Digital Underground

小简介
大多数人知道Digital Underground是因为Tupac的关系,他曾经是Digital Underground的一名候补饶舌歌手和舞者,并参与制做了他们的This Is an EP Release,之后Tupac便单飞,开始书写他自己的传奇.
大多数人往往了解的也就这么多,其实抛开Tupac的名气不说,Digital Underground也是West Coast的一个伟大的团体.这个来自Oakland, CA的团体深受George Clinton的影响,因此从他门的音乐里可以明显的看到P-Funk的影子.团队的首脑Shock-G风趣幽默,他那标志性的大太阳镜和清微的口吃让人常常忍俊不禁.但就是他这样的风格却成就了一首经典The Humpty Dance.Shock-G的童年是在Bay Area, CA渡过的,他很早就在学校中开始学习音乐,并因此结识了希望成为一名RAPPER的Chopmaster J,两人在1987年建立了Digital Underground,不久就在地下发行了他们的第一支单曲Underwater Rimes,赢得了一致得了好评.在1989年他们正式与主流厂牌Tommy Boy签约.随着DJ Fuze,Jeremy "Jay-Z" Jackson,Money-B,PeeWee,Schmoovy-Schmoov等人的陆续加入,Digital Underground的力量不断壮大.
终于在1990年发行了首张专辑Sex Packets,专辑大获成功,并取得了白金销量.他们马上又在1991年发行了This Is an EP Release(Tupac参与其中).这张EP的大卖也为第二张专辑Sons of the P很好的预热,Sons of the P又成为一张经典,但很可惜没有超越更经典的Sex Packets.1993年他们又发行了The Body-Hat Syndrome,不过此时以Dr. Dre为代表的gangsta rap和G-funk已经成为HIP HOP圈的主流,The Body-Hat Syndrome销量极不理想,Digital Underground也因此短暂的沉寂.3年之后Digital Underground携Future Rhythm回归,但也只在榜单上停留了三周.1998年他们又发行了Who Got the Gravy? ,以往的光辉早就不在.但Digital Underground绝对是HIP HOP历史中值得铭记的名字.
by Stephen Thomas ErlewineWhile 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-Gs outrageous costumes and the whole bands parade of alter egos. Of all these alter egos, Shock-Gs 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 bands 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 Clintons 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 groups debut album, was released in the spring of 1990, and The Humpty Dance, which was rapped by Shock-Gs 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.