The Humpty Dance

"Humpty Hump" is a character created by Digital Underground's leader, Shock G (Greg Jacobs). Digital Underground were disciples of Parliament/Funkadelic, with big funk beats, lots of rotating members, and outrageous personalities with costumes to match. This was their biggest hit, although they recorded many other rap classics, including "Same Song" and "Kiss You Back." The Humpty Hump character had a very large nose, funny hats, and wild, pimp-like costumes. He was clever, funny and sex-obsessed, and was proud of his nose. Many rap crews used characters (like Flavor Flav of Public Enemy), but Greg Jacobs would rap as both Humpty and Shock G, often in the same song. Humpty first appeared on the lead single from the album, "Doowutchyalike," and when "The Humpty Dance" became a big hit, it was clear that Humpty was the star. Digital Underground's label, Tommy Boy, wanted more Humpty hits, but Jacobs knew the act would wear thin so he only let him loose on a few more songs, including their 1991 track "No Nose Job." This caused friction between the group and the label, and after the third Digital Underground album (The Body-Hat Syndrome, 1993), Tommy Boy released them from their 7-album deal. Chopmaster J, one of the group's founders, later acquired the Digital Underground name and put together a new version of the group that he called "Digital Underground Next Generation."

1990 was a big year for sampling, as the landmark lawsuit banning the practice without permission had not been settled. Digital Underground took pieces from many different songs, but primarily from "Let's Play House" by Parliament, which is where the "gimme the music" and "do me baby" lines come from along with some of the drum breaks. Pieces of "Bop Gun" by Parliament and "Sing a Simple Song" by Sly & the Family Stone were also used.

The word "hump" isn't always as dirty as it sounds. "Humpin'" is a lot like "Bumpin'," meaning something that feels energetic and fresh - it dates back to the 1980 song by The Gap Band, "Humpin.'" When Shock G was looking to name his character from "Doowutchyalike," he went with "Humpty Hump," since that was a variation on "Humpin'" that was big at the time. His publicist at Tommy Boy Records, Laura Hines, wrote up the bio, and Monica Lynch, the president of the label, then asked him to write a whole song about Humpty, which he did. This happened so late in the process that Humpty doesn't appear on the cover of the Sex Packets album.