Shock G
The mastermind behind Digital Underground who blended funk, humor, and hip-hop, then launched 2Pac's career from the producer's chair.
1963–2021 (age 58)·American rapper·Birthday: August 25·Baby Boomers
Biography
Shock G, born Gregory Jacobs, was the manic creative engine of Digital Underground, a crew that injected Parliament-Funkadelic flair and outright silliness into late-80s hip-hop. As the group's producer, frontman, and conceptualist, he invented the alter ego Humpty Hump—a character with a fake nose and a lisp who became an unlikely rap superstar via the party anthem 'The Humpty Dance.' Behind the goggles and prosthetics, however, was a serious musician. His Oakland-based studio, The D.U. Headquarters, became a incubator; it was there he produced 2Pac's breakthrough single 'I Get Around' and his seminal debut album '2Pacalypse Now,' fundamentally shaping the future icon's sound. Shock G's career was a balancing act between the cartoonish and the profoundly influential, a musician who believed hip-hop could be both funky fun and artistically substantial. His sudden death in 2021 marked the loss of a pivotal figure in hip-hop's bridge from the Golden Age to the gangsta rap era.
Baby Boomers
1946–1964
The largest generation in history at the time. Shaped by postwar prosperity, the Vietnam War, the sexual revolution, and Watergate. They questioned every institution their parents built — then ran them.
Shock was born in 1963, placing them squarely in the Baby Boomers. The events that shaped this generation — postwar prosperity, civil rights, Vietnam, and the counterculture — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Shock Was Born
The biggest hits of 1963
#1 Movie
Cleopatra
Best Picture
Tom Jones
#1 TV Show
Beverly Hillbillies
Shock's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1963Born
JFK assassinated in Dallas; Martin Luther King's 'I Have a Dream' speech
Gas: $0.31/galHome: $13,100Min wage: $1.25/hrPresident: Lyndon B. Johnson"Sugar Shack" — Jimmy Gilmer & The FireballsBest Picture: Tom Jones
1968Started school
Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert Kennedy assassinated
Gas: $0.34/galHome: $14,950Min wage: $1.60/hrPresident: Lyndon B. Johnson"Hey Jude" — The BeatlesBest Picture: Oliver!
1976Became a teenager
Apple Computer founded; US bicentennial
Gas: $0.59/galHome: $29,300Min wage: $2.30/hrPresident: Gerald Ford"Silly Love Songs" — WingsBest Picture: Rocky
1979Could drive
Iran hostage crisis begins; Three Mile Island accident
Gas: $0.86/galHome: $37,900Min wage: $2.90/hrPresident: Jimmy Carter"My Sharona" — The KnackBest Picture: Kramer vs. Kramer
1981Could vote
MTV launches; first Space Shuttle flight; AIDS identified
Gas: $1.31/galHome: $52,300Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: Ronald Reagan"Bette Davis Eyes" — Kim CarnesBest Picture: Chariots of Fire
1984Turned 21
Apple Macintosh introduced
Gas: $1.13/galHome: $59,800Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: Ronald Reagan"When Doves Cry" — PrinceBest Picture: Amadeus
1993Turned 30
European Union officially established
Gas: $1.11/galHome: $86,600Min wage: $4.25/hrPresident: Bill Clinton"I Will Always Love You" — Whitney HoustonBest Picture: Schindler's List
2003Turned 40
US invades Iraq; Human Genome Project completed
Gas: $1.59/galHome: $146,000Min wage: $5.15/hrPresident: George W. Bush"In Da Club" — 50 CentBest Picture: The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
2013Turned 50
Edward Snowden reveals NSA surveillance programs
Gas: $3.53/galHome: $152,800Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Barack Obama"Thrift Shop" — Macklemore & Ryan LewisBest Picture: 12 Years a Slave
2021Died at 58
January 6 Capitol breach; COVID vaccines roll out globally
Gas: $3.01/galHome: $298,900Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Joe Biden"Levitating" — Dua LipaBest Picture: CODA
Key Achievements
- Produced and performed on Digital Underground's platinum single 'The Humpty Dance' in 1990.
- Produced 2Pac's breakthrough hit 'I Get Around' and co-produced his debut album '2Pacalypse Now'.
- Led Digital Underground to sell over 3.5 million albums worldwide with their funk-infused hip-hop.
- Pioneered the use of alter egos and theatrical personas in hip-hop performance.
Did You Know?
He was a skilled pianist and multi-instrumentalist who originally studied jazz and classical music.
The Humpty Hump character's distinctive voice was partly inspired by the comedian Martin Lawrence.
He worked as a music journalist for 'URB' magazine early in his career.
Digital Underground's 1990 album 'Sex Packets' was a concept record based on a fictional aphrodisiac drug.
“I'm not a clown, the clown is just a part I play. I'm more of a Frank Zappa type.”
