Published on Apr 23, 1997
Long-time readers are probably thinking, “Gee, Chris’s been
doing a lot of rap reviews lately.” This is what happens when
Spring Cleaning comes to the Pierce Memorial Archives (out with the
Bay City Rollers, in with… well, anything but the Bay City
Rollers). I’ve been running into albums I haven’t touched for some
time but still hold a special place in my aching eardrums.
I ran across my battered copy of Digital Underground’s debut
album
Sex Packets the other day, and immediately I smiled. This
was an album that took out most of the raunch of rap (though
there’s still a little in there for flavor), and replaced it with
humor and – believe it or not – musicianship. All of this is why I
would rank this as the best rap album ever made.
Digital Underground first hit the scene with their hit single
“The Humpty Dance,” which is where I first heard them. (Months
later, I bought this tape on a whim – I wanted to see what the hype
was about.) The rhymes that Humpty Hump blares out are more
humorous than threatening or sexist, which is exactly what Digital
Underground were shooting for on this one. (It still didn’t stop
MTV from censoring the brag of Humpty Hump “gettin’ busy in a
Burger King bathroom” – gives new meaning to the phrase “getting it
to go.”)
Had this been the only solid performance on
Sex Packets, Digital Underground would have at least secured
a footnote in music history. Ah, but this is only the beginning.
Shock-G takes over for most of the album as lead rapper and brings
a whole new flavor to the raps. From a declaration of what the band
represents on “The Way We Swing” to a strong anti-drug message on
“The Danger Zone” to having fun (no, not
that type of fun) on “Hip Hop Doll,” Digital Underground
shows they are a multi-faceted and extremely talented group. The
party atmosphere continues on “Doowutchyalike” and “Gutfest ’89”
(okay,
now we’re talkin’ about that kind of fun).
The biggest shocker on
Sex Packets is – omigod! – the use of live instruments, not
sampled, on several tracks. In just over a minute of performnce,
The Piano Man and Chopmaster J weave piano and drums to create one
hell of a groove on “The New Jazz (One),” a groove which I found
myself wishing they had continued to explore. The Piano Man returns
several times on the album, especially with some free-form riffs on
“Doowutchyalike.”
The last few tracks of the album concentrate on the fictional
creation of the “sex packet,” a synthetic compound that provides a
new type of safe sex. In one sense, I wish this thing really
existed – just think of the hours of relief it would bring college
freshmen. (Hell, not only would I have bought these when I was a
freshman, I’d
still be using ’em from time to time.) “Packet Prelude”
begins to build the mood, and while “Sex Packets” is not the best
r&b song I’ve heard, the vocal work – whoa, singing on a rap
album! – is impressive. There is even a slightly humorous take on
the subject on the cut “Packet Man.”
What’s that? Oh, you don’t
like rap? Two words: cram it. In all truth, I was not that
big of a rap fan when
Sex Packets came out, and even I, a person who could find
faults in the Mona Lisa, was left speechless. This is more than a
rap album – it merges hip-hop, jazz and r&b into an album that
makes you laugh and makes you think at the same time. Digital
Underground dared their listeners to think – a gamble that is worth
taking.
Digital Underground has continued to make quality albums, though
they’ve never equalled the success they had with their debut – a
fate that a band as talented as this one does not deserve.
Sex Packets may be a starting point for the young rap fan,
but it should also be a stepping stone for checking out the rest of
their catalog.
Whew… made it through a review without using a corny line like
“you won’t feel like you got screwed listening to
Sex Packets“…
Oops.