Take a Look Over Your Shoulder [Import, Enhanced, Explicit Lyrics]

Warren G's sophomore album Take A Look Over Your Shoulder is one of hip-hop's greatest albums. This fun and interesting album has it all: bouncing party beats, the thoughtful lyrics, and that great G-Funk style and flavor. The songs are all touched with sun-soaked keyboards, and most notably the great guitar in many of the songs. The innovative styles and rapping on this album are breezy and laid-back, which is definitely Warren's style. In my mind, he is the true originator of G-Funk production, not Dr. Dre or Big Hutch, and Daz Dillinger would be G-Funk's greatest innovator. Warren also is a great rapper, his lyrics are comical and thoughtful at the same time. This was Warren's first album to be released on his new label, G-Funk Recordings, and this album has excellent guests as well. Nate Dogg, Ron Isley, Jayo Felony, Mr. Malik, The Five Footaz, The Twinz, Reel Tight, and Erick Sermon, plus many others. These guests fit well with Warren's beautiful beats.

Highlights on this album include "Annie Mae", a great duet with Nate Dogg, which will remind many of Warren's hit "Regulate", because it once again has Warren and Nate trading lines. This time though, it's about a girl named Annie Mae, and Warren and Nate compliment each other well here. The second single "Smoking Me Out", features Ron Isley singing the hook for a bouncy party track. Warren puts in a very nice rap, as well as on the excellent "Reality", a laid-back track celebrating a sunset gangsta scene. On "Young Fun", Jayo Felony and Knee-Hi join Warren for a funky gangsta track about life as a kid. Even though the promotional version of "What We Go Through" features Kurupt and Daz Dillinger and was taken off of the album, the new one is an excellent track, featuring Bad A$$, Mr. Malik and Technique (who is listed on the album as Perfect) for a pretty piano-laced track. On this song, Warren disses LL Cool J, really tearing him up. Many have wondered why Warren did diss LL, and it was because LL dissed Warren on his 1995 Mr. Smith LP. "We Brings Heat" is a nice track that features The Five Footaz and The Twinz, and is very good though Warren's beat sounds kind of like West Coast Mobb Deep (if one can picture that), it's still a great beat. "Transformers" is another nice keyboard-laced track, extremely nice laid-back track with a vocoder chorus. My favorite is "Relax Your Mind", which features Reel Tight singing the chorus, and a relaxing beat that really does clear your thoughts. "To All DJ's" is sure to get the party up, an extremely funky track with Mr. Malik. The first single "I Shot The Sheriff", is another one of the album's best, while the remix is included and done by Erick Sermon of EPMD, and the beat is a sample of "Strictly Business", performed by EPMD. On the European version, there is the bonus "What's Love Got To Do With It", and the song's remix. I have heard it and it's a great song, with cool guitars and lyrics. All of the tracks are good, "Back Up" is probably the album's worst, but it still is excellent.

To conclude my review, I would recommend this if you like G-Funk. If you do, it's a must.

I challenge you to name 10 producers from the west coast that were better than Warren G in the 90's. There's DJ Quik (yes, I put his name first...Dre is overrated), Dr. Dre, and...well..... While there are other notable producers that may have been just as good, like DJ Muggs, Daz, Battlecat, Sir Jinx, Bud'da, Soopafly, E-Swift (Alkaholiks), Shock G, and Johnny J (I know I've left out a ton of legendary westside beatsmiths, but I'm trying to make a point, not write a novel). I wouldn't necessarily say that any of them were BETTER than Warren Griffin III. As a matter of fact, the problem Warren G runs into most is the fact that he's so heavily slept on (his own brother, Dr. Dre, didn't take him seriously as a producer). Even the editorial reviewer of this album grabbed a pillow and took a snooze -- I noticed that Amazon has a knack for posting bogus editorial reviews, but that's another story. Anyway, I think what turned people off to Warren G is because he took 3 years off from his classic debut and a lot people expected the Regulate II LP. Instead of trying to duplicate that album, he went in a different direction (something that I actually respect people more for doing -- more "artists" should do it). The truth is, this album is off the charts. Despite being totally ignored by his label (Def Jam), this joint still had a few classics (We Brings Heat, Transformers, What We Go Through, I Shot The Sheriff (EPMD Remix), Back Up, & Smokin' Me Out) getting spins on the radio. The quality of the album kept it afloat because, trust me, there were NO promo dollars put behind it. And on top of all that, with the exception of one or two fillers, the rest of the tracks are strong.

There are a few tracks on the album that should've been left off the album. "Annie Mae" suffers from lazy production and the original version of "I Shot The Sheriff" is skip material in my book. As a matter of fact, a lot of the production is so laid back that I'd have to say that it's almost too smooth. Don't get me wrong though, the beats are still top notch. Some will tell you that Warren's rhymes aren't up to par, but the editorial review summed it up best when it said: "...like his brother, Dr. Dre, Warren is a rapper only by circumstance and a producer by passion..." With that being said, I don't really expect much from him on the lyrical tip (nor does he -- hence the abundance of guest rappers).

Take A Look Over Your Shoulder (Reality) is easily Warren G's second best album. The production is on point and the guests all do a great job of sharing the load. Warren G is a capable rapper, but the focus for me was on the beats. I recommend adding this one to the collection. Amazon is selling this for less than a buck. If that ain't a steal, I don't know what is.

Standout Tracks: Back Up Feat. K-9 & P-C, Relax Ya Mind Feat. Reel Tight, What We Go Through Feat. Mr. Malik, Perfec & Bada**, Reality, To All D.J.'s Feat. Mr. Malik, We Brings Heat Feat. The Twinz & Da Five Footaz (My Favorite), Smokin' Me Out Feat. Ron Isley, Transformers, and Young Fun Feat. Knee-Hi & Jayo Felony

Following the surprise multiplatinum success of his classic 1994 debut Regulate...G Funk Era, Warren G sat back and watched the g-funk genre he helped originate explode. Outside of some production work and scattered guest appearances, Warren was relatively quiet for a full three years, finally dropping the follow-up, "Take a Look Over Your Shoulder (Reality)" in 1997. People seem to be pretty split in their opinions on this album, and I think that's because people were hoping for another Regulate...G Funk Era. That album was an ingenious blend of simple yet catchy, low-fi, and sunny, soulful beats teamed with fun raps. They were so beautifully laidback and made for perfect chilled-out listening. His raps are almost as appealing as his incredible production because he's so real; he seems more like a regular guy than any other Long Beach gangsta rapper. His raps are somewhere between talking and rapping, and his singing is somewhere between rapping and singing. So on this album, rather than just try to duplicate his debut with a sound that had been tiredly imitated for the previous three years, Warren instead took an admirably artistic route and made a very different album. "Take a Look" is pretty experimental, drawing from a more diverse range of influences. The beats are more dense than they were on his debut, often using a fuller range of instrumentation rather than the simple arrangement of synths, bass, and light sampling. He's really inventive a lot of the time, and it's cool. A lot of the music borders closer to R&B than rap, it's definitley hookier, and there are some more obvious singles. One of the coolest things I like about this album is how he reworks famous songs. For instance, his spirited version of Eric Clapton and Bob Marley's "I Shot the Sheriff" is surprisingly successful. He's looking beyond hip hop on "Take a Look," and the result is beautiful.

The one big similarity between this and his debut is the result of the production. These beats are literally the smoothest around. I don't know how he does it, but every gorgeous beat on "Take a Look" is so chilled out and relaxing that it makes for the ultimate summertime or late-night listening. The pure funk and smooth instrumentals just make you feel good. In that way, it is a lot like Regulate...G Funk Era. Lyrically, Warren is on a different page. Mostly, he just lets the beats do the talking, and much of the actual rapping is handled by his large list of guest rappers. There's a much higher-profile feeling to this project, and this is reflected in the lyrics and guests. Whereas his first album featured a small crew of underground Long Beach artists, "Take a Look" has a few more A-list MCs. Unfortunately, Warren would learn the hard way just like his labelmates Jayo Felony, the Dove Shack, Twinz, South Central Cartel, and WC that Def Jam was completely incapable or unwilling to promote its West Coast artists, and the lack of publicity led to disappointing sales for "Take a Look."

After the intro, the album begins with a Nate Dogg collabo called "Annie Mae." Over a quirky and bluesy beat, the duo speak of a woman they both knew, and this song is all-around great. "Smokin' Me Out" features a particularly soulful Ronald Isley, providing an awesome appearance to a beautiful production, the hook is awesome. He kicks some nice lyrics on the cool "Reality," and Jayo Felony and Knee-Hi guest on the discretionary "Young Fun." A matured Mr. Malik, Bad Azz, and Perfec show up to collaborate on the memorable "What We Go Through." "We Brings Heat" has an awesome vibe and features Jah-Skilz and Twinz, Warren's proteges. "Transformers" is gorgeously relaxing, with a space-age hook, and the classic "Relax Ya Mind" follows in a similar fashion. "To All D.J.'s" is the weakest song on the album, the beat's a little too sparse and subject matter a bit uninspired. K9 and PC assume the rapping duties on the funky "Back Up," which is followed by another West Coast classic in "Can You Feel It." His cover of "I Shot the Sheriff" is ingenious, adding a g-funk twist to a classic standard, and Erick Sermon's EPMD remix is also great.

"Take a Look" is musically genius and very experimental and is really a joy to listen to for its phenomenal production. Warren G steps outside the g-funk box to help push his genre even further than it had been pushed before, extending into R&B and pop music for this album. Even ten years after its release, I find this album perfect to pop into the player just to chill and relax, especially in the summer. It's sad that it's out of print now, but as it's still widely available, I highly recommend it. Warren G is a musical genius, and I really can't get enough of his production, and if not for the sheer brilliance of his debut, I believe this would have been hailed as the quality music it is. No, it's not Regulate...G Funk Era, but nothing really is, and "Take a Look" is an underappreciated gem of hip hop.

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