Shock G, frontman for hip-hop group Digital Underground, dies at 57
The First Art Newspaper on the Net    Established in 1996 Tuesday, November 12, 2024


Shock G, frontman for hip-hop group Digital Underground, dies at 57
Digital Underground had a string of hits in the early 1990s.

by Azi Paybarah



NEW YORK (NYT NEWS SERVICE).- Gregory Edward Jacobs, known as Shock G, the frontman for the influential hip-hop group Digital Underground, was found dead on Thursday at a hotel in Tampa, Florida. He was 57.

His death was confirmed by the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office, which did not provide a cause of death.

Digital Underground had a string of hits in the early 1990s and introduced its audience to a little-known rapper named Tupac Shakur. The group’s name sounded like “a band of outlaws from a cyberpunk novel,” with a sound that “straddles the line between reality and fantasy, between silliness and social commentary,” The New York Times wrote in 1991. “Digital Underground is where Parliament left off,” Shock G said at the time, referring to the groundbreaking George Clinton band.

Shock G had been shuttling from his home in Tampa to Northern California in 1987 when the group made a self-released single, “Underwater Rimes.” That helped get the attention of Tommy Boy Records, which released Digital Underground’s first album, “Sex Packets.” It sold 1 million copies and featured the hit single “The Humpty Dance.”

The album stood out for melding funk and jazz riffs on top of catchy drumbeats. And with Shock G’s lanky frame and toothy grin, the group had a visual aesthetic ripe for the dawn of the music video generation. Shock G, who produced music in addition to rapping, was known for spinning different personas, depending on his surroundings.

In the video for “The Humpty Dance,” Shock G took on the persona of Humpty Hump, the title character, donning a pair of dark-rimmed glasses with an obviously fake nose, a fur hat and tie. “I’m sick wit dis, straight gangsta mack / But sometimes I get ridiculous,” he raps on the song. “I’ll eat up all your crackers and your licorice / Hey yo fat girl, come here — are ya ticklish?” Part of the hook for the song: “Do the Humpty Hump, come on and do the Humpty Hump.”

Shock G can be seen in a similar outfit, both goofy and suave, in the video for the group’s song, “Doowutchyalike,” where he encouraged listeners to let loose and enjoy themselves as a saxophone gently riffs over the beat.

Shock G’s most lasting impact on hip-hop and music may have come when the group released the hit “Same Song,” which was Shakur’s “first vocal appearance on a song,” according to Genius.com. Shock G, who appears first on the song, once again cast himself as the good-time host. “I came for the party to get naughty, get my rocks on / Eat popcorn, watch you move your body to the pop song.”




When it was Shakur’s turn, he quickly unleashed a thoughtful verse about the dangers of success: “Get some fame, people change.”

Shakur had auditioned for Shock G and was hired to be a member of the group’s road crew. He eventually performed and recorded with Digital Underground, appearing on the group’s “This Is an EP Release” (Tommy Boy), and “Sons of the P” (Tommy Boy), which was nominated for a Grammy Award.

In 1991, Shakur started a solo recording career with the album “2Pacalypse Now” (Interscope), which sold half a million copies. It included two modest hits, “Trapped” and “Brenda’s Got a Baby,” a song about an unwed teenage mother’s plight. Before the album was released, he also started a career as a movie actor, playing the violent, unpredictable Bishop in the Ernest Dickerson film “Juice.”

By 1993, Shakur was a rising star. Shock G and another Digital Underground member, Money B, appeared on Shakur’s album, helping create his first major hit, “I Get Around,” a poolside anthem with scantily clad women and a laid-back beat. But now, it was Shock G, sporting an Afro and oversized purple T-shirt, with the message: “Now you can tell from my everyday fits I ain’t rich / So cease and desist with them tricks / I’m just another Black man caught up in the mix / Tryna make a dollar out of 15 cents.”

Shock G’s musical instincts were forged by a childhood spent moving around the country. His mother worked as a television producer and his father worked as an executive in computer management. After the couple divorced, “I spent my biggest chunk of time in Tampa but I also lived in New York, Philly and California,” Shock G had told The Times. “I have always been into music and played in bands starting when I was 10 or 11.”

His grandmother, Gloria Ali, was a pianist and cabaret singer in Harlem in the 1950s. She taught him how to play “Round Midnight” on the piano. Then, as hip-hop began to gain traction in New York in the late 1970s, Shock G, who was living there at the time, recalled, “All of my friends and I sold our instruments to buy mixers and turntables.”

Complete information on survivors was not immediately available.

Shock G saw music as expansive, inclusive and experimental. “Funk can be rock, funk can be jazz and funk can be soul,” he told The Times. “Most people have a checklist of what makes a good pop song: it has to be three minutes long, it must have a repeatable chorus and it must have a catchy hook. That’s what makes music stale. We say ‘Do what feels good.’ If you like it for three minutes, then you’ll love it for 30.”

© 2021 The New York Times Company










Today's News

April 24, 2021

St George comes home: World-famous altarpiece resplendent

Illuminated Manuscripts and Early Printed Books from the Collection of Elaine and Alexandre Rosenberg totals $12,405,625

Allon Schoener, 95, dies; Curator caught in furor over 'Harlem' show

'Creative' genes gave Homo sapiens edge over Neanderthals: study

Van Gogh's Landscape Le Pont de Trinquetaille featured in Christie's 20th Century Evening Sale

Christie's to offer the collection of Francis Gross

Exhibition presents for the first time Sean Scully's new Mirroring series

Rachel Kushner on what she takes from art (and artists)

She's Marianne Faithfull, damn it. And she's (thankfully) still here.

Zhao 'excited' for Oscars as 'Nomadland' wins at Spirit Awards

Al Young, poet with a musical bent, is dead at 81

Austria aims to reopen restaurants, hotels by mid-May

Exhibition demonstrates the incredible range and versatility that wood offers

Claire Oliver Gallery opens debut exhibition by artist Gio Swaby

Ruby Leyi Yang presents "Narcissist Echo" exhibition in Santa Monica

Bath Preservation Trust acquires Beckford's Tower paddocks and grotto

Tiffany Lily Window to shine at Heritage Auctions

Take it to the Banksy: Art world's revered prankster and provocateur leads Heritage Auctions event

Smithsonian American Art Museum reopens May 14

Shock G, frontman for hip-hop group Digital Underground, dies at 57

National Gallery of Denmark exhibits Anne Imhof's first major film-based work to date

rodolphe janssen opens an exhibition of works by Lisa Vlaemminck

Bollywood composer Shravan Rathod dies after Covid diagnosis

Blurring The Line between Jewelry Design And Art

The Things to Consider While buying Cameras

Why Shop for Handmade Buddha Statues

Is classically Abby Ben Shapiro's sister?




Museums, Exhibits, Artists, Milestones, Digital Art, Architecture, Photography,
Photographers, Special Photos, Special Reports, Featured Stories, Auctions, Art Fairs,
Anecdotes, Art Quiz, Education, Mythology, 3D Images, Last Week, .

 



Founder:
Ignacio Villarreal
(1941 - 2019)
Editor & Publisher: Jose Villarreal
Art Director: Juan José Sepúlveda Ramírez
Writer: Ofelia Zurbia Betancourt

Attorneys
Truck Accident Attorneys
Accident Attorneys
Holistic Dentist
Abogado de accidentes
สล็อต
สล็อตเว็บตรง

Royalville Communications, Inc
produces:

ignaciovillarreal.org juncodelavega.com facundocabral-elfinal.org
Founder's Site. Hommage
to a Mexican poet.
Hommage
       

The First Art Newspaper on the Net. The Best Versions Of Ave Maria Song Junco de la Vega Site Ignacio Villarreal Site Parroquia Natividad del Señor
Tell a Friend
Dear User, please complete the form below in order to recommend the Artdaily newsletter to someone you know.
Please complete all fields marked *.
Sending Mail
Sending Successful