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30-461: In 2008, "The Humpty Dance" was ranked No. 30 on VH1's 100 Greatest Songs of Hip Hop and No. 65 on VH1's 100 Greatest Songs of the '90s in 2007. The song was selected as one of many songs to hear and download in the musical reference book 1001 Songs You Must Hear Before You Die: And 10,001 You Must Download . The song was nominated for Best Rap Video at the 1990 MTV Video Music Awards , but lost to " U Can't Touch This " by MC Hammer (ironically, Hammer

60-542: A 90-minute preshow. Hosted by Downtown Julie Brown , Ed Lover , Doctor Dré , Ray Cokes , and Kurt Loder , the broadcast featured red carpet interviews, pre-taped features on the nominees, and interviews with Axl Rose and Jon Bon Jovi excerpted from Famous Last Words with Kurt Loder . Winners are in bold text. Digital Underground Digital Underground is an American alternative hip hop group from Oakland, California . Its lineup changed with each album and tour. Digital Underground's leader and mainstay

90-461: A D.U. Party Don't Stop! , was released on May 20, 2008, although a substantial portion of it was recorded at a live show from 2005. Shortly before its release, the group embarked on an indefinite hiatus. Money-B has stated that Shock G expressed interest in writing a book and exploring music that the latter would deem unfit for the Digital Underground name. On May 18, 2010, The Greenlight EP

120-532: A Gun " earned eight nominations that night and took home two awards, including Viewer's Choice. MTV announced in late June that the 1990 Video Music Awards would be held on September 6 at the Universal Amphitheatre in Los Angeles, with Arsenio Hall returning as host. Nominees were announced on July 10. The ceremony marked the first time that MTV self-produced the awards show. The ceremony was preceded by

150-431: A background vocalist, adding humorous ad-libs between the verses. Tupac first began to appear on stage with the group as one of its dancers and "hype men". The group's second full album featured two singles, "No Nose Job" and "Kiss You Back", the latter of which featured multi-layered choruses and background vocals sung by Boni Boyer, who briefly worked with Digital Underground shortly after her stint with Prince 's Sign of

180-514: A combination of samples and live instrumentation, earning it positive reviews and platinum sales. This Is an EP Release is the RIAA Gold certified second Digital Underground release, from which two songs, "Tie the Knot" and " Same Song " were featured in the film Nothing But Trouble starring Dan Aykroyd , Chevy Chase , Demi Moore , and John Candy . "Tie The Knot," features jazzy piano tracks and

210-412: A comedic interpretation of " Bridal Chorus ". "Same Song" has an organ solo and improvised organ bits throughout the song, making it one of hip hop's first singles to successfully integrate live instrumentation with music samples . Tupac Shakur made his debut on the latter song and portrayed an African king in the video. Tupac also can be heard joking around on the remixed version of "The Way We Swing" as

240-540: A one-measure-long drum loop. Digital Underground incorporated the Family Stone drum loop with four other raw elements; a deep tonal kick drum that alternated between two bass notes, a handclap snare (also a sample, taken from "Theme From the Black Hole" by the band Parliament ), drum-machine hi-hats running continuously throughout which were programmed to 8th-notes, and a guitar hit happening once every bar, all assembled into

270-593: A protest against the uniformity among successful rappers of the time. In the final verse, Humpty describes the Humpty Dance itself as a loose, easy dance, "like MC Hammer on crack ... Anyone can play this game." The contrast is with the precision dancing in MC Hammer 's videos. The song ends with an invitation for people of all races to join in the dance. "The Humpty Dance" is Shock G 's second song to feature his alter-ego "Humpty Hump," who debuted on "Doowutchyalike" which

300-515: Is also notable for launching the career of member Tupac Shakur , as well as spinning off side projects and solo acts including Raw Fusion , Saafir , and singer Mystic . Following the release of their " Doowutchyalike " single and video in the summer of 1989, the band gained popularity with their song " The Humpty Dance " in 1990. Digital Underground toured nearly every year until 2008; this consisted of live shows in Europe, Japan, Canada, Australia, and

330-409: Is name-checked in "The Humpty Dance"). Canadian television channel MuchMoreMusic 's series Back In... rated the song's video as one of the worst of 1990. In 2021, it was listed at No. 241 on Rolling Stone's "500 Greatest Songs of All Time." Of the five raw elements that make up the "Humpty Dance" drum track, one is a sample from " Sing a Simple Song " by Sly and the Family Stone , in the form of

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360-498: The "accident", the character is seen wearing a large nose disguise. The song was featured in the VH1 series I Love the '90s , and also on America's Best Dance Crew , where it was included in a dance routine performed by Super Cr3w . The song was also featured in Charlie's Angels . "Weird Al" Yankovic covered the song for the polka medley " Polka Your Eyes Out " from his 1992 album Off

390-672: The Deep End . The song is also available for play in the 2004 karaoke video game Get On Da Mic for PlayStation 2 . It was sampled by Justin Timberlake , Jimmy Fallon on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon , and by the Spice Girls on their debut album Spice as the track "If U Can't Dance". The song was also featured in the 2021 film Free Guy . The song was parodied in the 2005 animated television series Avatar: The Last Airbender ; Season 2, Episode 15, 'The Tale of Sokka' vignette. In 1990,

420-679: The Gravy? , which reached #91 on the Top 200 R&B/Hip-Hop Albums charts. Digital Underground being a West Coast act, the album intentionally featured several East Coast rappers at a time when the East vs. West rivalry was active, in an attempt to both ignore and ridicule it. The guests included New York City natives Big Pun , Biz Markie and KRS-One , and introduced Whuteva and Stylez, while also introducing west coast bay area newcomers Esinchill and female emcee Mystic . Digital Underground's final studio album, ..Cuz

450-503: The Times/Love Sexy band. Despite the fact that a choir of singers were portrayed in the video, the actual studio singing was exclusively Boni on all tracks, excluding the male voices. It has been mistakenly reported that "Kiss You Back" was co-written and co-performed by George Clinton , but his name appears in the writers credit due to a sample of "(Not Just) Knee Deep" by Funkadelic being used. He did, however, actively participate in

480-657: The U.S. While the group's origins lay mostly in Oakland and Berkeley, California, various characters and voices from around the U.S and UK appeared on the band's albums. Shock G and Money-B were the only individuals to appear on every album. Other recurring key contributors were David "DJ Fuze" Elliot, and deejay/producer Jeremy "J-Beats" Jackson, who both assisted Jacobs in developing the sound. Shock G died in 2021, but Digital Underground continues to tour. Jacobs spent most of his youth in Tampa, Florida and New York City . Founded in 1987,

510-594: The Wayans brothers' film Don't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood : "Food Fight", featuring Del tha Funkee Homosapien , and "We Got More" with Luniz . The album also contains an early performance from rapper Sly Boogy, while he was still a member of the Black Spooks, who appeared on the song "Fool Get a Clue." In 1998, eight years after the group's first album, Digital Underground released Who Got

540-500: The Year. Meanwhile, most other winners that night took home two awards, including Aerosmith , Don Henley , The B-52s , Tears for Fears , and MC Hammer . Regarding nominations, Madonna also had the distinction of being the most nominated artist of the night, as her video for " Vogue " received nine nominations, making it also the most nominated video of 1990. Closely following in nominations came Aerosmith , whose video for " Janie's Got

570-702: The album. " Doowutchyalike ," a moderate club hit, debuted the previous year, followed in January by the more successful song " The Humpty Dance ", a humorous dance number that reached #11 on the Billboard Hot 100 , #7 on the R&;B charts, and #1 on the Billboard Rap Singles chart. It was rapped by Shock G's alter ego Humpty Hump, and featured a drum track with over 50 confirmed usages in other songs. Sex Packets features P-Funk samples, jazz-influenced interludes, and

600-525: The best music videos from June 2, 1989, to June 1, 1990. The show was hosted by Arsenio Hall at the Universal Amphitheatre in Los Angeles. This year saw the elimination of yet another one of the show's original categories, Best Stage Performance in a Video. This would turn out to be the last time an award from 1984 would be permanently eliminated (although Breakthrough Video was eliminated in 2006 and then brought back in 2009). Janet Jackson

630-415: The group's image was originally more militant, and was intended to be a tribute to social activists The Black Panthers . However, when groups like Public Enemy and N.W.A rose to prominence, Jacobs chose to take the image in a more whimsical and upbeat direction. Sex Packets , the group's debut album, was released in early 1990 following the success of their two previous singles, which were included on

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660-412: The last time Tupac appeared on any Digital Underground release, while lead rappers Saafir and Clee were added to the band's lineup. This album also features "The Humpty Dance Awards", the group's humorous shout-out to the artists who sampled the Humpty Dance prior to 1993. Future Rhythm , the group's fourth full album, would be their first independent release, including two songs that were featured in

690-430: The now-familiar pattern that forms the Humpty Dance drum track. The vocal sample that happens in the song's chorus sections is from Parliament's "Let's Play House" from their 1980 album, Trombipulation . "The Humpty Dance" is a tribute to Humpty's sexual prowess despite his ridiculous appearance. Humpty introduces the appearance theme with the opening line, "I'm about to ruin the image and the style that you're used to,"

720-485: The song "The Humpty Dance Awards" from their album The Body-Hat Syndrome to the many recording artists who sampled the track. Since then, dozens more artists have sampled the Humpty Dance song, from Ice Cube to Public Enemy. Printed References: Posted References: Audio References: Shipments figures based on certification alone. 1990 MTV Video Music Awards The 1990 MTV Video Music Awards aired live on September 6, 1990, honoring

750-562: The song was used in the Season Three episode of the TV series Midnight Caller entitled "Sale Away: Part 2". "The Humpty Dance" is one of the most sampled songs recorded by a hip hop/rap artist, boasting over 100 usages in other songs. By 1993, less than three years after its release, it had already been sampled in over 20 popular songs, most of them utilizing its drum track. In fact, it was sampled so much that Digital Underground humorously devoted

780-555: The writing and recording of the title track "Sons of the P", which he also contributed vocals to, and which marked one of the earliest studio guest appearances by Clinton on a Hip Hop release, which is preceded only by Kurtis Blow 's "Magilla Gorilla" released in 1986. Both the album and the "Kiss You Back" single were each certified Gold by the RIAA. With the leading single "The Return of the Crazy One," and its accompanying X-rated video, which

810-463: Was Digital Underground's first video release in 1989. The character, which sports a buffoon persona, colorful clothes, and Groucho glasses , is sung by Shock G. A fictional biography was constructed for Humpty, the story being that Edward Ellington Humphrey III, former lead singer of "Smooth Eddie and the Humpers," had become a rapper after burning his nose in a kitchen accident with a deep-fryer. Because of

840-526: Was Gregory " Shock G " Jacobs (also known as Humpty Hump). Shock G formed the group in 1987 with Tampa hip-hop radio deejay Kenneth "Kenny-K" Waters and Jimi "Chopmaster J" Dright of Berkeley, California . Heavily influenced by the various funk bands of the 1970s, Digital Underground sampled such music frequently, which became a defining element of West Coast rap. As "Rackadelic", Jacobs designed album covers and cartoon-laced liner notes, in homage to Parliament-Funkadelic album designs. Digital Underground

870-516: Was presented the Video Vanguard Award for her contributions and influence within music and popular culture. She also performed a controversial rendition of " Black Cat ", considered "her first shocking public statement." For the second year in a row, Madonna was one of the night's biggest winners, taking home three technical awards, while Sinéad O'Connor was the other most rewarded artist of 1990, also winning three Moonmen including Video of

900-446: Was reworked for public consumption, gaining positive feedback, the rest of The Body-Hat Syndrome unfurled to less than outstanding crossover commercial acclaim. The album's second single, an anti-racism cultural awareness politico called "Wussup Wit the Luv," featured a solo from Funkadelic guitarist Michael Hampton , as well as a verse and video appearance from Tupac Shakur. This would be

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