The music industry has lost a star.
According to The New York Times, Gregory Edward Jacobs, otherwise known as Shock G, was found dead at a hotel in Tampa, Fla. on April 22. He was 57 years old. The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office confirmed the rapper’s death to the newspaper but did not reveal a cause of death. Jacobs’ father Edward Racker told TMZ, which was first to report the news, that authorities will conduct an autopsy.
Jacobs formed the hip-hop group Digital Underground with Chopmaster J and Kenny K in 1987. After dropping their single “Underwater Rimes,” the artists caught the attention of record label Tommy Boy. In 1990, Digital Underground released its first studio album Sex Packets. It contained a number of popular songs, including the hit single “The Humpty Dance,” which rose to the no. 11 spot on the Billboard Hot 100.
In the music video, Jacobs took on the persona of Humpty Hump. It also featured a young Tupac Shakur, who made his debut on Digital Underground’s “Same Song.” Jacobs later co-produced Shakur’s first studio album 2Pacalypse Now.
