Shock G Interview

[Crenshaw_blvd]

www.madeniggaz.net
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Earlier this month, I was honored to be able to interview über-producer and rapper Shock G. Shock was the man behind Digital Underground, and is widely credited for having discovered Tupac and brought him to international attention by initially featuring him on D.U’s hit ‘Same Song’ EP. In this MadeNiggaz.net exclusive, Shock G and I discuss the past and future for Digital Underground, how 2Pac’s early career with D.U came about, Pac’s unreleased material and much much more.

Menace: What's up with Digital Underground at the moment? I can see you guys have been touring a lot, but are there any plans to make another album together? Are you still on Jake Records?

Shock G: As far as I know Jake records went out of business after one of the owners Dan Hartman quit after the sudden surprise death of his brother, comedian Phil Hartman [who was] shot by his suicidal wife. I plan to feature some of the D.U. family on my solo joint which I plan to start work on soon.

Menace: Would you ever consider making a Sex Packets II, because there would be a lot of demand for it?

Shock G: "Kiss U Back", "I Get Around", "Digital Lover", "April Showers", and various other moments from our many albums were all sequels to Sex Packets, but under new & different names & titles.

Menace: Were you surprised at just how many people got taken in by the Humpty Hump disguise and genuinely believed he was a separate member of the group (me included for a while there!)?

When I occasionally get to see the playback footage of Humpty really actin’-up & getting’ berserk on stage, it actually amazes and entertains me as if I'm watching a totally different person. (Check out the seizure Humpty throws at the Apollo theatre by clicking here also available on our "Show" page at shockg.com) Humpty surprises me and says things I could never think of. He hits dance moves I could never ordinarily do. I've always believed that the outfit and the nose & glasses are "possessed" and I can clearly see how people can't believe that he's also Shock-G. Shock-G can't believe that Humpty's Shock-G.  

Menace: Back in the day, I remember reading a story about how you promoted the ‘Sex Packets’ album. It claimed that you'd had thousands of leaflets printed-up warning people about the dangers of taking sex packets and distributed them through Doctor's surgeries. Truth or urban myth?

Shock G: Truth. We printed thousands of very official looking "Packet Pamphlets" (guides on how to take sex-packets safely), complete with California health seals stamped on the front and everything, and then sneaked them into literature baskets and bulletin boards at hospitals all over Oakland, San Fran, & LA to help start a national belief. We'd leave stacks of them in bathrooms at clubs and on subway trains & city buses.

Menace: You worked with 2Pac in the early days and gave him his first opportunity to be heard on 'Same Song'. Can I ask when you realised you wanted him to go from being a roadie and dancer for D.U. to a rapper?

Shock G: We signed Pac to TNT records as a rapper first, a solo artist, way before he even toured with Digital. But instead of waiting around for us to get back in town to work on his album, he preferred to travel with us just to kill time and for the adventure & learning experience of it. He was never auditioned as a dancer or roadie as people seem to think, with a "hidden" rap ability that was later "discovered" by us. He joined the organization as a rapper whom we were grooming and hoping to find a deal for, and he went through many changing phases before the public even heard of him. He was "MC New York" the year before we met him, and then around when we signed Him, he had a group; "Strictly-Dope" (w/Ray-Luv & DJ Dizzy) and later AFTER he joined TNT, it was decided to market him as a solo act. For Tupac to travel with us at that time, we had to sacrifice someone else’s position, salary, & bunkspace on the tour bus to keep the tour financially balanced. So Pac would pick up the slack & humbly perform the duties of whose place he took, which included dancin & roadieing. We respected him as one of the "next" emcees in the camp and he always rapped in the shows as well. Usually he'd do the "Shock-G" parts opposite Humpty on stage for "Packet-Man" as well as hold down a 16-bar freestyle in the section of the live show where we featured our new cats. Him, Pee-wee, Saafir & others would pass the mic while Money B & I took a break or got ready for the next song. The reason it became a popular misconception that Pac only danced at first was because TV appearances (the Arsenio Hall show, Showtime at the Apollo, Club MTV, etc) usually only allowed us to perform the current singles at the time, which were "Doowutchyalike", "the Humpty Dance", & "Packet-Man", all of which were recorded before we met Pac. So Pac liked to get in where he fit in, until we could actually feature him on the newer stuff which came later: "Same Song", "Sons of the P", (w/digital) and "2Pacalypse Now" his first solo album. So you see, there was actually never a time that Pac wasn't recognized & utilized as an emcee, it's just that Sex-Packets was recorded before we met him, and then he signed on in time for the TV performances, promotion, & touring of that album. "Same Song" from "This Is An EP Release" was the first D.U. recording session that took place after his arrival and as we can see, Pac was given the same 8-bar slot as was Shock-G, Humpty, & Money-B....the already known and in-demand "front-line" group rappers at that time. We HAD to make a slot for this kid cause he was already rippin’ up freestyle circles and after party battles across the U.S.  

Menace: You toured a lot overseas, did anything ever happen involving Pac that people don't know about? Did his legendary approach with women work in countries like Japan?

Shock G: Tupac’s sex appeal to women was apparent when he'd get as much pussy as me & Money-B, whose faces had been seen on TV. Even without fame he usually was the first to bed chicks, sometimes hittin 2 or 3 BEFORE the show (..like in the dressing-room during sound check & on the tour-bus while we waited to be checked in to the hotel.) This was the same overseas.

Menace: If Sex Packets were real, who would you choose to have given you your 'chemically compacted sexual affection'? A 'young black virgin', 'Chinese Girl', 'Queen Latifah' or someone else perhaps?

Shock G: I prefer the "Orgy-Packets" in which I can enjoy a nice variety at one time like: the "Destiny’s Child meets Coyote Ugly cast" packet. Just like with other mind-altering substances, my tolerance has gotten so high that I need heavier dosages than the average user.

[Crenshaw_blvd]

Menace: I've read about, but never heard, your tribute track to 2Pac called 'Mind Bubble'. I believe only a limited number of copies were pressed up. Can you tell us a little bit about the track, as well as your reasons for only making a limited number of copies available? Is it still possible to get a copy somehow?

Shock G: Unfortunately, ‘Mind Bubble’ only existed on a bootleg Digital Underground b-sides & compilation album called "The Lost Files" which was never really mass produced. There are 2 webpages where you might be able to find that album: One is MoneyB.com and the other is from ShockG.com.  D-Flow Message board where kids sometimes trade that CD around.

Menace: You produced an unreleased 2Pac track called 'Dope Fiend's Diner'. Whatever happened to it, why hasn't it been released?

Shock G: It  wasn't me who did that one. That was produced by Deon Evans (formally "Big-D, the Impossible") of Pac’s Underground Railroad production team from [the] ‘2Pacalypse Now’ days. D also did "Homies Call" and "Brendas got a Baby". I think the reason Interscope never released that one was 'cause the Susan Vega sample never got approved for use.

Menace: You've also worked with the late Big Pun [on the track ‘The Mission’ from D.U’s album ‘Who Got The Gravy?’]. How was that?

Shock G: Huge! Literally. Pun’s 3-plates of Spanish food would show up at the studio a half an hour before he would. He would call and make sure the food was there before he came through. He laid his vocals sitting down in the vocal booth, punching in every other sentence, (every 2-bars) so he could catch his breath. I'm not making any of this up or exaggerating. He said he took the time out of his busy [schedule] to work with us ‘cause I was the first one to prop Puerto-Ricans in the "Humpty Dance".

Menace: Do you have any unreleased tracks in the vaults from Pun or 2Pac?

Shock G: Not Pun, but I got a coupla' Pac things that I keep just for my personal enjoyment or to play for friends. They're nothin’ special or complete enough that anyone would spend money to put it out, but it's fun little stuff to play for people every now & then. Shit like Pac rhymin’ while I'm on piano, or Pac talkin’ shit over a tight Prince loop. I got shit that was supposed to be for the second Thug Life record that never came out. Rough studio "take home & study" mixes on cassette. Shit that will never come out cause the tape quality is too shitty.

Menace: You worked with 2Pac on his first few solo albums as well as on the D.U projects. Can I ask why you weren't involved in any of his later projects?

Shock G: No reason other than Pac trying to cover new creative ground. I did "I Get Around" and "So Many Tears". Dre did "California Love", DJ Darryl did "Keep Ya Head Up". Pac wanted variety and wanted to cover a lot of ground musically. He didn't use any of the producers I just named on ‘Makaveli’ ‘cause he already had hit singles wit' all of us. If I hadn't been on the earlier singles THEN he would of used me on the later ones. He liked to keep it new.

Menace: Have you been asked, at any stage, to work on any of his posthumous releases other than 'Dope Fiend's Diner'?

Shock G: Yes, I did remixes on "Dopefiend’s Diner", "Po' Nigga' Blues", and "Resist The Temtation", all of which haven't come out yet. (except "Po Nigga Blues" which was on one of those Makaveli 2, 3, or 4 bootlegs.)

Menace: The story's about Pac's work ethic are now legendary. We hear he used to write his tracks as the beat was being laid and could turn out several tracks in a matter of hours. Was he like that in the early days?

Shock G: Always. In most of my visual memories of Pac, he's either holding, writing or reading something from his poetry/rhyme-book, which was always with him. So was a blunt or a Newport. I have no visions of him without these things and usually he was pacing as he wrote & contemplated.

Menace: At a time that the West Coast wasn't getting much love or recognition for it's musical output, D.U seemed to crossover and get pretty much universal acceptance. Do you feel that was the case, and if so, why?

Shock G: Probably cause of our diverse geographical backgrounds. Pac and I came to the west coast after we finished school. Even the Oakland based cats in the group were from the east & the south at some point in their childhoods. We never sounded too local.

Menace: Digital Underground did a track called 'Heart Beat Props' wherein you urged the black community to support it's leaders, and those who were working for change, while they were alive rather than turning them into poster idols when they're dead. How do you feel now that 2Pac has become one of those idols? Do you think his message lives on through the music, or did it die with him?

Shock G: Stop playin’. His purpose is recognized even more now.

Menace: In 'Heart Beat Props' you urged listeners to support the work of groups like Public Enemy. Whose message do you think is worth listening to now?

Shock G: Same people, plus Pac, Lauryn Hill, you know.

Menace: Why have we never had a Shock G solo album?

Shock G: For a while I felt like Digital Underground were damn near my solo joints. I'll do somethin’ soon, I promise. I have plans to work with Pac’s niggas too (Outlaws) on a few songs.

Menace: What is your favourite 2Pac/Makaveli track?

Shock G: Hail Mary. We let that play in the middle of the D.U. live shows while the entire crowd shouts the lyrics and raises lighters to the sky. It's powerful.

Menace: If you were given a chance to remix any track EVER made, what would it be?

Shock G: "Respiration" by Mos Def, Talib Kweli, & Common, just so I could hear the individual tracks & see how in the hell they made that song. It's so thick and it's such a mystery to me how it was tracked.

Menace: It's been hinted that one of 2Pac's conquests was Madonna. Do you believe that?

Shock G: Pac came to me for sexual advice before his date with her. Later, on the night of his date, he called Me & Money-B’s hotel room whispering that Madonna was asleep next to him (after the fact), and he was trying not to wake her up but he had to tell someone.

Menace: Okay, last 2Pac question. On your website, ShockG.com, you talk about Pac as a rebel, and how he was a genuine force for change. Do you think he would have moved into politics if he had survived the attack that killed him?

Shock G: What do you mean "move into politics"? He was always political. All his poetry and every album (except "All Eyes on Me", which was his Suge payback for gettin him outta jail album). And by the way, it honours me to be involved in Pac’s life and to shed light on any curiosities one may have about his past. Working with Pac was an immensely huge artistic privilege, and being tied to his history is like being tied to Malcom-X, Jimi-Hendrix, Bob Marley, or Jesus Christ. So please, no apologies are necessary for the obvious interest & demand for information about one of the great human beings of our time. If you ever want to do a full-on Pac interview with me as well, (without it being "disguised" as a Digital Underground/Shock G interview) please be my guest. Tupac’s life & purpose is a very interesting & important issue in itself, beyond rap-music & entertainment.

Menace: One of the first places Digital Underground were successful was in Holland I believe. Have you got any plans to tour in Europe again sometime soon?

Shock G: No. I hate those long-ass flights. Only for RIDICULOU$ scrill will I accept dates over there, in which I could hit-off my dogs wit fat bonuses n shit.

Menace: If someone wanted to buy Humpty Hump's nose from you, how much would it cost?!

Shock G: Free, if you catch it when I throw it out into the audience at the end of every live show I do lately.

Menace: Last question. Did you ever get any kind of feedback from Hammer about the line from 'The Humpty Dance' "you dance like MC Hammer on crack"?!

Shock G: Naw, Hammer’s way too kool and self-secure of a brotha' to trip like that. He only sweats money-oriented issues.

Peace, thug-love, and Humptiness forever!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Dope Money Clean]

Shock  G "enius"    as  i like to call him .     Keepin the  P-Funk alive .     Who Got The Gravy   is   a damn masterpiece .   and that joint  "Mind Bubble"     is  the  shit !      i wish more people  would  listen to  DU   cuz   all they get  recognized for is   that   humpty dance  song .     they  one of my fav groups .  

[Dogg_Pound_Gangsta]

its cool to hear some shit bout pac from people that he worked wit at the start.