Digital Underground

Jacobs spent most of his youth in Tampa, Florida and New York City. Founded in 1987, the group's image was originally more militant, and was intended to be a tribute to social activists The Black Panthers. However, when groups like Public Enemy and N.W.A rose to prominence, Jacobs chose to take the image in a more whimsical and upbeat direction.

Sex Packets, the group's debut album, was released in early 1990 following the success of their two previous singles, which were included on the album. "Doowutchyalike," a moderate club hit, debuted the previous year, followed in January by the more successful song "The Humpty Dance", a humorous dance number that reached #11 on the Billboard Hot 100, #7 on the R&B charts, and #1 on the Billboard Rap Singles chart. It was rapped by Shock G's alter ego Humpty Hump, and featured a drum track with over 50 confirmed usages in other songs. Sex Packets features P-Funk samples, jazz-influenced interludes, and a combination of samples and live instrumentation, earning it positive reviews and platinum sales.

This Is an EP Release is the RIAA Gold certified second Digital Underground release, from which two songs, "Tie the Knot" and "Same Song" were featured in the film Nothing But Trouble starring Dan Aykroyd, Chevy Chase, Demi Moore, and John Candy. "Tie The Knot," features jazzy piano tracks and a comedic interpretation of "Bridal Chorus". "Same Song" has an organ solo and improvised organ bits throughout the song, making it one of hip hop's first singles to successfully integrate live instrumentation with music samples. Tupac Shakur made his debut on the latter song and portrayed an African king in the video. Tupac also can be heard joking around on the remixed version of "The Way We Swing" as a background vocalist, adding humorous ad-libs between the verses. Tupac first began to appear on stage with the group as one of its dancers and "hype men".

The group's second full album featured two singles, "No Nose Job" and "Kiss You Back", the latter of which featured multi-layered choruses and background vocals sung by Boni Boyer, who briefly worked with Digital Underground shortly after her stint with Prince's Sign of the Times/Love Sexy band.{{Cite news|url= http://www.discomusic.com/people-more/1552_0_11_0_C/|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20031028204648/http://www.discomusic.com/people-more/1552_0_11_0_C/|url-status= dead|archive-date= October 28, 2003|title= Boni Boyer (Bonita Louisa Boyer)|author= Bernard Lopez|publisher= DiscoMusic.com|date= December 4, 1996}} Despite the fact that a choir of singers were portrayed in the video, the actual studio singing was exclusively Boni on all tracks, excluding the male voices.{{cite web|url=http://www.discogs.com/artist/Boni+Boyer |title=Boni Boyer - Bio, CDs and Vinyl at Discogs |publisher=Discogs.com |access-date=August 11, 2010}} It has been mistakenly reported that "Kiss You Back" was co-written and co-performed by George Clinton,{{cite web|url=http://www.answers.com/topic/digital-underground |title=Digital Underground: Information from |publisher=Answers.com |access-date=August 11, 2010}} but his name appears in the writers credit due to a sample of "(Not Just) Knee Deep" by Funkadelic being used. He did, however, actively participate in the writing and recording of the title track "Sons of the P", which he also contributed vocals to, and which marked one of the earliest studio guest appearances by Clinton on a Hip Hop release,{{cite web|last=Huff |first=Quentin B. |url=http://www.popmatters.com/pm/column/we-dont-die-we-multiply-heartbeat-props |title=We Don't Die, We Multiply: Heartbeat Props < PopMatters |publisher=Popmatters.com |access-date=August 11, 2010}} which is preceded only by Kurtis Blow's "Magilla Gorilla" released in 1986.{{cite web |url=http://www.tunegenie.com/bio/MN0000116388/kurtis-blow/ |title=Artist Info: Kurtis Blow |publisher=Tunegenie.com |date=August 9, 1959 |access-date=August 11, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120630093646/http://www.tunegenie.com/bio/MN0000116388/kurtis-blow/ |archive-date=June 30, 2012 }} Both the album and the "Kiss You Back" single were each certified Gold by the RIAA.

With the leading single "The Return of the Crazy One," and its accompanying X-rated video, which was reworked for public consumption, gaining positive feedback, the rest of The Body-Hat Syndrome 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 a 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, while lead rappers Saafir and Clee were added to the band's lineup. This album also features "The Humpty Dance Awards", the group's humorous shout-out to the artists who sampled the Humpty Dance prior to 1993.

Future Rhythm, the group's fourth full album, would be their first independent release, including two songs that were featured in the Wayans brothers' film Don't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood: "Food Fight", featuring Del tha Funkee Homosapien, and "We Got More" with Luniz. The album also contains an early performance from rapper Sly Boogy, while he was still a member of the Black Spooks, who appeared on the song "Fool Get a Clue."{{cite web|url=http://www.discogs.com/artist/Black+Spooks |title=Black Spooks - Bio, CDs and Vinyl at Discogs |publisher=Discogs.com |access-date=August 11, 2010}}

In 1998, eight years after the group's first album, Digital Underground released Who Got the Gravy?, which reached #91 on the Top 200 R&B/Hip-Hop Albums charts. Digital Underground being a West Coast act, the album intentionally featured several East Coast rappers at a time when the East vs. West rivalry was active, in an attempt to both ignore and ridicule it. The guests included New York City natives Big Pun, Biz Markie and KRS-One, and introduced Whuteva and Stylez, while also introducing west coast bay area newcomers Esinchill and female emcee Mystic.

Digital Underground's final studio album, ..Cuz a D.U. Party Don't Stop!, was released on May 20, 2008, although a substantial portion of it was recorded at a live show from 2005. Shortly before its release, the group embarked on an indefinite hiatus. Money-B has stated that Shock G expressed interest in writing a book and exploring music that the latter would deem unfit for the Digital Underground name.[http://blogcritics.org/music/article/interview-with-digital-undergrounds-money-b/ Interview with Digital Underground's Money-B] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120916085024/http://blogcritics.org/music/article/interview-with-digital-undergrounds-money-b/ |date=September 16, 2012 }} blogcritics.org. July 31, 2009. Retrieved on 2010-11-08.

On May 18, 2010, The Greenlight EP was released, which features some previously unreleased Digital Underground tracks.[http://mvremix.com/urban_blogs/2010/04/23/digital-underground-the-greenlight-ep-features-previously-unreleased-tracks-and-releases-may-18th/ Digital Underground – The Greenlight EP features previously unreleased tracks, and releases May 18th] mvremix.com. April 23, 2010. Retrieved on 2011-01-16.

• Sex Packets (1990) US #24, R&B #8; UK # 59
• Sons of the P (1991) US #44, R&B #23
• The Body-Hat Syndrome (1993) US #79, R&B #16
• Future Rhythm (1996) US #113, R&B #26
• Who Got the Gravy? (1998) R&B #91
• ..Cuz a D.U. Party Don't Stop! (2008)

• This Is an EP Release a.k.a. Same Song (1991) US #29, R&B #7, UK #52
• The Greenlight EP (2010)

• Nothing But Trouble (1991)
• Don't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood (1996)
• Tupac: Resurrection (2003)

• Yo! Rap Hits (1991)
• ''Oakland Soul: The Bay Area Soundtrack' (1997)
• No Nose Job: The Legend of Digital Underground (2002)
• The Lost Files (1999)
• 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)

• "Doowutchyalike" (1989)
• "The Humpty Dance" (1990)
• "Doowutchyalike" (video remix) (1990)
• "Same Song" (1991)
• "Kiss You Back" (1991)
• "No Nose Job" (1992)
• "Wussup Wit the Luv" (1993)
• "Return of the Crazy One" (1994)
• "Oregano Flow" (1996)
• "Walk Real Kool" (1996)
• "Wind Me Up" (1998)

• Tupac Shakur: Thug Angel: The Life of an Outlaw (2000)
• Tupac: Resurrection (2003)
• Digital Underground: Raw and Uncut (2004)
• One Nation Under a Groove (2005)

{{Reflist}}

• [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCW3sObdhHvHQ8Q3rFesS98Q/videos Money-B and Young Hump of Digital Underground] on YouTube

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{{Digital Underground}}

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Category:1987 establishments in California

Category:2008 disestablishments in California

Category:Tupac Shakur

Category:Musical groups from Oakland, California

Category:African-American musical groups

Category:Musical groups established in 1987

Category:Musical groups disestablished in 2008

Category:Hip-hop groups from California

Category:Tommy Boy Records artists

Category:Bands with fictional stage personas

Category:Alternative hip-hop groups

Category:West Coast hip-hop groups

Category:Hip-hop collectives