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Digital Underground Wiki Information
Digital Underground
was an alternative rap group from Oakland, California. They could also have been accurately defined as a "project" or "music family" rather than a group as their personnel consistently changed and rotated with each new album & tour.
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DIGITAL UNDERGROUND TICKETS
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Background
The crew's leader was Greg “ Shock G” Jacobs (also known as Humpty Hump), who originally formed the group in 1987 with Jimi Dright of Berkeley, California (also known as Chopmaster J), and Tampa Hip-Hop radio deejay Kenneth Waters(also known as Kenny-K)
Jacobs spent most of his youth in New York City and central Florida. Heavily influenced by the various Funk bands of the 1970s, Digital Underground sampled their music frequently, which quickly became a defining element of West Coast rap. Their ‘alternative’ status owes much to their unabashedly comical and often spaced-out image, which lay in contrast to the gangster rap that most west coast acts focused on. In the very beginning, the group's image was more militant, and was intended to be a tribute to social activists The Black Panthers, but when Public Enemy became a prominent band, Jacobs chose to take the image in a more whimsical direction; that of an updated Parliament-Funkadelic for the hip-hop audience. Jacobs designed detailed album covers and cartoon-laced liner notes, in homage to Parliament-Funkadelic album designs. Digital Underground is also notable for launching the career of member Tupac Shakur, as well as spinning off many side projects and solo acts, including Raw Fusion, Saafir, and female artist Mystic.
The group appeared "live band style" in the movie Nothing but Trouble
, directed by Dan Aykroyd.
Following the release of Doowutchyalike
in 1989, Digital Underground toured every single year for 20 years straight, thousands of live shows, including Europe, Australia, Japan, Canada, and a near non-stop U.S. schedule. While the group's origins lay mostly in Oakland and Berkeley, various characters & voices from around the U.S. graced the albums over the years, with Shock G, Money-B, and Humpty Hump being the only names to appear on every album. Other recurring key contributors were David Elliot (DJ Fuze), and deejay/producer Jeremy Jackson (J-Beats, formally DJ-JZ), who both assisted Jacobs in developing the sound.
After twenty years of tour dates, Shock G announced that the group would officially disband in March 2008. Shortly after that announcement was made, the group also confirmed that their May 2008 album ..Cuz A d.u. Party Don't Stop!
would be their last studio effort.
Albums
- Sex Packets
, the group's debut album, was released in the spring of 1990 and "The Humpty Dance", which was rapped by Shock G's alter ego Edward Ellington "Humpty-Hump" Humphrey III, climbed all the way to #11 on the pop charts, peaking at #7 on the R&B charts. With its P-Funk samples, jazzy interludes, and innovative amalgam of samples and live instrumentation, Sex Packets
received positive reviews and went platinum by the end of the year.
- This is an EP Release
is the RIAA Gold certified second Digital Underground release, from which two songs were featured in the film "Nothin But Trouble" starring Dan Akroyd, Chevy Chase, Demi Moore, and John Candy. This is also a Hip Hop landmark for rap star, Tupac Shakur, who made his debut on the song "Same Song." The song also showcased an extensive organ solo, and featured the organ freely throughout the entire song, making it one of the first hip-hop singles to successfully integrate live instrumentation with samples.
- D.U.'s third album Sons of the P
featured two hit singles, "Kiss You Back" (which was co-written by George Clinton) and "No Nose Job". The album also marked the first studio guest appearance by Clinton on a Hip Hop release with his co-lead vocals on the title track. Both the album and the single "Kiss You Back" were each certified Gold by the RIAA.
- Rebounding, in the charts anyway, from the relative downturn of "Sons.. ", the fourth album The Body-Hat Syndrome
found the group continuing to cultivate its own brand of P-Funk culture, stuffing what had been the group's first year of silence with a fresh batch of funk-infused rap. With the edgy grind of the leading single, "The Return of the Crazy One," and its accompanying X-rated video (reworked for public consumption) boosting the band back into the spotlight, the rest of the album unfurled to less than outstanding crossover commercial acclaim. The album's second single, an anti-racism cultural awareness politico called "Wussup Wit the Luv," featured an inspired solo from Funkadelic guitarist Michael Hampton, as well as a verse and video appearance from Tupac Shakur. This would be the last time Tupac appeared on any Digital Underground release.
- Future Rhythm
, the groups fifth album, spawned two songs that were featured in the Wayans brother's film "Don't be a Menace While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood"; "Food Fight", which featured Humpty Hump and Del tha Funkee Homosapien trading verses, and "We Got More" featuring the Luniz, which was also featured twice on the films' soundtrack. The album also showcases the debut performance from rapper Sly Boogy while still a member of the Black Spooks, who appeared coincidentally on a song called "Future Rhythm" the album's title-track.
- In 1999, ten years after the groups first release, they released Who Got The Gravy?
and despite having no singles, it reached #91 on the Top 200 R&B/Hip-Hop Albums charts. The album intentionally featured several east coast rappers at a time when the east vs. west rivalry was at an all-time high, in an attempt to both ignore and ridicule it. The guests included Big Pun, Biz Markie, and KRS One, all well known New York City natives, and introduced west coast bay area newcomers Esinchill and female emcee Mystic.
- Digital Underground's final studio album was released on May 20, 2008,
..Cuz A D.U. Party Don't Stop
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, although a substantial portion of it was recorded at a live show from 2005. Shortly before it's release the group disbanded as Shock expressed interest in "moving on to explore other ventures." Currently, Shock G is getting ready to play several dates around the US [1] beginning with a July 24 show at the Phoenix Theater in Petaluma, California. [2]
Discography
Albums
- Sex Packets
(1990)
- This Is An EP Release
(1991)
- Sons Of The P
(1991)
- The Body-Hat Syndrome
(1993)
- Future Rhythm
(1996)
- Who Got The Gravy?
(1998)
- The Lost Files
(1999)
- ''..Cuz A D.U. Party Don't Stop
|'' (2008)
Soundtracks
- Nothing But Trouble (soundtrack) (1991)
- Don't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood (1996)
- Tupac: Resurrection (2003)
Compilations
- Oakland Soul: The Bay Area Soundtrack (1997)
- No Nose Job: The Legend of Digital Underground (2002)
- Outrageous Rap (2002)
- Playwutchyalike: The Best of Digital Underground (2003)
- Rhino Hi-Five: Digital Underground (2005)
- Songs You Know: Ol' Skool Hip Hop (2007)
- Westside Bugg Presents... The Best of The West (2008)
Videos
- "Doowutchyalike" (1989)
- "The Humpty Dance" (1990)
- "Doowutchyalike" (video remix) (1990)
- "Same Song" (1991)
- "Kiss You Back" (1991)
- "No Nose Job" (1992)
- "Return of the Crazy One" (1993)
- "Wussup Wit the Luv" (1994)
- "Oregano Flow" (1996)
- "Walk Real Kool" (1996)
- "Wind Me Up" (1998)
DVDs
- Digital Underground: Raw and Uncut (2004)
- Thug Angel: The Life of an Outlaw (2000)
- Tupac: Resurrection (2003)
- One Nation Under a Groove (2005)
References
- Shock G Myspace http://www.myspace.com/therealshockg
- Phoenix Theater Calender http://www.thephoenixtheater.com/calendar/
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