inured to the hateful violence of [Gangsta Rap], these details really deflated my general prejudice against gang violence in music; I mean, [Warren G] and [Nate Dogg] are supposed to be the innocents here!

Nate Dogg:
Sixteen in the clip, and one in the hole,
Nate Dogg 'bout to make some bodies turn cold;
They droppin' and yellin' -- it's a tad bit late --
Nate Dogg and Warren G had to regulate.

In the context of this song, the term "regulate" means to take the justice into one's own hands; to break the law in recompense for the unfair treatment of a friend. The word denotes bringing something to its original condition from an unnatural state, and applies itself here with the destruction of social [lechers] for the peace that society presumes in residential life. To regulate is to forget society, and serve up a steaming plate of fair; I like Warren G's "Regulate" because it's bad-assed without being malicious or terrible. I recommend you give it a listen.

References:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regulate_%28song%29
http://www.lyricsfreak.com/w/warren+g/regulate_20145246.html

regulate (thing)