Shock G, best known for Digital Underground’s hit song “The Humpty Dance,” is dead.
He was 57.
According to his father, Shock was found dead Thursday in a hotel room in Tampa.
A cause of death has not been revealed, but there were no signs of trauma.
via Stereo Gum:
Shock G, real name Gregory Jacobs, started Digital Underground with Chopmaster J after he relocated to the Bay Area in 1987 after growing up on the East Coast, mostly in Florida and New York City. Digital Underground’s early singles, including “Underwater Rimes” and “Doowutchyalike,” were underground hits, built on samples of Parliament-Funkadelic and other ’70s funk songs.
They released their debut album, Sex Packets, in 1990, which featured the group’s first bonafide hit, “The Humpty Dance,” on which Shock G rapped as his alter ego Humpty Hump. “The Humpty Dance” topped Billboard‘s rap singles chart and made it to #11 on the Hot 100. The music video for “Humpty Dance” features a young Tupac Shakur. Tupac would soon have his recording debut on Digital Underground’s 1991 single “Same Song.”
Shock G would go on to co-produce Tupac’s debut album 2Pacalypse Now and his 1993 breakthrough single “I Get Around,” which Shock G was also a featured guest on. Over the years, Shock G also worked with Prince, Dr. Dre, Luniz, Murs, KRS-One, and more. Digital Underground continued putting out albums and touring through the mid-’00s — their final album was 2008’s ..Cuz a D.U. Party Don’t Stop!. Shock G also put out a solo album, Fear Of A Mixed Planet, in 2004.
RIP.
