The world of rap will have to deal with yet another blow after news emerged that Shock-G was found dead in a hotel room in Tampa on the 22nd of April. The news was confirmed by his father Edward Racker. Gregory Edward Jacobs, known as Shock G, the former member of the group Digital Underground was only 57-years old and his death comes only 2 weeks after another legend passed away – DMX. The cause of his untimely death is still uncertain since there were no obvious signs of violence. The authorities confirmed that an autopsy will be carried out.
Shock-G was not only well known for his work with Digital Underground, but he also earned plaudits for his producer work with non-other than Tupac himself. Interestingly enough, it was exactly Shock-G who introduced Shakur to the hip-hop scene, producing his very first album – “2Pacalypse Now”.
The album’s second single, “The Humpty Dance,” found huge commercial success, reaching No. 11 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The song’s music video also featured a young Tupac Shakur, who would go on to make his recording debut on Digital Underground’s 1991 single “Same Song.”
Most of you probably remember Shock from the music video of one of Digital Underground’s most famous songs – “The Humpty Dance”. G was the lead singer for the group and in the catchy video itself he gets into the role of his alter ego – “Humpty Hump”.
Shock was born and raised on the East Coast, but eventually moved to Oakland, where later in the 80’s he’d be one of the founding members of Digital Underground, along with Kenneth Water and Chopmaster J. Tupac isn’t the only legendary artist Shock collaborated with, however, as he also did some producers work for the likes of Dr. Dre, Prince and many more. Not a bad list of greats, with whom he worked with.
2Pac as his star ⭐️ was rising telling me about how Shock G, R.I.P.OWER made it happen for him on the track, “Same Song”. Too many gone way too soon. pic.twitter.com/rvDPI5Gj0D
— FAB 5 FREDDY (@FABNEWYORK) April 23, 2021
Details over the reason for Shock’s death will be announced over the next few days, but one thing is certain – rap music has lost yet another icon. RIP.
