- The Humpty Dance
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"The Humpty Dance" 
Single by Digital Underground from the album Sex Packets Released March 14, 1990 Format Single Recorded 1989-1990 Genre Hip Hop Length 6:30 (Original), 5:42 (Short Edit) Label Tommy Boy Writer(s) Humpty Hump Certification Platinum (RIAA).[1] "The Humpty Dance" is a 1990 hip hop song by Digital Underground, which was featured on their debut album Sex Packets. The single climbed all the way to #11 on the pop charts, #7 on the R&B charts, and #1 on the Billboard Rap Singles chart. The single is sung by Shock G's alter ego, "Humpty Hump", marking the character's second musical appearance; the first being Digital Underground's "Doowutchyalike," a pre-album video-single released in the spring of 1989. The Humpty Dance features a hypnotically-pulsating bassline and a particularly potent drumtrack that has been sampled by many different artists and producers. (see list below) In the song's video, a young Tupac Shakur is visible in the background.
In 2008, "The Humpty Dance" was ranked number 30 on VH1's 100 Greatest Songs of Hip Hop and number 65 on VH1's 100 Greatest Songs of the 90s in 2007. The song was selected as one of many songs to hear and download in the musical reference book, 1001 Songs You Must Hear Before You Die: And 10,001 You Must Download. The song was nominated for Best Rap Video at the 1990 MTV Video Music Awards, but lost to "U Can't Touch This" by MC Hammer. Canadian television channel MuchMoreMusic's series Back In... rated the song's video as one of the worst of 1990.
Contents
Composition
Of the five raw elements that make up the Humpty Dance drum track, one is a sample from "Sing a Simple Song" by Sly & The Family Stone, in the form of a one-measure-long drum loop. Digital underground incorporated the Family Stone drum loop with four other raw elements; a deep tonal kick drum that alternated between two bass notes, a handclap snare (also a sample, taken from "Theme From the Black Hole" by Parliament), drum-machine hi-hats running continuously throughout which were programmed to 8th-notes, and a guitar hit happening once every bar, all assembled into the now-familiar pattern that forms the Humpty Dance drum track. The vocal sample that happens in the song's chorus sections is from Parliament's "Let's Play House" from their 1980 album, Trombipulation.[2]
Synopsis
The Humpty Dance is a tribute to Humpty's sexual prowess despite his ridiculous appearance.[3] Humpty introduces the appearance theme with the opening line, "I'm about to ruin the image and the style that you're used to," a protest against the uniformity among successful rappers of the time.[4]
In the final verse, Humpty describes the Humpty Dance itself as a loose, easy dance, "like MC Hammer on crack ... Anyone can play this game." The contrast is with the precision dancing in MC Hammer's videos. The song ends with an invitation for people of all races to join in the dance.[5]
Humpty Hump
Shock G performing as "Humpty Hump" at Les Deux in Hollywood in 2008.
"The Humpty Dance" is Shock G's second song to feature his alter ego, "Humpty Hump" who first debuted on "Doowutchyalike" which was Digital Underground's first video release in 1989. The character, which sports a buffoon persona, colorful clothes, and Groucho glasses, is sung by Shock G using a nasally voice. A fictional biography was constructed for Humpty, the story being that Edward Ellington Humphrey III, former lead singer of "Smooth Eddie and the Humpers," had become a rapper after burning his nose in a kitchen accident with a deep-fryer. Because of the "accident", the character is seen wearing a large nose disguise.[6]
In popular culture
The song was featured in the VH1 series I Love the 90's, and also on the MTV show America's Best Dance Crew, where it was included in a dance routine performed by Super Cr3w. The song was also featured in the 2000 film Charlie's Angels. The song is also available for play in the 2004 karaoke video game Get On Da Mic for Playstation 2. It was sampled by Justin Timberlake, Jimmy Fallon on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon and by the Spice Girls on their debut album "Spice" as the track "If U Can't Dance".[7] A performance of the song was featured in the movie "Nothing But Trouble"
The song was also featured in films The Wood and The Green Hornet (2011 film).
Charts
End of year chart (1990) Position U.S. Billboard Hot 100[8] 11 US Rap Chart 1[citation needed] "The Humpty Dance" as a source of samples
The Humpty Dance is one of the most sampled songs recorded by a hip hop/rap artist, boasting over 40 usages in other songs. By 1993, less than three years after its release, it had already been sampled in over 20 popular songs, most of them utilizing its drum track. In fact, it was sampled so much that Digital Underground humorously devoted the song "The Humpty Dance Awards" from their album The Body-Hat Syndrome to the many recording artists who sampled the track. Since then, dozens more artists have jumped on the bandwagon, from Ice Cube to Public Enemy.
NOTE: Songs that didn't directly sample "The Humpty Dance" are not included in this list.
Songs That Sampled The Humpty Dance
title, artist, (description of use)
- A Crazy Break, WC & the Maad Circle (full drum loop)
- Back to the Underground, WC & the Maad Circle (vocal + snare & kicks used in drum track)
- Behind Closed Doors, WC & the Maad Circle (raw instrumental used as their drum track)
- Blow Your Mind, Redman (drum loop)
- Buck tha Devil, Da Lench Mob (full drum loop)
- Bumbell, Yukmouth feat Tech N9ne (bassline)
- Can't Truss it, Public Enemy (full drum loop)
- Cherish the Day, (Best of Sade version), Sade (raw instrumental used as drum track for last 30 secs of her song)
- City to City, Straw tha Vegas Don feat Shock G (raw instrumental scratched in first verse)
- "Cotex", BWP (full drum loop; looped in reverse)
- D.O.G. Me Out, Guy (piece of loop, muted, as kick drum support)
- Don't Be Afraid, Aaron Hall (full drum loop)
- Dr. Trevis, Redman (bit of drum loop underneath)
- Dr. Trevis (Signs Off), Redman (bit of drum loop underneath
- Flip Squad's in da House, Big Kap, Flip Squad, Funkmaster Flex (full drum loop + bassline)
- Here We Go Again, Portrait (raw instrumental as their drum track)
- Hold Onto My Bumper, Dice (full drum loop)
- How I'm Comin, LL Cool J (full drum loop)
- How Ya Gonna Reason With a Psycho, Insane Poetry (full drum loop)
- I Made Love (4 Da Very First Time), Little Shawn (drum track doubled up)
- If U Can't Dance, Spice Girls (drum loop + bassline)
- Imma Gitz Mine, Erick Sermon (chopped & muted drum bit underneath; kick drum support)
- Is It Good to You, Heavy-D & the Boys (full drum loop)
- Jackin' For Beats, Ice Cube (raw instrumental)
- Live and Learn, Joe Public (full drum loop)
- Lost in the Storm, Chubb Rock (raw intrumental used as their drum track)
- Love Don't Make Sense, Alexander O'Neil (full drum loop)
- Mama Said Knock You Out, LL Cool J (full drum loop)
- Not Your Money, Oaktowns 357 (full drum loop)
- PlayGround, ABC (full loop, muted, used for kick drum support)
- Really Doe, Ice Cube (bit of drum track underneath)
- SMPTE, The Boys (full drum loop)
- Stop What Ya Doin, Apathy (Opening line)
- Teddys Jam, Guy (full loop)
- The Break Up, WC & the Maad Circle (full drum loop)
- The Humpty Dance Awards, digital underground (full drum loop + bassline)
- The Money is Made, Detroits most Wanted (full drum loop)
- Time 4 Sum Aksion, Redman (drum track chopped underneath; kick drum support)
- Two 4 the Time, Nubian Crackers (raw instrumental as their drum track)
- Walk Thru Hell, K-Stone (raw full instrumental)
- Who's the Mack? Ice Cube (vocal sample)
- Wild Wild West, Will Smith (bassline)
- You Gotta Believe, Marky Mark & the Funky Bunch (full drum loop)
Humpty Dance copyright references: http://www.faqs.org/copyright/i-made-love-4-da-very-first-time-musical-composition/
References
- ^ http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewPicture&friendID=279359168&albumId=124699&page=2
- ^ http://www.faqs.org/copyright/i-made-love-4-da-very-first-time-musical-composition/
- ^ Strong, Martin Charles (2002), "Digital Underground", The great rock discography (6th ed.), The National Academies
- ^ Hess, Mickey (2007), Is Hop Hop Dead? The past, present, and future of America's most wanted music, Greenwood, p. 80, ISBN 978-0-275-99461-7
- ^ Rubey, Dan (1992), "Voguing at the Carnival: Desire and Pleasure on MTV", in DeCurtis, Anthony, Present Tense: Rock & roll and culture, Duke University Press, pp. 253–254
- ^ http://blogs.sfweekly.com/shookdown/2010/05/shock_g_fesses_up_about_humpty.php
- ^ Kung, Michelle (2010-09-30). "Justin Timberlake and Jimmy Fallon's ‘History of Rap' Duet: The Full Set List". The Wall Street Journal. http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2010/09/30/justin-timberlake-jimmy-fallon-duet-on-history-of-rap/.
- ^ "Billboard Top 100 - 1990". http://longboredsurfer.com/charts.php?year=1990. Retrieved 2009-09-15.
Categories:- Billboard Rap Songs number-one singles
- 1990 singles
- Digital Underground songs
- Singles certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America
- English-language songs
- Tommy Boy Entertainment singles
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