TEAM RNS PRESENTS

ARTIST: Digital Underground

TITLE: Playwutchyalike: The Best of

LABEL: Rhino / Tommy Boy / TNT

RIPPER: The Nose Job

1  hr 17min total-112.0mb

RELEASE DATE: 2003-06-00
RIP DATE: 2003-06-08

01 Same Song (Edit)               3:57
02 The Way We Swing               6:50
03 Underwater Rimes (Remix)       4:24
04 The Humpty Dance               6:31
05 Freaks of the Industry         5:40
06 Doowutchyalike                 4:45

09 Nuttin' Nis Funky              9:43
10 Heartbeat Props                7:29
11 No Nose Job                    4:59
12 Kiss You Back                  3:41
13 Wusup With the Luv (Single     4:35

14 We Got More (With the Luniz)   3:08

While hip-hop was consumed by the
hardcore, noisy political rap of Public
Enemy and the gangsta rap of N.W.A.,
Digital Underground sneaked out of
Oakland with their bizarre, funky
homage to Parliament-Funkadelic.
Digital Underground built most of their
music from P-Funk samples and developed
a similarly weird sense of style and
humor, highlighted by Shock-G's
outrageous costumes and the whole
band's parade of alter egos. Of all
these alter egos, Shock-G's Humpty Hump  a
ridiculous comical figure with a Groucho
Marx nose and glasses and a goofy,
stuttering voice  was the most famous,
especially since he was immortalized on
their breakthrough single, "The Humpty
Dance." Over the course of their career,
Digital Underground have featured a
numerous members, but throughout it
all, Shock-G has remained at their core,
developing the band's sound and style,
which they had from the outset, as their
1990 debut, Sex Packets, proved. Sex
Packets was an instant hit, thanks the
loopy single "The Humpty Dance," and
while they never scaled such commercial
heights ever again, their role in
popularizing George Clinton's elastic
funk made them one of the most
important hip-hop groups of their era.
Shock-G (born Gregory E. Jacobs, August
25, 1963) spent most of his childhood
moving around the East Coast with his
family, eventually settling in the Bay
Area of California. He dropped out of
high school in the late '70s and spent
several years pursuing a life of crime
before eventually finishing his degree
and going to college to study music.
Along with Chopmaster J, Shock-G formed
Digital Underground in 1987, and the duo
released a single, "Underwater Rimes,"
that year, which went to number one in
the Netherlands. In 1989, the group
signed with Tommy Boy, and that summer
"Doowutchyalike" became an underground
hit. By that time, Digital Underground
had expanded significantly, featuring DJ
Fuze, Money-B (born Ron Brooks), and
Schmoovy-Schmoov (born Earl Cook). 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 Humpty Hump,
climbed all the way to number 11 on the
pop charts, peaking at number seven 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.

Digital Underground followed Sex
Packets in early 1991 with This Is an
EP Release, their first recording to
feature rapper Tupac Shakur. The EP went
gold and set the stage for their second
album, Sons of the P, which was released
that fall. On the strength of the gold
single "Kiss You Back," Sons of the P
also went gold, but it received criticism
for its similarity to Sex Packets. By
the time Digital Underground delivered
their third album, The Body-Hat
Syndrome in late 1993, hip-hop had
become dominated by gangsta rap,
particularly the drawling G-funk of Dr.
Dre, which ironically was heavily
indebted to Clinton. Consequently,
their fan base diminished significantly,
and The Body-Hat Syndrome disappeared
shortly after its release. Nearly three
years later, Digital Underground
returned with Future Rhythm, which
spent a mere three weeks on the charts.
Who Got the Gravy? followed in 1998.