Warren G: I Want It All

Earlier this year, West Coast hip-hop crooner Domino released a comeback album with the memorably pathetic title Remember Me While Warren G hasn't yet reached that level of desperation, there's no denying that his G-funk-on-valium style hasn't been fashionable in ages. Anyone expecting a radical change of pace on G's new album is sure to be disappointed: With the exception of "We Got That" (an Eve, Drag-On, and Shadow collaboration that clumsily tries to reproduce Swizz Beats' trademark sound), little on I Want It All strays from the easy-listening sound that has been G's trademark since his "Regulate" glory days. G's sonically fussy and defiantly wussy sonic styling—the man samples Lionel Richie, for God's sake—is more often snooze-inducing than riveting. Lyrically, his music has changed little since his early days, with he and a plethora of familiar guests (including Snoop Dogg, Kurupt, Daz Dillinger, RBX, and Nate Dogg, as well as new jacks Memphis Bleek and Crucial Conflict) recycling gangsta cliches and vacuous odes to materialism. The album's title track finds G paying homage to the good life alongside Mack 10, and while it's difficult to argue with G's apparently heartfelt desire for "brand new socks and drawers," there's nothing on that track, or the album in general, that hasn't been done better before. "You Never Know" benefits from a terrific Snoop Dogg verse and a catchy melody, and a couple of songs are at least sonically interesting. But for the most part, I Want It All is too laid-back and familiar to serve as anything but pleasant background music.