Warren G has provided an eye-opening glimpse into his ongoing attempts to get Def Jam to revert his rights to his masters back to him in his latest interview.
During a recent interview with Bootleg Kev, Warren G shared his frustrations with Def Jam and detailed a failed attempt to regain the rights to his master recordings before the 35-year reversion period mandated in U.S. copyright law.
The “Regulate” MC started off by recalling how he called on Snoop Dogg, and Def Jam co-founder Russell Simmons to work together to persuade the iconic label to relinquish his masters early. However, he claims their attempts to negotiate the reversion of his masters back to him barely made it past their inception before being shot down.
“I reached out to ’em, s##t me, Snoop [Snoop Dogg] and Russell [Russell Simmons] even tried to talk to the counsel and tried to make it happen,” Warren G said. “They was like, ‘no’. It’s like damn. That’s just like a slap in the face.”
The West Coast legend continued to explain why he felt that he felt Def Jam owed his masters based on what he contributed to the label with his success. Though Warren has five years left before the 35-year term is up, he feels Def Jam could choose to honor him now.
“And that’s even like today, I’m like, I would think that they would talk to UMG, Def Jam, and say, ‘look, this dude did a lot for us,’” he remarked. “He saved us. He got us out the red.”
He continued, “Let’s reward him back, honor him and give him his masters. Let’s not make him wait another four years. Let’s give it to ’em right now. Why juice me for the rest of the—y’all been juicing me for 30 years?”
Warren G says he has to wait 35 years to get his masters back from Def Jam & wants to recreate a new video game like ‘Def Jam Vendetta’ during his interview with Bootleg Kev pic.twitter.com/Ni2G1chX0t
— 2Cool2Blog (@2Cool2Blog) October 31, 2024
The conversation soon shifted to the beloved Def Jam Vendetta video game series, which led to Warren G voicing his desire to bring it back as a lucrative means to supplement the income he’s losing as a result of not being in control of his masters.
“People come up to me all the time, ‘You was one of the hardest muthaf##kas in the game,’” he said, referring to his memorable character in the fighting game.
Warren expressed enthusiasm for investing in a new version of the game, explaining that it could feature modern rappers like Kendrick Lamar and Drake and be monetized with downloadable content.
“And the thing is, is just, okay, chop it up,” he said. “Just chop it up. Give everybody a piece. Like say if you use five, maybe eight guys, chop that s##t up.”
Warren G’s impact on Def Jam is undeniable, with his 1994 debut album, Regulate… G Funk Era, becoming an instant classic and debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 Chart after selling 176,000 first-week units. The album, which features the Grammy-nominated hit “Regulate,” has been certified triple platinum by the RIAA and continues to be celebrated as a landmark in hip-hop.
Check out the full video above.