Reviews (page 5 of 8)
Pleasant surprise. Not a fan of title track though...
Ik vond het een stuk minder erg dan ik vooraf gedacht had. Best vrolijke rap eigenlijk.
Did really enjoy it. Some mega bants tunes. Did lose me 3/4 in. So will be revisiting
Humpty Dance is great. Pretty funny album but drags a bit by the end
Fun, classic hiphop
Schon ok
It was alright. Seemed pretty typical late 80s, early 90s rap from what I remember.
This is a throwback to school dances. Gotta admit I’ve only heard Humpty before this listen. The rest of pretty good, funky samples decent rhyming. Considering the era this is pretty darn good. RIP Shock G who just passed.
Bra! Jävligt oldschool, tidsmaskin till 80/90, det va coolt. Bra musiker. Men hela Sex Packets-delen?? Hahah va i helvete hände med texten? Aja, det va coolt, uppskattade att lyssna på det men vet inte om jag kommer lyssna igen.
Interesting album. Clear rap lyrics. Was this an influential album? otherwise can't understand why is this is on this list. It does have the humpty dance on here.
Crude to be sure.
Dope beats, tekst is heel erg jaren '90 - zo onschuldig nog. Vind het verder niet echt een tof album ofzo, heb hem niet afgeluisterd.
Seminal hip hop album. Like most of its ilk though... 15-20 mins too long!
Boring old school hip hop that hasn't aged well, couple of decent singles here but too much filler. 2 stars
A little goofy for my tastes. It was fun, but I wouldn't return.
It has its moments and I appreciate its lighthearted party-down ethos, but it felt repetitive and one-dimensional, and it didn’t sustain my interest. Ideally I'd re-listen to this when I'm not distracted by having to work, but I don't really want to.
Sound like Fresh Prince but the attitude is somewhere between Public Enemy and Prince. Extra star for the novelty song though, it is nostalgic and fun.
man, i don't know. "Doowutchyalike" is sorta funny, but even then... It's funky rap.
для любителей репа. как-то слишком однообразно((
I really like the creative concept of this album about a magic pill that simulates sex and the underlying funk vibes. However, I thought many tracks were too long and lost my focus in the repetitiveness of them.
Way too long and not very interesting.
But naff
There are some good funky beats to this, but don't think it works well and does feel quite dated.
Based on the first 30 seconds of the album I thought I'd really enjoy this album. That did not last.
I normally like early 90s hip hop. I tried with this one, I really did. But dang, these guys are dirty
More Humpty Dance, less of everything else. Its the a pretty stock example of early 90's/late 80's rap. This reminds me of one of those projects you throw yourself into when you're young, thinking its your best work, but then you look back 20 odd years and realize, how fucking dumb this was. I get it, a product of its time and all that, but man, there were so many better rap albums coming out this time, its hard to believe this one deserved an entry. Also were sex packets just esctasy? Weird material for an album.
Oooffff not good! Humpty Dance is a bop but the rest of the album is pretty forgettable. Until you get to the end of the album that explains what Sex Packets are and it turns out they’re some sci fi bullshit pill that roofies you and makes you cum your pants. And this explanation is not played for laughs or anything. Just… yeah you pay $40 for a packet that advertises having sex with an underage Chinese girl, black out and cum your pants. Not very good!
This was a playful detour in I think hip hop, can’t say it delighted me though.
I feel that this "concept album" did a terrible job of communicating to you what the concept was supposed to be about. Like there was one song about it late in the album, but that was after like almost everything. Overall pretty weird, there were a couple songs that were threes but it was ultimately just bad as an album.
It's kind of goofy, which I don't really mind... but the lyrics and general content are just really bad, and it sounds so dated. Outside of some funky flourishes, the beats and rhymes are incredibly basic, and the talking sections and skits aren't funny. There is absolutely no need for it to be this long.
Boring
First of all, crazy album name and cover to see at 8 am as someone who has never heard of this before. I liked the solo bit on The Way We Swing. Every song on this thing is like a minute and a half to three minutes longer than it needs to be
The cheesiest of rap
Haven't heard of them. If I had a nickel for every time a 90s rap album based around a sci-fi concept relating to sex appeared on this list I'd have 2 nickels which isn't a lot but it's weird that it happened twice. While ok, I'm afraid this album didn't reach the absurdity and entertainment heights of Dr. Octagonecologyst 2/5
Humpty Dance and not much else, doesn't do it for me the way other early 90s hip hop does.
Rap not my scene
It was better than I was bracing for, but still too long.
I’ve hear way better-I could do better
This album is super fun, like all of the songs are fun and enjoyable, but they don’t have anything that I felt was good. I would only relisten to one song just because the rest was like ok, not good.
Lots of creativity here, but many songs are far too long, and "Freaks of the Industry" and "Sex Packets" border on negative-star territory. I probably shouldn't have read the lyrics while listening.
like???
You hear how outdated this is and attribute it to its age but then you realise Tribe would drop The Low End Theory just a year later, Public Enemy had already put out multiple classics, you had Rakim in the same era who blows the rapping on this album out of the water and you wonder how this album has made it on the list. The Humpty Dance is a cool opener but it goes on for WAAAAY too long which is a pretty good summation of this album (why is the second song seven whole minutes long??) I guess the best thing about this album is its strong P-Funk influence and some may find the concept funny but on the whole this album really shows its age.
Overall: 3/10 After listening to the rest of this album, I'm shocked that these guys were able to write a song as good as The Humpty Dance. That song alone is the reason this isn't getting my lowest rating. The beats all suck and the lyrics are so gross and misogynistic. There were a few moments that made me laugh but it wasn't enough to make me enjoy this. Just listen to The Humpty Dance and skip the rest. Fav Song: The Humpty Dance
Prince is the only one who’s allowed to sing about sex this way. If you’re singing about anal sex and about not ever having to jack it anymore, you’re definitely jacking it.
really not what i was expecting... but i didn't hate it? quite raunchy
The 3:30 part of Doowutchyalike was funny. "Oh yeah it's 3:30 now, you radio people can fade it out now." *fades out* "Ok now any clubs or house parties or such can keep listening, here's more of Doowutchyalike"
The hip hop equivalent of Justin Timberlake but funnier
Dear god, no, that was awful. Terribly dated, terribly predictable rhyme schemes, childish, misogynistic and frankly just not very good. Like a poor man’s De La Soul. Scraped a 2, with serious consideration being given to a one star review
More like the rapping from Flight of the Conchords
The fact that hip hop developed decades after blues, jazz and rock were fully established leaves us with the surprising artifacts like Sex Packets, an album from 1990 which sounds as old fashioned as the boogie woogie. The Humpty Dance is a straight up novelty song and is not at all representative of the album but because it's the opener and bit single it draws disproportionate attention. The bulk of the record is enjoyable, smart hip hop, not quite A Tribe Called Quest level, but music that’s a lot of fun with a good energy.
Sex Packets was a solid 2 for me, some laughs (I liked it when he was rapping from the perspective of a fish in a fishy voice) but a lot of cringe
Please no more hip hop, although this is a bit more musical and interesting than most.
Super dated and way too long
Mixed bag, singles, skits and weird sci fi that doesnt go anywhere
не мое, ну и давно прям неинтересного не было - 2.5
This sounds like it was made in a lab to be the most dated, dorky sounding late 80's rap album ever made. 3/10 and lucky to just slip out of 1 star range.
hmmmmmm kinda neutral Will I listen to again: 5%
I guess I'm a bit confused about the conceit of Sex Packets. Humpty Dance is cool though.
These guys are horny af 2/5
This is incredibly annoying Best Song: Humpty Dance Rating: 3.5/10 Stars: 2
2,4/5
This album has aged horribly. Boom bap records always sound somewhat dated just due to how quickly hip hop has progressed in 40 years, but this record has the unfortunate distinction of having lyrical content that isn’t exactly acceptable in 2026. I did enjoy certain points of this album and I definitely hear some sounds that influenced other acts such as OutKast.
Wow these guys are really obsessed with s-e-x. It could be worse, I guess.
Repetitive
was fun for a few songs but got old really quick
A hip to the hop and the hip hop hippity. Good rhymes but just sounds a little corny
Meh get your big pickle schnauzer out of here.
This album is silly, pronounced with an "illy"
not my thing
RATING: 5.5/10 HIGHLIGHT: The Humpty Dance LOWLIGHT: Gutfest '89
Strangely, for any album that is almost entirely about sex it is incredibly corny. Theres a moment in one if the songs where they talk about having to stop and put a condom on. Which like, yeah let's practice safe sex, but it seems kind of shoe horned into the verse and doesn't really add or say anything. Most of the album is like this. I find it really disappointing because sex is such an easy topic to use word play with, look at Cupcakke, who's lyrics are obscene but incredibly smart and well written. The most i can say is that it's definitely a party, except for the moments where rhe flow kind of stops to talk about condoms. 4/10
Not awful, but I don't get why it's here. Nothing special.
Um its ok. Over rated I think
Kinda surprised this is on the list? The Humpty Dance is iconic of course, but I guess I had assumed Digital Underground didn't do anything else notable. Some pieces are good here, the rapping all throughout is surprisingly competent and the sampling is inspired and tasteful. It's just that some of the tracks simply go on too long for no real reason. Maybe a product of its time. I'm also not really following the "concept" that's supposedly here either. Although I guess the album's title spells it out pretty clearly...Quite the concept...
not my scene
I don't mean to be a prude or sex negative but like this album just comes off insanely objectifying the way it talks about women 💀 It was so intense and constantly self referential that I'm genuinely not sure if this was meant to be a concept album or satirical or something?? If I'm the one missing the point that's my bad but uhhh regardless of those opinions I didn't feel like it was good music. It felt like the fresh prince but bad
why did I commit to listening to 1.5 hours of this on the plane
sex n objectification stuff aside it is just really cheesy and dated. Maybe I been spoiled by other projects of this time but this is the kind of artist that has a a song in the background of a live action TMNT movie somehow. It just is bad! I couldn't finish it. Giving a 2 as there were some moments of fun production.
pretty decent beats. only good thing i can say really
Probably the worst bars I've heard in my life, the beats are ok but jesus...
It was kinda fun in a corny, pre-gangster rap hip hop kinda way, but I’m never gonna listen to this again
Very much not a record you need to listen to before you die. There’s some funny moments and clever deliveries buried under a bunch of dated sounds, references, and lyrics. But nothing else to report of here. “Underwater Rimes” was a pretty cool little story. I wish there was more goofy, harmless ideas instead of corny sexualizations of women like “Freaks Of The Industry”. It sounds like the album cover 2/5
Definitivamente sexual. Divertido, musicalmente interesante.
I don't find interesting enough so far. While I think it's well made and well produced, I look for other things in hip hop records usually. The production, while fine, isn't especially exciting except for some points. Couldn't really catch anything very special about the rapping aswell. Kind of middle of the road laid back hip hop album from the 90's. I understand that it supposed to be a classic, but I'm not sure it is for me. Not at all. Can feel the good intentions but it's not for me. Can't give more than a 2 unfortunately
1. The Humpty Dance (★★★☆☆) -Vale más el ritmo que el "canto"... 2. The Way We Swing (★★★☆☆) -Samplea a Hendrix y eso verdaderamente le da el toque... lo demás son negradas, cantos típicos de un negro yankee estimo, que por suerte no entiendo, pero no creo que le sume nada a nada, bien podría ser la instrumental sola y más valdría. 3. Rhytmin' on the Funk (★★☆☆☆) -El ritmo está más o menos, como dos estrellas, y el cantito de los negros resta y resta... 4. The New Jazz (★★⯨☆☆) 5. Underwater Rimes (★★⯨☆☆) 6. Gutfest '89 (★⯨☆☆☆) 7. The Danger Zone (★★☆☆☆) -Dos estrellas a la instrumental y 0 a los negros que hacen ruidos vocales... 8. Freaks of the industry (★⯨☆☆☆) 9. Doowutchyalike (★★☆☆☆) -Se me hizo eterna... 10. Packet Prelude (★★☆☆☆) 11. Sex Packets (★☆☆☆☆) 12. Street Scene (★☆☆☆☆) 13. Packet Man (★★★☆☆) -Tres estrellas por la base, lo demás no lo considero. 14. Packet Reprise (★☆☆☆☆) TOTAL = ★★☆☆☆ (2)
meh
This surely is a concept album with an… interesting concept. I don’t even want to get into the moral implications of the „sex packets“. But man, this thing is musically exhausting. Every single song goes on for way too long. Every interesting idea gets stretched out for WAY too long to the point that it looses any semblance of what made it intriguing in the first place. This was just a disappointing listening experience. There are traces of genius, no question - but they get buried in way too much fluff.
3/10
Load bearing parliament samples. Not unenjoyable but way too long. Funny at times and decent flow but just wears out it’s welcome. The title track is a genuinely interesting sci fi premise!
It was an Ok album. Very 90’s hip hop.
Not my style but I can appreciate the musicianship.
Got "The Predator" by Ice Cube yesterday who dropped his first solo album the same year this came out. It must be said the difference between the two is night and day when it comes to rhymes, flow and production. Cube is one the greatest of course, but this sounds old and bad because it is.
2 out of 5. Something struck me listening to this album: do modern hip hop albums teach their listeners a dance anymore or is that outdated?
boppy fun little vibe. fun to jam to and such a classic 90's feel. the group hip hop sound is always a good time.
5/10
..
Hmm ...some of the lyrics a bit prepubescent .I won't listen again because not minding some of the music is not a recommendation
Sounds very dated and of very little musical importance. Less abrasive than other hip hop.
Rap
Normally a fan of hip hop, but this seems so off the mark of where American hip hop would be at this time, lyrics wouldn’t have been fine today, so a bit cringe, was a chore to finish it
It's fine!
oh I remember some of these. 2
I'm conflicted with this one, I think it was pretty good but then a few of the songs sounded exactly the same as others. Its better than a 2 but not quite a 3 for me.
The early 1990s were full of artists pushing boundaries, often through sexually explicit content and profane lyrics. Albums with the Parental Advisory sticker became irresistible to curious kids, and Sex Packets by Digital Underground was one of those records. Aside from "The Humpty Dance," I was almost completely unfamiliar with the album. There’s no shortage of explicit content here, but the bigger issue is the album’s juvenile, often sexist humor, which frequently reduces women to punchlines and objects of conquest. Beyond the nostalgia hit of “The Humpty Dance,” the record quickly becomes repetitive, with most songs running several minutes longer than they need to. While I would gladly choose this album over many of the other rap albums on the 1001 Albums list that also focus on gats, drugs, and gang violence, I truly expected to enjoy it more than I did. Instead, by the end of its bloated 66-minute runtime, I was a bit exhausted and felt like I needed a shower.
Kinda fun, very misogynistic and the kind of shit British people would have elevated to #1 for 16 weeks.
The concept is maybe the most interesting thing about this album. It was way too long.
Something about this period of hip hop does not click with me.
Audacious reference to 17yo girls
Middle of the road and a bit forgettable.
4/10 - too immature for me, a little bit of fun but I can't even imagine any of these songs in a club
good ols school beats, bad lyrics
pela capa eu tava esperando algo muuuuito pior pqp é só esquisito e datado, muitas vezes cansado, mas não é horrível
I was excited about The New Jazz (one) it's the only track I didn't mind listening to on the album which says more about my own musical taste than what this album is.
The best part of this was the reminder to go listen to Chameleon for the billionth time.
I liked the fish song
Can't say I much enjoyed that.
When I first read it I thought it said Sex Pistols, clicked the link and the humpty dance came on… there was a real cheesy period of rap and this fit right in that. I can get down at times, but only a 2.3 for me.
More dreary hip hop. It’s not terrible to be fair but you don’t need to listen to it.
Definitely dated and not really my cup of tea.
Ahhhhhhh eeeeeeeee I don't know about this one Jim
It's fine I guess. The Humpty Dance is enough of a classic, but my god is the album version long! The rest kinda just blends into the rest of the sort of hip hop of it's time.
Meh (although I liked The Humpty Dance)
Why is every song over 5 minutes long? The Humpty dance was kind of fun, but not fun enough to justify this albums inclusion on the list. Too drawn out and way too much misogyny for me to enjoy.
Every song went on for twice as long as it needed to. It all sounded quite basic.
Pretty goofy and in retrospect uncool rap and hip hop.
Wow. I couldn’t make it through.
Songs were too long for me!
Respectfully… “Gross.”
⭐️⭐️ i already listened to this about a year ago (before using this site to track progress), and i think one listen is enough for the most part. first couple tracks are fun but after that, there's very little worth wasting over an hour of my time to listen to
Niet mijn hiphop
Pretty lame album. Ridiculously repetitive and the dumbest lyrics. Barely makes a 2.
I feel like a nice big bowl of cereal after listening to this album.
As if Frank Zappa produced the most obnoxious rap music ever made …
Meh. It has that old school hip-hop sound that I'm just not crazy about. Although I can see why this may have been both influential and controversial in its day, as it's pretty raunchy and covers some topics that were not this explicitly (pun intended) talked about in 1990. The whole "Sex Packet" suite thing at the end of the album is mildly entertaining, but that's about the only redeeming quality.
“I once got busy in a Burger King bathroom!” This Humpty guy comes on pretty strong. It’s sometimes fun and the beats sound pretty good. It’s also obviously dated and the writing is more jarring as the album goes on. I’d like to be in on the joke and have a laugh with everyone, but man I was grimacing by the end of this. The central concept seems like something a teenager came up with with his friends during a particularly rowdy lunch period. Call me a killjoy, I guess. It’s also burdened by long track times. The 65 minute length would be par for the course for a 90s hip hop album, but the songs themselves are simply too long. I’m rating it higher for the production and influence, but at a certain point I just could not wait for the album to end. Alas I cannot match their freak. Nice and also weird to hear my guys The Who get name-dropped.
Started thinking this could be a 4. Too long and got much worse as the album went on.
Platitude non pertinente.
I like the guy in "The Way We Swing" who sounds like Jimmy Stewart... "The way we schwing" Oh! He comes back as MC Blowfish in "Underwater Rimes" 😂 I'm not sure you can really call this a concept album when the "concept" is only really explored in the last 4 songs.
Underwhelmed and puzzled by a lot of the musical choices made. There are times where this album really clicks, but those moments are drowned in cringey lyrics, dated meta humor, and songs drawn out impossibly long. Maybe this album would have been better to listen to when it first came out, but it comes off as incredibly dated if nothing else. A few gems and a lot of skippable if more popular songs. Top tracks: Underwater Rimes, The Danger Zone
Not a great album. Very 80’s
Ennuyeux et répétitif, c'est pas un excellent moment à passer en 2026. L'album a bien vieilli et ne se laisse pas écouter si facilement. Note : 2 À réécouter : Non
Nah
Cause I know I'm the poop, steaming hot Really funky samples and parts of the album are fun, but the runtime is quite long for no real reason. "Doowutchyalike" even makes a joke about it. 2.5 but can't so 2
The music and rapping is definitely above average for the era, but the relentless and empty sexual content is pretty much incel shit before we exactly knew what to call it. I could have gone as high as 3 stars given the Humpty Dance, but it starts the album and I got beaten down by the end.
Humpty Dance is fun. I didn't really care for the rest
It’s ok if you don’t pay much attention. But it’s also super weird once you notice you shouldn’t “don’t pay much attention”.
Goodness, just raps from some of the horniest dudes on this list. The Humpty Dance is always a fun song, but from there I really wasn't all that interested. Definitely won't be coming back for a second listen of this album.
This didn't really do much for me. I like some 80's/90's hip hop, but this didn't hit it. I never really got into a rhythm with any of the songs, much less the album.
Records like this are called "one-hit wonder albums". They pop up relatively infrequently on this list, and for good reason: there just isn't much justification for their inclusion. This is an album compilation, not an "iconic songs" playlist. Pablo Honey didn't make the list, but Sex Packets did? Unacceptable. The Humpty Dance is undeniably iconic. Everybody and their hip-hop-crazed mother knows the line "do the humpty-hump": it's up there with "dolla dolla bills y'all" and "mama said knock you out". Great little snippets of horn lines and backing vocals to punctuate Digital Underground's lead vocals. And just about the most "golden age hip-hop" sound you can imagine. It turns out, when the lyrics aren't horrifically misogynistic, rapey, or violent, the genre accidentally creates a masterpiece or two. Cool hook-melody in The Way We Swing, although after the first six minutes it gets a little stale. The guys bar-singing that melody at the fadeout is pretty sweet, though. Underwater Rimes rips the bassline from the Hancock-penned jazz standard Chameleon. The track itself is barely passable but much, much worse than any big-band dub over that sweet bassline. I have no clue what's happening lyrically in Gutfest '89 but it's pretty gross and I'm glad those 6 minutes are behind me. The bassline in Freaks Of The Industry is worth a shoutout: it's easily the highlight of the track. Reminiscent of Let There Be More Light (which is itself one of Pink Floyd's strongest basslines). Great laid-back piano solo towards the end. This is the strongest track so far, barring the lead single. Doowutchyalike tosses all of that freaky goodness aside, making way for an unremarkable 9-minute slog with some scattered decent moments. The best moment, though, is the moment of silence in the middle. And at this point we have so much wasted time on one record that I can't give this anything higher than 2 stars. Trim it down, Digital Underground. I'm on the fence about the title track. It commits to this mysterious thin-textured mood that doesn't really appeal to me. The lyrics are weak and nearly identical to the next full-length song, Packet Man. But the latter is infinitely more musically interesting, so that one passes the check. Great bluesy guitar riff. Not a fan of the large number of interludes (4 out of 14 tracks). Interludes can work in small numbers, assuming they add something musically interesting to the preceding and succeeding tracks. Really the only role they perform in Sex Packets is breaking up the lengthier tracks. (Seriously. Pretty much every full-length track here is between 5 and 9 minutes long.) To its credit, The New Jazz (One) is solid, but would have worked significantly better as a full-length track. 2/5 Key tracks: The Humpty Dance, Freaks Of The Industry, Packet Man
The first track is kind of epic in its own right. But in all this is not for me. It felt like the production was actually pretty good.
Why is every song at least 7 minutes long? I just don't get it. Honestly you almost could just listen to the Humpty Dance and then turn this album off.
Sex Packets was the nickname Len Houmous coined for Ken Chutney after they had a night out with Gladys Knight’s Pips. 2.4 2/14 The Way We Swing
Dated and not something I'd really want to listen to, fun at times and some ok beats.
Bit of funk but of rap but not overwhelming. Didn’t stick.
Low/mid 2. First rap record I haven't vibed with here, just felt too goofy
Not my thing vry fun tho
Not the sex packets I've been wishing for
Some interesting songs on there, but mostly underwhelming.
Aged prod, poor delivery, uninteresting lyrics, long-winded... Nothing disgusting, but I'm still searching what this thing was trying to offer.
Was very excited when this album started off with a strong hip hop beat. But this first track is absolutely ridiculous. The lyrics don’t take themselves seriously at all. I do really like the bassline in the background and the cadence of the lyrics though. The lead singer has a very very smooth and enunciated voice which is nice to listen to. Simple rhyme schemes make this easy listening. I love how meta it is calling out the bassline in the break. The Way We Swing starts off a lot mellower and slower than the first track. I really really like this one. A much more mature sound while still having fairly unserious lyrics. More tame bassline with a bit more reliance on the main guitar lick. Not a huge amount to say about Rhymin on the Funk. Was okay I guess? Oh I love the false starts in The New Jazz (One). Oh just a tiny track? That’s a shame because it was sounding great. Underwater Rimes starts with a very funky spoken intro. Really like the distorted ad-libs in the background. This album really is just not for me. Listened to another 5 tracks there. If I have to hear them refer to biscuits one more time I’m not finishing this record. It’s just not for me. Lyrics are terrible. My favourite part of this album was when I took my headphones off to wash my face.
There’s better 90’s hip hop to listen to
This really hit that beautiful mark of this is hilarious and I don’t know that it meant to be. Dimmery what are you doing to me. I don’t know, this thing is funny if you don’t take it seriously. Like the way we schwing? Yeah goes from this is funny to insanely bad. Why is every song 7 minutes long. All the sex packet related songs were so bad and gross and just terrible. Not even charmingly funny or anything. Won’t be returning to this one at all but glad to know the humpty dance now that my dad has been referencing for my whole life.
Completely new to me, as the Humpty Dance wasn't a hit in the UK. I'm not sure we were missing much. The concept could actually have been interesting because the idea of substituting technology for sex is more relevant now than it was in 1990. It could have been a prescient exploration of how that might affect human intimacy. It isn't, of course. It's a silly adolescent fantasy about making women disposable (and men, but mostly women). Oh well
I like the music—good beats, some jazz mixed in, lots of samples. I can see a path from here to someone like Thundercat. But I don’t think it’s aged particularly well, especially the lyrics. It was undeniably novel when it came out and there are some fun moments, like “Rhymin’ on the Funk.” In general, I liked the first half better, when they are establishing their approach and their flow. The second half, a kind of sex fantasy concept album, fell flat for me.
Not my area
You hear how outdated this is and attribute it to its age but then you realise Tribe would drop The Low End Theory just a year later, Public Enemy had already put out multiple classics, you had Rakim in the same era who blows the rapping on this album out of the water and you wonder how this album has made it on the list. The Humpty Dance is a cool opener but it goes on for WAAAAY too long which is a pretty good summation of this album (why is the second song seven whole minutes long??) I guess the best thing about this album is its strong P-Funk influence and some may find the concept funny but on the whole this album really shows its age.
I guess this sort of a missing link between the 80s Run DMC stuff and the gangsta rap to come but it came across more cringey than both. Lots of things that don't make sense here, I'm left with a lot of questions. Is he saying he's strange looking because he is Humpty Dumpty, or is it just a name? Does he actually look weird? Why are there two tracks about a conceptual sex drug? Actually liked the beat on the first one, probably my favourite track. Didn't fully understand this but I know I didn't like it.
the funkadelic baselines were fun but it got old past "the humpty dance"
It is not that it sucks but it's just hip-hop and I skipped almost every track. 1,5
Musically these guys are competent, if not very original. The lyrics are juvenile, but sometimes fun.
Some unreal basslines but more sex pest than anything
Too horny
Not bad but not great, way too horny for a Wednesday morning
2/5
The sound isn't entirely terrible. But it is terribly dated, especially the lyrics. And far too long. Cut it in half and you'd have a much better album that would score a point higher perhaps. Even with the lyrics.
I had doubts about this immediately after seeing the title Sex Packets, and my doubts were confirmed after listening to just the first track, “The Humpty Dance.” Hearing an MC who unironically calls himself “Humpty” rapping lines like “I’m spunky” and “I once got busy in a Burger King bathroom” was simply dreadful. The rest of the album was similarly plagued by faux-macho, misogynistic rubbish. I’m refraining from giving this one star, though, because by the end of the album, I couldn’t help but think that the majority of the backing beats were actually rather good. If you were to shave about 25 minutes off this, completely redo the rhymes with a better flow, and shift the content toward themes you’d hear on a funk record, you might have something quite good. Another thought stayed with me, specifically the line “Does this record bother you? If so, you need to leave it alone” I think I’ll follow that advice.
They really thought they were cookin with this sex packet stuff…they were not.
Lots of questionable dated stuff here. The Humpty Dance is always a fun tongue-in-check jam. After that we get into women’s bodies and rape along with sci-fi sex and rapping about how good at rapping we are. Just doesn’t do it for this amount of time…
I only knew The Humpty Dance. Not my favorite hip hop album. The lyrics were overly sexual and misogynistic.
vile album title
Funky but not for me.
Old-school rap album that feels really dated, is named after condom wrappers, and that comes across as really misogynistic. I didn't hate listening to it when I wasn't paying attention to the words. The music is fine if old sounding. The lyrics are dumb as hell, though.
I don’t mind the sound of this but it felt long. Gutfest 89 was quite fun? And I liked the radio spoken word interludes and announcements
Normally I’m into sillier lyrics, but these are just so corny and delivered in such a sleepy way that I just can’t get into it. Then it’s only worsened by the fact that every song goes on for so long
"The Humpty Dance" is an incredible piece of work but what a fucking 180 degree turn into "The Way We Swing" I mean jesus christ i'm not gonna pretend I know what to say about this album. I don't. I'll give them this: no one will ever be able to say this album isn't interesting to listen to. Whatever it is, it's not boring!
RIP Shock G. Starts off really strong (the delight in this man’s voice when he says “yeah I called ya fat, look at me I’m skinny” makes me laugh 100% of the time) and then just kind of keeps going. One of my favorite things to do is try to spot things that influenced an artist and, in turn, things they have themselves influenced. The intro to Gutfest '89 very helpfully did this for me by listing a bunch of artists with whom Digital Underground have chosen to associate with themselves at this fictional event. The Who, The Clash, Miles Davis, Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock. Gives us a good idea of where Digital Underground see themselves.
I usually like funk, really wasn’t enjoying this
5/10 – Mediocre
Funny nonsense.
The opener is a fun song. The second track insanely repetitive…a vibe that continued thoughout. No need to revisit this one. 2/5
dit album is uiterst geschikt voor mensen die lijden aan slapeloosheid... na twee minuten lig je gegarandeerd in dromenland
Tää oli ihan hauskaa kiimaräbää, mut loppua kohti vitsi alkaa olla aika kulunut. 2/5
Erm, some interesting tracks in here but doesn’t quite reach the bar for 3
Estuvo bien, no lo volvería a escuchar porque se me hizo muy repetitivo.
I probably have a screed to write about how hip hop doesn’t hold up very well (largely because it is ever-shifting and evolving in ways both good and bad) but Sex Packets, while perhaps the ideal subject for that analysis, is not quite worth the time despite the affection I once had for it (and somewhat perplexed feelings as I really was too young to get some of it in the phys. ed. sense). DU gave birth to a character I genuinely didn’t know was an alter ego until much later in life and also Tupac. There’s a lot here and also not very much at all beyond token novelty.
Interesting. My standout song is ‘Packet Reprise’ and that says a lot because it’s the only song without lyrics.
I still don't really know what a sex packet is.
Weird sexual album with some sexual themes that honestly aged like milk in the hot sun. It's a shame too as songs at the start like the humpty dance and underwater rimes are a lot of fun, but once it hits gutfest it gets real weird
I'm sure it is good but it's not my thang.
it was fine but overall boring. listening to this knowing tupac came from this group is like listening to up all night after hearing pillowtalk first
When I signed up to do this project, there was a sense of resignation when it came to the high likelihood that I would completely hate some of the albums, but I committed to listening to them with an open mind. This one elicited so many cringes it’s a miracle I didn’t turn it off before the end. It’s so painfully stupid. I refuse to give it too much credit for having some good, funky beats because the rhymes and flow are so immensely corny, dated, and childishly horny. Still, the beats and production earn it 2 stars rather than 1. There was so much good hip hop in this era, I don’t get why this one made the list.
Funk is good. Rhymes is good. Stop the presses! I think I'm done.
I'm sorry, I gotta hear this why?
This might have been iconic or groundbreaking at the time, but it has not aged well. Mid bars and boring production. Another reason East Coast >>>>> West Coast
Found it kinda of funny for some songs but with beats that didn't move me. I can appreciate how others would later build on it, but I wouldn't listen to it again
boring song loop over and over
Props on them for sounding pretty 90's in just 1990, but hiphop got a lot better later on imo. Faves: The Humpty Dance, Doowutchyalike
Cool album cover. Certainly sounds like the 90s. Doowutchyalike was an interesting song with the radio fade break. Never really got into this one.
The "Humpty Dance" was okay, but the rest was sadly puerile.
This doesn't even crack the top ten hip hop albums for 1990. Some pretty bad tracks on this one
For a time and place, it’s good stuff! Felt very same-same? For general listening, not for me.
It was that good old school vibe but probably wouldn’t listen through again on my own
It was okay, interesting that they were the intellectual rap group. I need some heat soon tho generator, I’m not playin.
Maybe not every single song needs a 4 minute outro
Listenable rap.
Chapa
2.9
Looks like I came up Gutfest a day early. Would’ve been much happier with Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea and Miles Davis
Undoubtably influential, deeply weird. Someone had to keep the party going while Chuck D was yelling about politics and Eazy-E about slinging dope. Managing to bring the party while also making a concept album about a sci-fi digital sex drug is an accomplishment in itself.
It will never not make me laugh that they put time, effort, and energy into creating some kind of sci-fi alternate universe and it came out corny as fuck. 2/5
I'm not sure which is more problematic, the music or the lyrical content
Is this good? No, not really. Does it represent an era? Unfortunately, yes messy cultural snapshot of the late 80's It hasn’t aged well, but there is some genuinely interesting music buried in here, like corn in a turd. It’s not 2 Live Crew-level chaos, but let’s not pretend it’s high art either.
Garbage.
Not really my cup of tea, but never got to the point of absolute loathing.
Wasn’t really into this. The Way We Swing uses the riff from Who Knows (Hendrix) in such an obvious way that it seems insulting. Using the bass line for Chameleon in Underwater Rimes also just provoked an eye roll. The songs are overly long and all stagnate. I do get that if I had heard this when it came out I would more than likely have a different opinion, and for it’s time, it’s ok.
Not really my cup of tea
6/10 Favourite: The Humpty Dance Least Favourite: The Danger Zone
Yep.
Gracioso pero no me liaria.
If you take it for how silly and immature it is, it's not bad and pretty funny but I'd never listen to this twice.
Not sure this album is a change changer or one that everyone should listen to in their lifetime. It has two tracks I like and that it's. I would rate it one but that means it's as bad as the Mekons, which it is are not! Sadly Two stars are a stretch 🫤
I was not into this one. The Humpty Dance totally caught me off guard, and it kind of irked me. The context that this album is meant to be commentary/a satirical concept album is very important, because I didn't know that until after the fact and was a little disgusted. That being said, I do think it's well-made and a good example of hip-hop/funk. But I couldn't get into the actual music, and I was really not into the song where a woman was moaning in the background the whole time. I don't think this album aged particularly well. I did like that they had some fun concepts, like Underground Rimes and the gutfest song that started with a commentator/announcer.
bro needs to take a cold shower and take a walk. I understand that during this time period the rap that was being put out was mainly political statements but this album is to horny for me to really enjoy without laughing out due to the weirdness of the bars
Okay I listened to this is 3 parts as I was running errands today (Nov 13). As such I'm doing notes from memory. This album is hilarious and idk I think it's only partially intentional. I love this era of hip hop but I was asking myself is this an important record in the history of hip hop? I don't know much about it but crazy if true! Humpty Dance is actually sick, that bassline is so cool, never heard something like that before. Love this dudes voice. Underwater Rimes into Gutfest '89 is what kinda lost me. The rest of the record felt like a novelty. The mobster verse in Underwater Rimes had me cackling in the car tho. 1-2 seeee.. well I'm a deep sea gangsta, underwater pranksta, kissin all the girl fish, dissin all the ??? Freaks of the Industry I actually kinda liked too haha, I'm into these story-songs, a friend bragging to another friend, like "this is what I did...", Pharcyde is my reference here. A couple nice piano moments scattered throughout! Track 11 is when we learn that this is an insane concept record (read wiki)????? Packet Man had me laughing in the grocery store.
"your wife looks just like a fat blue grouper" Starts off big with Humpty Dance. That bassline is bonkers. I love when he sings to the bassline in the middle lmao. I guess I liked Slick Rick back in the day, but otherwise this sort of funky funny rap from the 90s was never my jam. That being said I do love newer funny rap (YN Jay, RXK Nephew, Rio da Yung OG, Lil B, etc. etc.) so I will rock with this and see how we do. Underwater Rimes is great lmao. The underwater mouth sounds that repeat. Had to look up whether this album invented the 'hip hop skit'. I guess consensus is De La Soul beat them to it a year earlier but still pretty cool that this tradition still lives on. Haven't thought about it intentionally in a while but it is suuuuuch a cool generic tradition fuck. I think mainly what brings me out of it are the drum grooves. I've never liked the swung beats of the 90s and at the end of the day, the beats are so much of what keep me around. OK the sampling on 'Sex Packets' is beautiful. Those first 12 seconds had me like confused in the best way. PACKET REPRISE!
This is a lot of long, meandering raps. I checked out for a lot of it. But Underwater Rimes got me back. Did Marlon write this?
As far as Hat Rap goes this isn’t too horrible. But not the most fun. It’s so long! And I get it guys, yall are Horny bois. God damn. Relax.
Ugh, I guess they make good use of some samples but why do so many hip hop acts feel the need to be so juvenile? It put me in mind of going on dating apps and being bombarded by men looking for ‘dirty talk’, sexy pics or demanding to come to your house/place of work immediately for sex. Tedious and something I don’t wish to repeat ever again. 1.5
I do not love this
great grooves but the lyrics did not age well. theres also no reason each song needs to be 6 minutes or more. if you chopped this down to runtimes that dont let the beat get stale its probably a 3.
This feels very much of its time. The 80s. Hip hop, before it took so much Rap and R&B influence. Similar vocals to Fresh Prince of Bellaire.
- Enjoying the funk of the beats and sampling, the production is clean, too, except for everything being way too long. - The lyrics are pretty bad in a lot of spots (like the entire Underwater Rimes). I know it was the 90s, so it’s definitely dated in that respect. - I started getting pretty tired of the album at the second half of doowutchyalike. Then, it got sexist and explicit. Call me a prude, but I don’t want to hear explicit sex stories from random dudes. - The first half of the album, I liked enough, the second half, I strongly disliked. That whole sex packet thing went on waaaay too long. Was going to rate it a 3, but knocked it down after the second half.
Not my thing, but, okay sure.
it's fun how early rap sounds so slow like they're actually under water. still dont have patience to listen something like this without skipping. but i can see it working as a background music
Tried listening to this before since I heard it was similar to Dr. Octagon's Dr. Octagonecologyst. Honestly, couldn't disagree more. The concept I guess is in the same realm, but it's just not as interesting or funny for me as Dr. Octagon is. Combine that with the more old school rapping/rhyming, and the incredibly repetitive beats (along with the songs a lot of times being overly long), and I'm just not feeling this. Nothing in it is really offending me, it's just nothing is interesting to me either.
My childhood memories didn’t live up to my adult experience.
Some nice ideas but doesn't work for me
I love hip hop and was excited to explore a piece of its roots, but I can't say I liked this much. There are some creative moments, but the project is too long and inconsistent.
Masterclass in sampling, but I don't love the final product. It's a shame Humpty Dance opens the album as it's easily the weakest track. I don't resonate a lot with this style but more importantly there's not a lot of ebb and flow with these tracks. They seem pretty same-y overall.
Funky
This 🤝 Be Here Now Almost ending the album with an incredibly long repetitive song, then following it up later with a 'reprise' that no one asked for.
How are you gonna call an album Sex Packets and then wait until the album's three quarters of the way done to introduce the thing you named the album after? Also, every song on this album is 3 minutes too long, except the two 30 second interludes and the title track. Fun ideas and a somewhat fun delivery, but this album could be cut down to 5 tracks and not lose much.
Did he seriously just say a woman was diseased for weighing 66 pounds?
It started out okay...and I am not a prude, but it was just all sex and just got dull after a while. Yes that was the concept of the album, taking a sex pill but it was just over and over freak sex from a dude's perspective. So it just really was one note and not all that great. The rhymes and rapping were slow and obvious, nothing impressive or different. There were some cool funkadelic beats and they overlaid it with some new more electronic sounds but those didn't save it from being overly reliant on their need to have freaky sex and remind everyone they are the underground. Things towards the end just drug...Doowutchyalike did not need to be that long and then packet had like five songs surrounding it. The concept was just not enough to save this one.
This is one tedious, stupid album. There are a couple of fun, vapid songs like "Humpty Dance" and "Doowutchulike," but all go on way too long and are repetitive as hell. And, lyrically, there's nothing there, just empty, cartoonish back and forth that gets old very quickly. And the elements that are interesting such as jazz interludes here and there pass by quickly and are gone, replaced by another monotonous song about the wonders of using condoms (or some magic sex pill?) A puerile slog of an album
# 592 : Sex Packets "Cringe" - I still don't like Rap / Hip Hop. I'd give it one star, but a couple of things were ok, so 2 stars... maybe.
This was long and some of the songs were not great.
This is bad 1990s hip hop. It is so dated; the 1990 sound is practically a time and date stamp. Very trebly and vocals way high in the mix, and over an hour long. It’s so amusingly low effort and dated, I can’t even rouse myself to hate it.
Humpty is still good
I like a few tracks but I was starting to get tired by the middle of the album. I feel like I have just been so used to modern rap that I am not accustomed to hearing 90s rap which is a whole different ballgame in terms of rhythms and lyrics and meaning. I disliked the album more than I liked so for that reason it is getting a 2 instead of a 3.
90s hip hop, a bit too obvious for my taste but it was good fun
Not for me
Honestly, I didn't enjoy this which was unexpected. Outside of Humpty Dance (which is fantastic), it's a pretty mediocre 80's rap album.
there’s a beautiful piece of piano randomly on this album. other then that, definitely showing its age. what’s a sex packet?
Not sure why this is here..
The way this started maan idk its just a weird one. High 2 I guess?
"Cause I know I'm the poop Steaming hot Stinking up the dance floor"
I found this album unserious and uninteresting. There was not much to redeem this one. I listened though but not necessarily glad I did.
I guess I should t be surprised sex packets is horny as hell
Utdatert, pubertal one-hit-wonder fra nittitallet. Lett fengende i flekkan, men kunne likegodt vært Aqua...
Tällasia on kuultu jo ylltätävän monta haasteen aikana. Toistaa melko liiaksi itseään.
Humpty Dance carries. 2.5 stars
Yeah, this is the kind of hip-hop I don't like one bit. Lazy, dreadful lyrics, and a chore to get through. Two stars.
I mean, maybe it was influential?
I'm sorry, I tried
5,2/10
Jeg kommer nok ikke til at høre det igen, men der er lidt humor og selvironi, som har manglet i noget af det andet rap, jeg har været igennem.
This album feels very dated. It was hard enough getting through the first song let alone the full 65 minutes. Not for me.
I mean, it's loooooonnnnnnngggggg. A concept album about genetics and sex and whatever - I'm sure it was hilarious when they came up with it. Considering they sample so much P-Funk you could argue this is a George Clinton off shoot, it's amazing how much I don't want to dance. Well done. I never need to word "humpty" ever again. It's doing a lot of heavy lifting. Best Tracks: The Humpty Dance; Rhymin' on the Funk; Packet Man
Nagy hatással van erre a rap albumra a funk, pl.Rhymin’ on the Funk szamukon megjelenik a Pralamient - Flaslight témája is. Szövege nem irodalmi, inkább a körülményekre reflektív, semmi mélyebb igazsagot,megfejtest nem tartalmaz. Underwater Rimes cámokun Herbue Hancock Chameleon basszus témája.
To nie tak, że nie bujało. Bardzo rytmiczny, lekki rap. Ale te teksty, jezu te teksty. Jestem kobietą i dostałam skrętu kiszek z tej żenady. Gdybym chciała godzinę słuchać o tym jak ktoś jest napalony to odpaliłabym sobie redpillowego youtube’a. Odejmuję gwiazdkę za ten przestarzały duch. 4.5/10
This undeniably sucks, but it's sort of charming. You can tell they had fun making this! I appreciate that -- but at the end of the day, it still sucks.
Well it was funny. I think it’s intentional. Peaked on track 1. I almost got up and did a little Humpty Dance all of my own.
That’s a lot of unpleasantness hanging off a couple of novelty songs.
humpty dumpty danced on a wall / humpty dumpty had a great fall
I dig the sci fi concept album. But man, I just couldn’t groove with this with how dated the production is.
A handful of classic party time hip hop tunes, but the songs/album are a bit to long for me
The songs are very long and I didn't find this to be super enjoyable.
Sorry - not my taste
2.5
Old school sex obsessed hip hop. It was pretty okay.
Mostly cheesy late 80s hip hop. Feels like a better representation of the genre exists to replace it on here.
Silly 90s hip hop about fucking. The sound isn’t amazing, the rapping voice is pretty bad.
Really feels dated. Some fun verses. Interesting combo at points of live instrumentals + beats. That said, it’s pretty hokey and repetitive.
Strange inclusion for me. Listenable and even enjoyable, but would have been dated at the time and probably should have been left where it was.
J - 2/5 Best Track - "The Humpty Dance"
Holy 90’s
not my fav
Of course the Humpty Dance was inescapable in 1990 but I had no idea how epically stupid Digital Underground was. So epic I had to give it an extra star. This is like an advil to temporarily clear up 90's nostalgia.
Not horrible, super outdated, crazy to see what other hip hop was being made around the same time and how superior most of that is to this.