When the topic of Digital Underground comes up, there are two pop culture bulletpoints to mention: that nutty hit of theirs "The Humpty Dance", plus the fact that Tupac Shakur got his start with the group.
But to back up, the group was led by Shock G (real name Greg Jacobs), who grew up on the East Coast, but had settled in the Bay Area by the time he began assembling the Digital Underground. He was a super creative guy who came up with multiple alter egos he'd perform as, plus he'd even do the artwork for their early releases. Inspired by George Clinton funk and wanting to differentiate from more militant hip-hop groups of the time like N.W.A. and Public Enemy, he guided Digital Underground to be more of a weird, fun group.
"The Humpty Dance" is a silly, sex-charged novelty song that was hard to avoid back in 1990 and still gets plenty of play in modern times, with its sing-along lyrics, funky beat, and simple catchy groove. The rapper Humpty Hump turned out to be an alter ego of Shock G in a Groucho mask, a revelation that blew my young mind.
Tupac Shakur hadn't joined the group in time to be included in the MusiCard photos, but entered the fold in 1991. Shock G was somewhat of a mentor to Shakur and helped on some of his early recordings. 2Pac rose to be one of the hottest rappers of the mid 90s before being gunned down in 1996.
Digital Underground continued to record and perform over the years, with Shock G honing his music production skills, even working with Prince for a bit, and often performing with George Clinton and P-Funk. Sadly, Greg Jacobs fell victim to America's opioid crisis, dying of an accidental overdose in 2021, taking his personas Shock G and Humpty Hump with him.
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I figured we'd jump genres but stay "underground" for an act to pair with.
Velvet Underground formed in NYC during the mid 60s. They didn't have much success during their original run, with their avant-garde infused rock 'n roll and pointed lyrics being ahead of their time, but would go on to be hugely influential.
Andy Warhol was their manager for a while, adding a German singer/model named Nico as a vocalist for their debut album The Velvet Underground & Nico (1967). Featuring artwork of a banana on the cover, it was a flop at the time, but has come to be considered among the most significant albums of its era. The band continued on for a few more years (after splitting with Warhol and Nico), though personality clashes saw the band dissolve in the early 70s.
Frontman Lou Reed went on to a prolific solo career, landing a hit with "Walk on the Wild Side" in '72. Velvet Underground briefly regrouped a few times in the 90s, with the last hurrah being a performance at their Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction in 1996. Here's a link to the VU Wikipedia entry for further reading.
Let me know in the comments if you've got thoughts to share regarding either Undergrounds covered in this post, and thanks for stopping by.
