The hip-hop world has lost another legend.
On Thursday night, several outlets reported the death of 57-year-old Digital Underground member Shock G, birth name Gregory Jacobs. The details of his death have not been revealed; however, Digital Underground co-founder Chopmaster J confirmed the tragedy in an Instagram post.
“34 years ago almost to the day we had a wild idea: We can be a hip hop band and take on the world,” he captioned an old photo of Shock G. “Through it all the dream became a reality and the reality became a nightmare for some. And now he’s awaken from the fame. Long live Shock G, aka Humpty Hump. And Rest In Peace my Brotha, Greg Jacobs!!!”
Shock G’s father, Edward Racker, also confirmed his son’s death to TMZ, stating the cause of death remains unclear.
After moving to the Bay Area in the 1980s, Shock G and Chopmaster J formed Digital Underground with Kenny-K. The group dropped their debut studio album, Sex Packets, in 1990, and would go on to drop five more albums over the following 18 years, the most recent of which was 2008’s ...Cuz a D.U. Party Don’t Stop!
Although Digital Underground had a number of hits throughout their decades-long run, their most commercially successful record was “The Humpty Dance,” which debuted in summer 1989. Shock G lead the single as his alter-ego “Humpty Hump,” who was introduced in “Doowutchyalike.”
In addition to providing vocals for Digital Underground, Shock G was also a prolific producer who worked with some of the biggest names in music: Dr. Dre, KRS-One, Bobby Brown, Money-B, and 2Pac. The latter artist appeared on Digital Underground’s 1990 track “Same Song,” which reportedly marked his first-ever verse on a major-label release.
You can read a few tribute messages for the artist below.
