Digital Underground Shock G formed
Digital Underground along with
Chopmaster J and Kenneth Waters (also known as Kenny-K) in Oakland, California. After around 15 months of unsuccessful negotiations with various small record companies, in 1988 the trio released a
12-inch single on Macola Records. It featured "Your Life's a Cartoon", with "Underwater Rimes" as the B-side. Both songs were penned, produced, and performed by Jacobs, who sketched the cartoonish cover illustrations. The record included the logo for Digital Underground's startup label, TNT, as well as Macola's logo. TNT was founded by Tupac Shakur's management CEO Atron Gregory. In 1989, the group signed with
Tommy Boy Records and released "
Doowutchyalike", receiving minimal radio airplay but becoming an underground hit. Its video was more successful, reaching number 40 on the MTV's top 100 videos of the year. "Doowutchyalike" paved the way for Digital Underground's debut studio album
Sex Packets and the highest-charting song of their career "
The Humpty Dance", both released in early 1990, and each achieving platinum sales certifications by the
Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). The latter was rapped by Humpty Hump, the most flamboyant of Shock G's several
alter egos. By that time, Digital Underground had expanded significantly, with
DJ Fuze,
Money-B, and Schmoovy-Schmoov joining the group, and with Ramone "Pee Wee" Gooden and Tupac Shakur joining by 1991.
Other identities Jacobs performed under many aliases he developed over his career, resulting in characters that were maintained with such reality that they were believed to be separate people by both fans and industry insiders. While he rapped in his normal voice as Shock G, as "Humpty Hump" he adopted a more nasal sound as part of this character's exaggerated buffoon persona that included garish clothes and
Groucho glasses with a large, rubber nose attached. A fictional biography was included in Digital Underground's press kit stating that Humpty Hump's real name was Edward Ellington Humphrey III, and he wore the Groucho glasses after burning his nose in a
deep fryer accident. Jacobs made public appearances as one person or the other, but at live shows and video shoots he would use a stand-in or camera tricks to maintain the illusion. Jacobs sometimes performed as other characters including MC Blowfish, Icey-Mike, The Computer Woman, ButtaFly, and Peanut Hakeem.
Television and film work Shock G's TV appearances include ''
It's Showtime at the Apollo in 1992, several The Arsenio Hall Show performances between 1990 and 1994, and several live MTV performances, including MTV Spring Break 1990 in Daytona Beach, Yo! MTV Raps (performing live with Ed Lover and Doctor Dré) in 1991, Club MTV Live (with Downtown Julie Brown) in 1992, and "MTV Jams" in 1994. Most of these consisted of music performances with either Digital Underground or 2Pac; however, on an episode of the 1991 sitcom Drexell's Class'', Jacobs played a small role as a furnace repairman. In the show's storyline, the title character, Otis Drexell, insists that the furnace repairman looks exactly like Humpty Hump, but neither he nor his coworker (
Jason Priestley) have heard of any such hip-hop artist, especially not one with such a ridiculous name. The episode ends with a live performance of Digital Underground's "No Nose Job" on a cruise ship full of
Sports Illustrated swimsuit models, which is presented as a scene from one of Drexell's dreams. With his fellow Digital Underground group members, Jacobs appeared in the
Dan Aykroyd–directed 1991 comedy film
Nothing But Trouble appearing as both Shock G and Humpty Hump. The group (including Tupac Shakur) made a cameo music performance, as well as played a small role in the film as themselves. Jacobs has appeared in a handful of music documentaries, including
Thug Angel: Life of an Outlaw (2000) about Tupac Shakur, and
Parliament Funkadelic: One Nation Under a Groove (2005) about George Clinton & P-Funk, both of which received heavy TV rotation, and both of which relied heavily on Jacobs' commentary.
Production, solo work, and miscellaneous In addition to his work with Digital Underground, Shock G found moderate success as a solo artist and music producer. In 1993, Shock G produced Tupac Shakur's breakthrough platinum single "I Get Around", as well as guest starred on the single and music video, and went on to produce Tupac's "So Many Tears" from his multi-platinum 1995 album
Me Against the World. Tupac's first published work was while still a member of Digital Underground when he appeared on the 1991 song and video "Same Song", which also appeared in the
Chevy Chase, Dan Aykroyd and
Demi Moore film
Nothing But Trouble. Shock co-produced Tupac's debut album
2Pacalypse Now. Shock G appeared as a producer and guest artist on fellow
Oakland-based rap group
The Luniz' platinum debut release
Operation Stackola in 1995, also appearing as a guest emcee in the "
I Got 5 on It (Bay Ballas Remix)" and video. In 1996 the
Wayans brothers' film ''
Don't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood features the Shock G song "We Got More". The song features Oakland rappers Luniz and is in three separate scenes of the film. It is featured in two places on the soundtrack. In 1998, Prince included the Shock G-produced "Love Sign" on his triple-CD Crystal Ball'' album. Shock G has toured and performed on stage with
George Clinton and
P-Funk, including a guest performance with Clinton at
Woodstock 1999. In 2003, Shock G produced the single "Risky Business" for Los Angeles underground artist
Murs, and also appeared in the video, as himself and as Humpty Hump. Murs performed this song live with Shock G at the Paid Dues festival, and also featured him as his stage DJ/music conductor on a two-month extensive Definitive Jux label U.S. and Canada tour. On January 20, 2009, Shock G's single "Cherry Flava'd Email" was renamed and released as a special edition called "Cherry Flava'd Election" to commemorate the inauguration of President
Barack Obama. On June 24, 2011, Shock G was featured on an episode of the podcast
You Had to Be There with comedians
Nikki Glaser and
Sara Schaefer. ==Death==