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2Pac lookalike in New Orleans, TMZ freaks

TMZ is going 'round and 'round with the Underground lately. Distracted by the site's report on Shock G and his bikini entourage, we missed the news Wednesday that they had "obtained photographic evidence that Tupac Shakur is alive and well." We sense some sarcasm somewhere in that post, but common sense tells us that 2Pac's return would not be met with a crowd of people looking elsewhere -- snapping only pictures of his profile -- while he was "drinking hand grenades in New Orleans." We hope he's alive, too, but we also hope that when and if he does return he makes a grander entrance than that. R.I.P.

Shock G in his bikini-clad element in Vegas

It's no secret The 411 Online is a fan of Shock G. We try to keep up on him and all things Digital Underground, make a point to pick up an album if it drops or catch what's always a wild show when he comes around. And, of course, tell anyone who will listen that there was more to DU than "The Humpty Dance."

So it was with a little surprise in this celeb-of-the-moment-obsessed world that we found TMZ was keeping tabs as well. After all, the best they had to offer when passing along Shock's recent Vegas exploits was a couple of, yes, "Humpty Dance" references.

Shock is surrounded by women in bikinis in the photo gallery. Couldn't they at least pretend they'd heard the rest of the classic Sex Packets album? "Freaks of the Industry" seems like a natural. Or you could open their minds by dropping something from later albums like "Return of the Crazy One," "Glooty-Us-Maximus" or "The Rime In The Mochanut." OK, forget that last one. But perhaps some of the more intimate photos serve as a reminder that he's making good on his promise that "if it wasn't for the rap then we'd be mackin'." We're ready for more of the former, so bring it... when you're done there, of course.

Remembering 'Paint the White House Black'

The late MC Breed coined the phrase in 1990 on "Ain't No Future in Yo' Frontin'." George Clinton loved it so much he built a song around it in 1993, recruiting the likes of Ice Cube, Dr. Dre, Humpty Hump, Flavor Flav, Yo-Yo and Breed himself for the single and video.

As Barack Obama is sworn in as President of the United States, The 411 Online pauses to celebrate what no one thought was possible 19, 16 -- or even a couple -- years ago.

Hip-Hop Classic: DIGITAL UNDERGROUND, Sex Packets, 1990

Reprinted from the September 1995 edition of The 411:

Before Dr. Dre, Ice Cube, Too Short or MC Breed jumped on the funk bandwagon, Digital Underground was takin' the train to the land of funk (a.k.a. Oakland) with the captain of the mothership himself, George Clinton, by its side. The self-proclaimed "Sons of the P" debuted in 1990 with Shock G, Humpty Hump and Money B handling the majority of the vocals while DJ Fuze, the Piano Man, Kenny K, MC Blowfish, the Computer Woman and the rest of the underground crew had their back on the production and guest vocals.

One trademark feature of Digital Underground albums is that you always get your money's worth. On <I>Packets</I>, there are 17 tracks (only 14 on the CD, but you still get 75 minutes of music). A few of them are interludes, but many of the actual songs are over six minutes long, and the classic party jam "Doowutchyalike" is just short of nine. "The Danger Zone" contains the most obvious influence of p-funk -- a sample of Parliament's "Flashlight." But the most well-known cut on the album has got to be "The Humpty Dance," which crossed over and received extensive play on MTV and even local top 40 stations that refuse to play rap today. Other tracks to check out are 'Freaks of the Industry," with its multiple-choice metaphors; "Rhymin' on the Funk;" "Underwater Rimes," the original fish rhyme; and the Underground's shout-out to the old school, "A Tribute to the Early Days." The album concludes with the "Packet" epic, a series of five tracks that enter the world of a fictional aphrodisiac-in-a-pill.

To borrow a phrase from their second album, Digital Underground deserves to get props while they're still livin' for pioneering the hip-hop world's entry into the era of funk.

-- Mason Storm