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May 1, 2021 · Brother Kent Racker hugs the casket as pallbearers load the casket of Gregory Jacobs, professionally known as rapper and producer Shock G into the hearse, on Saturday, May 1, 2021 in Tampa.
- Former Times Reporter
- The Origins of An Experimental Artist
- Shock G’s Expansive Visual Style
- Tupac’s Caricature in This Is An E.P. Release
- Unseen Artwork and Shock G’s Final Act
Born in New York City and later raised in Tampa, Florida, Shock G grew up drawing, reading comic books and attending comic conventions from an early age. Gregory says that Shock G’s mother, Shirley Kraft, always encouraged her son’s gifts for visual art. “There was never any pushback against it,” he tells me over Zoom. As an adolescent, Shock G’s m...
Shock G’s raunchy humor was on full display on Digital Underground’s canonical 1990 album Sex Packets, which sold over a million copies. And it extended to his visual art from that period, too. He even designed condom wrappers that Tommy Boy Records gave away to promotethe record. “A pamphlet went out to San Francisco strip clubs and peep shows,” M...
As Digital Underground’s heartbeat, Shock G put his playful touch on everything — and often communicated through exaggerated drawings rather than words. “He wasn’t drawing pictures that were realistic. He would accentuate your main features. Huge freckles, big lips,” Money B says. “[He drew] Tupac’s big ol’ nose and rigid cheekbone. Some people too...
There are countless Shock G visuals that the public has never seen: The zany machinations he would invent on the fly while sitting on a tour bus, hanging backstage or out late at night with his crew. A napkin at a burger joint was a canvas to be filled with heartfelt messages for his closest kin. A cardboard box at a party, in his hands, could muta...
Apr 23, 2021 · The big-nose-wearing hip-hop group leader made "The Humpty Dance" a hit. Shock G, who blended whimsical wordplay with reverence for ’70s funk as leader of the off-kilter Bay Area hip-hop group Digital Underground, has died. He was 57.
Apr 23, 2021 · Gregory Edward Jacobs, known as Shock G, the frontman for the influential hip-hop group Digital Underground, was found dead on Thursday at a hotel in Tampa, Fla. He was 57. His death was...
- Azi Paybarah
Gregory Edward Jacobs (August 25, 1963 – April 22, 2021), known professionally as Shock G and by his alter ego Humpty Hump, was an American rapper and musician who was best known as the lead vocalist of the hip hop group Digital Underground.
May 2, 2021 · Shock G is survived by his mother, Shirley Kraft; father, Edward Racker; brother, Kent Racker; and sister, Elizabeth Racker. Contributing by Ryan Pearson; Associated Press. Digital...
Apr 23, 2021 · Shock G, the pioneering rap icon and frontman of Digital Underground, has passed away at the age of 57. He was also an early mentor to Tupac Shakur.
