a yacht rock moment

virago & i were driving around the other day listening to the radio when virago flipped to a station playing warren g and nate dogg's "regulate". i'm not sure what station it was: WZPL maybe? really it's irrelevant; it was some pop station, and definitely wasn't jack—it was a station that has actual djs (presumably local).

i've always found warren g to be one of the most unintentionally ironic artists of the '90s: warren epitomizes the '90s trend (arguably started by his cousin dr. dre) of talking about how tough and badass you are on top of the softest backing music possible. as such i've never been able to take him seriously. but this time we cranked it up and rocked out, largely because the song had been featured not too long ago on yacht rock.

yacht rock is a wonderful webshow that centers around the untrue adventures of michael mcdonald and kenny loggins and their friends & rivals as they wrote and recorded the "smooth music" of the '70s and '80s. episode 7 revolves around how warren g and nate dogg's #1 hip-hop single "regulate" samples from mcdonald's "i keep forgettin'", so we were pleased at the chance to listen to the song again, with a new perspective. i commented to virago that i was amused by all the lyrics about forming a new "g funk era" considering where the music had been sampled from.

mere seconds after i made this comment, the dj cut in. apparently someone had called in saying she couldn't listen to "regulate" without thinking about michael mcdonald. she never used the words "yacht rock" and as far as i know she'd never seen the show, but here she was on the radio talking about sampling michael mcdonald. the dj seemed surprised by the revelation, saying he'd never thought of it before. (and in fairness, i'm not sure i'd ever thought of it before yacht rock.) then the dj started playing "i keep forgettin'" for comparison, and i'll be damned if he didn't let the whole song play out afterward.

it was a surreal moment of synchronicity where subversive internet entertainment jibed with corporate pop radio. i'd like to think koko's ghost was smiling on us at that moment.¶