Kenny G, Warren G Will Team Up for ‘Regulate’ on ‘Kimmel’

Following a month of eclectic pairings for “Mash Up Mondays,” Jimmy Kimmel Live! will cap off the series with a performance of “Regulate” by rapper Warren G and saxophonist Kenny G.

The debut of “Kenny and Warren G,” as Kimmel has dubbed them, performing the west coast rap classic originally by Warren G and the late Nate Dogg is the fourth and final installment of “Mash Up Mondays.” The series began with Weezer and ZZ Top (“Wee-Z Top”) and continued with “Morris Day and the Haim” and “Aloe Blaccstreet.”

Performing “Regulate” is particularly timely for the rapper, who will be celebrating the 20th anniversary of the song with a week-long tour next month that will make stops in Washington, Oregon, California and Vancouver. The tour follows up a reissue of the triple-platinum album Regulate… G Funk Era.

“Regulate” samples a song by another adult-contemporary favorite: Michael McDonald’s “I Keep Forgettin’ (Every Time You’re Near).” Kenny G’s smooth jazz is sure to fit right into the noir sound of the single, as intensified by the sample. “It was a record that I always loved, from being a kid and my parents playing it when they had their company of friends over,” detailed Warren G to Rolling Stone about the McDonald track. “I had the sample and was, like, ‘It would be so different to do a hip-hop song over this.'”

As for Kenny G, his hit “Going Home” has become China’s official “Closing Time” anthem, according to The New York Times. Over 25 years after its release, the hit has found a new life of ubiquity across China to indicate when it’s time to leave any and all public spaces.