Reviews (page 5 of 8)
Clownish, directionless HipHop with overly long songs while flows and rhymes are instantly dated and. corny
1.6 I lasted 4 songs. Might be one of the worst bits of hip hop I've heard. I thought the first track was a classic hip hop skit until it hit the 3 minute mark. The next 4 minutes were brutal. Tracks 2&3 weren't much better. Offensive to my ears and to humanity in general.
Awesome album, didn't listen to it back in the day. Glad I did now.
Pues no los conocía y he tenido que mirar quienes eran. Me ha gustado la canción que da título al album y otra del final que se llama "Packet man" que además se salen un poco del estándar rap a mi entender, aunque la más famosa es la primera y me han parecido interesantes las intros con sonidos y samples. No me ha parecido algo imprescindible.
Hasn’t aged as well as other rap albums of the era. A little too long a well 2.5/5
Did this album predict the coming internet porn crisis?
The production is simply amazing, the innovative mix of hip-hop and jazz, the sampling and the small musical moments like the ending of "Freaks of the Industry" are really good. Musically, this album is simply flawless. Shock G is great, charismatic and creates an interesting character in Humpty. The lyrics and flows are also very well crafted, and the group's talent, particularly Shock G's are undeniable. The biggest flaw I find with the album is the execution of the concept. The concept in itself is interesting enough, and the album cohesively builds around varied commentary about sex. But not all of it has aged too well. While the parody and exaggeration are certainly a big part of the concept, I feel like they miss the mark with the tone in some parts, for example, the women in cages in "Gutfest '89". There is relevant commentary about safe sex for example, and it's an interesting exploration of sexuality through a concept album, which is far ahead of its time in my opinion. To do this in an album that's musically so good should merit 5 stars. But I can't take away from the fact that what was an forward look on sex in the 80/90s, today just feels outdated in places that are too relevant to ignore.
Not bad but outdated.
Not my bag, good production tho
Typical hip hop. Not for me.
So, so, so, so, so long and quite dated. A few great hooks.
Faux-erotic jazz-hop of the highly unimpressive variety. How in the name of The Lord And Saviour Jesus Christ did this stupid concept of an album end up on such a list?
After seeing the album cover, album name, and the year it came out, I was very much not looking forward to listening to this album. It ended up being better than I expected. The beats were good. It made me want to move my body. The lyrics and the concept were silly and goofy but man these guys were horny. I enjoyed it being on but I can't imagine a scenario where I ever play these guys casually.
What a wild record. This is kind of amazing sexy hip hop. It’s absolutely too much and way over the top, but in its own way that kind of makes it great? A concept album about a futuristic pill that satisfies sexual desire?!? It’s ambitious, it’s silly, it’s groovy, it’s a mess. But it’s also kind of perfect. You can also hear how so much of this record influences contemporary rap and hip hop. Nikki Minaj or Megan Thee Stallion don’t happen without this record.
Enjoyed it while I was listening but didn't leave much of a lasting impression.
This was a hard one to decifer. So cheesy and corny on one hand, but some cool beats and catchy moments kept me entertained. I don't know if further listens will make me like it more or hate it. 6/10
Thank goodness music evolves
I recognized The Humpty Dance and liked it, but the whole album is pretty good. This is not a genre I would normally listen to but I would listen to this one again if I was in the mood.
Nice. Sex Packets is very nice track.
Bad 90s rap.
Aika average hiphoppia. Konsepti levy ilmeisesti, mutta aika häilyvästi. Kappaleet vähän turhan pitkähköjä. 2pacin alkuperäinen poppoo. Parhaat: The Danger Zone
The Humpty Dance is arguably the worst song on the album! The other tracks are muchhh better. I liked this more than expected.
'I use a word that don't mean nothin', like looptid.' For a goof, they get real on this one, conceptualizing the basic integration of sex and commerce: 'Yeah, one big stupid butt nest / And I'm'a get mine at Gutfest.' Shock G is not quite Lewis Carroll, but unlike other alternative rap outfits at the time (De La, Jungle, Tribe, etc.), he doesn't just know how to affirm w/ off-color rhymes, but he employs nonsense to make a whole lot of sense. 'The Humpty Dance' and 'Doowutchyalike' are funk classics, but the ingenuity of the record clarifies on the second track, which samples Hendrix's 'Who Knows' from Band of Gypsys. Not quite a perfect album, since it's too long and plods in moments, but it's an enduring product: 'it's so real - it is real.'
4.5
I’ve never heard about this before but I have to say just reading the album description on Wikipedia was worth the price of entry. Thing is it’s still early nineties hip hop. It’s not the worse of the genre because they have great samples but the rapping and overall production is just cringe.
Naff
Hip hop and funk you say? And it’s a concept album about a futuristic drug? You must have the wrong listener. Hope it’s someone else’s jam though.
Terrific fun when Humpty's on the mic, pretty bland when he's not. When Humpty's not around. all the other characters should be asking. "Where's Humpty?"
#552. This isn't terrible by any means, but this kind of thing is past it's prime and sometimes hard to get into if you didn't listen to this kind of thing at the time. 2/5: meh
I only know the Humpty Dance. Let’s see how this goes. “The way we swing” is a great song. I may end up loving this album. Just finished the third track and I really dig it. I love underwater Rimes. This album keeps getting better. It’s a shame it’s only really known for Humpty dance. This is so good. Finished the album. It’s fantastic.
I like my oatmeal lumpy.
Nuevamente tenemos disco y artista desconocidos completamente. Leyendo el artículo sobre la banda, veo que contó con el paso de Tupac Shakur, una leyenda del hip hop. Buen disco, ideal para escuchar de fondo y levantar y mantener la onda de una reunión colectiva o íntima. Hasta mañana.
This was ok. Never really been a fan of this band.
2/5
New album for me - ok sound and vibe 2/5 #musicsky #albumsky
Hard to believe 2pac was in this group. First four songs are decent although heavily sample driven. Changes by Band of Gypsies sounds good as a hip hop beat, but it should not have been nine minutes long. Lyrics aren't great, the flow is decent for the era, but nowhere near the level of Tribe, De La, or Public Enemy. Second half of the album runs out if gas and is not good
Fins bedre rap fra 90-tallet... Meh
Three US Hip Hop albums in a row and severe diminishing marginal returns. The luck of the draw means I can listen to this in the context of Public Enemy and Nas and comparatively this is thin fare indeed.
Horny 90- Tals rap, men med ganska mycket swagger och helt roliga moment
2.5
A little too explicit for me.
I went into this project telling myself that I would listen to everything and give it a proper chance - this is the first album (#542) that I just can't do that for. This does absolutely nothing for me.
Generic corny early 90s rap. I liked it a lot better in the early 90s.
Twenty-five years ago I would’ve given this five stars. I appreciated their heavy use of funk, predominantly Patent/Funkdelic, and sense of humor, especially against the backdrop of the rap scene at the time, which was leaning hard into gangsta rap. DU was more akin to the other bands of that era that I enjoyed, like Arrested Development and Trice Called Quest, but still unique. Now, the largely singular focus of one topic wears old and sad on me. The Humpty Dance is still a solid song, as is Dowhatchalike, but the rest just kind of fill me with - what is it the kids are calling it these days? - the ick? Yeah, that’s what it is. Oh, Underwater Rimes is pretty amusing. They rhyme “lobster” and “mobster,” so that’s a win. And Danger Zone is an interesting break with depth. If I heard this for the first time today it would probably only get 3/5, but I’ve listened to this album a hundred times in the past and struggle to give it less than 4.
Technical ability alone cannot save this record. On the surface, there’s nothing “wrong” with Sex Packets. The rapping is good, the flows are a bit dated but don’t strike you as stuck in the ‘80s right away, the beats are fun, and the lyrics are sharp. This record can be funny and fun and also sexy and also deep. On paper, there is nothing wrong here. It even has a hit single that’s proven it can stand the test of time, “The Humpty Dance,” and it’s still a lot of fun. But Sex Packets loses a lot of its strengths when it’s put into practice. For one, it is way too long. 14 songs is a long record anyway, regardless whether there’s skits and filler involved or not. That would mostly be tolerable, though. And yes, about half of this is skits, which inherently wastes space and is an issue, but a negligible one. No, the problem is that every song here seems to last an eternity. On the surface, I get it, these are dance records, and you have to keep people on the dance floor. But as hip-hop songs, they never evolve, and most of the time, the longer they go on with filler verse after filler verse, the more they get on my nerves. This is compounded by the fact that the majority of this record has the same bpm, uses similar beats, uses the same flow, and achieves the same vibe. It’s all Parliament-Funkadelic samples, all dance songs with the same flow, and all about hooking up with women. That’s not to say there isn’t some variety with “Gutfest ’89” or “The Danger Zone” bringing some depth to this record, or the smoother flow of the last quarter of the album from “Packet Prelude” to the end, but as a single-sitting, it all flows together to sound like one extended song about partying and hitting on women. The final result is stale. In a sense, the less I know about Digital Underground, the more I like them. If I heard any of these songs on their own– in their extended version or on a radio mix– and I had no further information about who made them, I’d probably say it’s a good song and I want to know more. But back to back to back, it’s all less than the sum of its parts. In the end, “The Humpty Dance” is maybe the most unique song here, and even that sounds very similar to the rest of this record. None of it’s outright bad, but very little here feels uniquely special. There’s so much good hip-hop to listen to, especially from this era, and it feels like a waste to spend energy on a goofy dance record with decent talent that never wows me.
“Cause I know I’m the poop. Steaming hot, stinking up the dance floor.” On another note why was this literally two years long.
Based purely off of the album art and title I know exactly what I’m stepping into with this album. Yep, no way, lo and behold it was a 90s rap concept album about sex. It looks dated, sounds dated, feels dated, smells dated, and tastes dated. Not to mention every track goes on for way too long. It was excruciating getting through this. The one point I’ll give this album is these guys were obviously just having fun and vibing. “No more will I ever have to jack it cause instead, I can just take a sex packet.” This is peak.
Ok. I made it halfway through before I couldn't take it anymore. Better than many, I thought.
This was a pretty wild trip. I went from bopping along happily, to laughing out loud, to cringing in discomfort, back to bopping (sometimes all on the same track).
Ow - typische 90er HipHpo. Tönt ächli wie Fresh Prince. Ehner langwielig.
cover het jo aaaaarsch usgseh. fick. aber hahaha de beat goht dumm "my name is humpty pronounced wth a umpty" hahahah die sind luuustig. hahaha wiener mitem bass mitmacht haaammer. scheisse uhuere funny. huere laang. the way we swing weird? glaub sehr 1990 verschiedeni hiphop richtige. seged nöd verbally raped alte. aber okay sust slappts no. die songs sind jo EEEEWIG. etz gohts drum zum länder ufzelle? ah ide phillipine hends au gern wie ihr swinged? okay. hahahaha even in cleveland okay jetz ischs wieder lustig. rhymin on the funk macheds mengmol sochli flow-wechsel. super. hahaha etz rededs vo poop. love it. find afoch z lang amel afoch beat. freaks of the industry insaaaane horny. dowitchalike seeehr funny. "sometime i dont rhyme" hahaha. haha de shit mitem fürd radios schomol usefade isch dehaaaammer. uuh good times sample. aber scho z lang chinde haha. packet man au wieder insano horny. fick. und au sehr problematisch. beats geil es isch immerno uf e art funny aber broooo.
mannnn iwie hert kei bock uf das gad es isch scho funny aber mier gad chli okee das mitem bass isch sehr funny hahaha zieht sich das jz durre? am wiederholt er eifachständig s gliche aber miteme andere land?? 2 vo 2 schomal nöd schlecht WISO GÖND DIE LIEDER E HALBSTUND ich finds scho so ehrlich gseit nöd unglaublich aber dass es denn auno so INSANE repetitiv muss sii cheggi nöd aso nei ich muss es vlt chli andersch sege: sie hend für die einzelne lieder immer wieder au kreativi ideä eigentlich, aber 1. entsprechet sie mier nöd so und 2. isch halt jedes 6 min lang?? freaks of the industry fändi na cool, wäred da die gschissne lyrics und s stöhne im hindergrund poah also d ahzahl vo wiederholige vo doowutchyalike enstpricht de minusstern wos für de gaggi git okee die "radiodurchsag" isch na funny hahahaha hahaha also s konzept mitem sex packet findi schono funny und de titletrack isch easy bis jz? also es git es fucking 1, ich schätze die zwüscheziitlich kreativität aber es ischmer so hert uf de sack gange (und d lyrics sind ziitewiis zum chotze gsi)
Even for its own time, the album was a novelty.
Niet helemaal geluisterd, maar nee
So very unpleasant
Typical 80s/90s rap. Plodding and unsophisticated - on the other hand, there's no gratuitous bad language, mysogony, racism, or vuolent braggadocio and that makes a welcome change - so it gets an extra star for that. But I never want to listen to this, or any other rap, ever again..
Kind of overstays it’s welcome after awhile, but I say that knowing I’m listening to this on my phone in my room. All of DU’s songs are basically club records, made to be heard in a club setting, hence why many of these songs sound repetitive. They’re not really meant to be heard in an isolated environment like this, they’re party anthems meant to be heard in a party setting. Naturally it’s not going to resonate as strongly for me. Still, these are some head boppers, cant deny it, especially Gutfest 89.
despite the title having “sex” in it, they should rlly talk about it less bc they’re not very good at it. good beats though
I enjoyed this. Time to go get my Humpty Dance on.
Allereerst R.I.P Shock G, wat een baas, denk dat Humpty de eerste comedy rapper is/was. Als je beseft dat dit rond dezelfde tijd uitkwam als N.W.A. en Public Enemy, fucking goud. Deze gasten waren zo veel meer invloedrijk dan je op eerste gezicht zou zeggen, ik bedoel Tupac heeft zn allereerste gereleasede verse op een Digital Underground EP! Jammer dat die er niet op staat, dat is oprecht mn favoriete nummer van hun. Dit album dan, ja het is best wel funny, Humpty dance meteen als opener is gewoon humor. Sowieso is het veel meer dikke basslines en zijn de beats veel meer funky. Wel een nadeel, de nummers zijn echt te lang hoor. Niemand hoeft 9 minuten Doowutchyalike te horen... Opzich zijn de beats funky, de rhymes zijn dik, maar ik denk wel echt dat dit album te lang is. Een album van 40 minuten ofzo? Dikke fun, nu? Duurt het me net ff te lang, maar nog steeds heb ik me niet zwaar zitten irriteren ofzo! FAVO: The Humpty Dance, Underwater Rimes(remix), Doowutchyalike(eerste 4 minuten), Packet man
pretty cool hippetihoppeti
Wow, this was bad. No idea what this is doing on this list, it's terrible and has not aged well at all. Sounded like it was made by a bunch of horny teenage boys, Gutfest '89 in particular was just gross. Favourite tracks: none Definitely not one to revisit. 1/5
Hey wow, I got this record recommend on the day after its 35th anniversary. Pretty cool. Anyway, this is basically a Parliament-Funkadelic album, replete with futuristic/sci-fi album concept, but with hip-hop added and I’m cool with that, I guess. In fact, they sample Parliament a bunch of times here, which was par for the course in the day. Here a few examples: They sample Parliament’s “Flashlight” on “Rhymin’ on the Funk”). There’s also “Underwater Rimes”, which is pretty close, with similar narration and theme, to Parliament’s 1978 album, “The Motor-Booty Affair” - they sample “Aqua Boogie” from that record here. They sample “Flashlight” again on “The Danger Zone”. “Dr. Funkenstein” and “The Motor-Booty Affair” are sampled on “Sex Packets”…. I’m just gonna stop listing the samples there, because Parliament records really built the foundation for *a lot* of 90’s hip hop and I think maybe having more than one Parliament record on this list would be a good way to really drive home just how integral Parliament’s music is to hip-hop. Well, that, and they sample Flashlight so many times on this record that it’s not worth listing every instance. So, by all means, finish up this record, but maybe also check out “The Motor-Booty Affair” (the title track has one one the greatest bass lines of all time) and “Funkentelechy vs the Placebo Syndrome” (to get the full “Flashlight” experience, but also, it might be their best record). Sometimes you’re better off just going straight to the source, you know what I mean?
Meh
Joke's on you! I never liked the Humpty Dance. Joke's on us! They went platinum with this record. Not the worst 90s hip hop album either. RIP Shock G for being an indelible part of the 90s even if it wasn't my jam.
It was interesting to listen to because I was pretty much only familiar with the "Humpty Dance" so I imagined the rest of the album would be sort of joke-y. And while there was plenty of humor, it was more balanced.
I gotta be honest: I'm mostly disappointed. This album started off so well! I mean, "The Humpty Dance" is an all-timer, no question about it. It's like a big ol' party — the one where you don't notice that the full thing is six minutes. "Time flies when you're having fun" and all, and this is damn fun. Now, I wanna tell you here that I was actually listening to the **vinyl** version of the track listing, so for me the rest of side one consisted of "The Way We Swing", "Sex Packets" and "Packet Man", alongside the interludes that precede the later two. None of them hit the same high as "The Humpty Dance", but that doesn't stop them from being enjoyable. In particular, "Sex Packets" surprised me with how much it sounds like an André 3000 or Prince song. Especially when that guitar lick hits — for real, it sounds exactly like one of Prince's slow funk sex jams. "Packet Man" keeps things up with the beat, flow and delivery; and although "The Way We Swing" might be the weakest song in this half, I still find it hard to not get into how much these guys are clearly enjoying themselves. Once Side 1 wrapped up, I was all ready to give it a 5 outta 5, or at least a 4. I mean, it's such fun, how could I not, huh? Side 2 was quick to answer how. It consists of every other song on the album, besides "Gutsfest", and, like... I mean, it's not like they guys stopped being goofballs or enjoying themselves. On "Underwater Rimes" one of them does an entire verse in a "M'NYEAH, SEE?" old-timey gangster voice. A stick in the mud wouldn't do that. But... I'unno. The goofiness just feels way too toned down, and it gets really easy to tune a lot of this stuff out. Even when it picks back up on "Doowutchyalike", there's good bits (especially where they briefly fade the song out early for radio stations), but it barely just isn't able to distract from the fact that it's eight minutes. I gotta wonder if this stuff woulda played better if I heard them in the CD order... Or if it woulda meant I just had a lot of "mmrgh, alright" to wade through before I got to the stuff I actually enjoyed. 'Coz once again, what constitutes Side 1 of this album is great; I'd easily listen to it again. And it's not like Side 2 is all that bad, either; just clearly not as good. So... I guess we'll split the difference and give the overall package... A 3.5, I guess? Rounded down to a 3 for the sake of this website. It really feels like a shame, but hey, at least I had the chance to do the hump. Can't front on that.
Despite the interesting title, this is still some pretty damn good old school hiphop. 4.5 bumped down to 4.
I’m at a 2.5 that I will barely bump up to a 3 for its competence. This was really damn close to being a 2, though. Obviously, it’s overly horny, it hasn’t aged that well, the instrumentals are sort of one-note, and the flows & rhythm pale in comparison to some of their peers of the time. I can look past all of that for 1990, partially because it’s sort of experimental in its own way, and for as awkward & uncomfortable as the lyrics & delivery are here, I truly cannot say there is a full-on “bad” track, save for “Freaks of the Industry”, which is a really, really egregiously horny track. I did *not* like that one. Besides that, there is some bad (& truly awkwardly explicit) content, sure, but this is a fully competent 65 minutes. It is the fucking longest 65 minutes I have ever heard in my life, compounded by the fact that this so blatantly could’ve been cut down to maybe half of the runtime – dear fucking god, who let them make 8 out of the 14 tracks here last over 5 and a half minutes!? Hell, if you consider 4 of them miniature skits / interludes, there’s only 10 tracks here, and the other 2 go at least 4:24 long, so like… shit, man, this is just a long fucking album. It would be one thing if these were all compelling for the lengths of their tracks, but only a handful of them are – so many of these circle the bases for so long that they lose any and all appeal they had for the first half of their run time. I can’t tell how much of that is trying to fill up CD space, or ego & hubris, considering that the version of this album that was released on cassette is a mind-numbing 81 minutes with 3 extra tracks, and an even longer (and probably even more explicit) version of Gutfest ‘89. How the fuck can you find space for 16 more minutes here?! With all of that said… I think it’s competent enough to remain at a 3, but just barely. If anything, the miniature 5-track arc about the sex packets at the end is what saved this from being a 2; really solid world-building there, and the tracks felt compelling enough throughout (namely “Packet Man”, because “Sex Packets” goes on for like 3 minutes too long). Make no mistake, though; I’m giving this a long, long leash that it probably doesn’t deserve. This will almost certainly fall down to a 2 over time, and I fully expect a barrage of 1s from future people discovering this site. It may or may not deserve it – I do think there’s a lot of solid stuff here, even despite the extremely horny lyrics. It really is just too goddamn long, but when it clicked, it clicked well enough for me, hence the barely bumped 3.
A true to form late 80s / early 90 hip hop record that wouldn't be seen anywhere near this list if it didn't include a) a one-hit-wonder and b) Tupac in his early days. This album has some good beats and is marginally elevated compared to the similar music prevalent at the time. Add to the fact that it exceeds an hour in length without bringing anything to make it seem warranted, an easy 15-minutes could be shaved. 3/5
fun but showing its age
So... I like how they kept the story over the album: Selling "Sex Packets". It was almost like an elaborate advertisement. A bit over-sexualized, but "Freaks of the Industry" was funny.
Sex Packets is the debut album from Digital Underground. They brought irreverent humor to their raps, with goofy songs like the "Humpty Hump," and "Doowutchyulike," all with a funky bass line and melodic sampling. Most of Digital Underground's samples came from Parliament-Funkadelic, making the album something of an homage to P-Funk. Digital Underground pushed hip-hop towards a silly, jazzy sound - far from the gangster rap that dominated the era.
=the Beatles
Whoever invents sex packets first will be a quadrillionaire. Also, the Humpty Dance is legendary.
I feel like a lot of this album is really ahead of its time in terms of its P-funk aesthetic, but it's a bit hit and miss. Still, there's plenty of great stuff on here, including the once inescapable lead track, which is still a banger.
Humpty Dance and some other catchy ol' hip hop tunes.
I wanted to dislike it more than I did, but it was so ridiculous that I ended up sort of enjoying it. I don't foresee myself returning to this one
I was quite tickled by the humourous tongue in cheek slant.
The lyrics were so bad
Weird and funky hip hop
I just found this mostly annoying
Old skool hip hop with dick jokes.
Mostly cringe! I can't quite work out if it's satire or not.
Wanted to write that this aged like hip hop from 1990 - as in: fine milk - but this is also the year of "People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm", so its age isn't an excuse for this being so boring. It's haha funny at times, then cringe, "Underwater Rimes" was alright, but I didn't need this. No one did, today.
Some parts are really cringe. Songs are too long, some could just end rather than repeating a chorus or having the rapper outro the song really slowly. Other than the 8 min one for some reason it works quite well with the constant variation. Beats are really good, as this era is probably one of my favourite eras of rap. I really like the bits with the 'piano man', quite random but great. Favourite songs: the way we swing, rhymin' on the funk, the new jazz (one), underwater rimes (remix), doowutchalike, packet man. Overall around 6/10
This sounds like a pastiche of a rap album And not a good one
This was a real struggle for me. I checked the date of release several times, because the rapping felt like something from 1985, with 1990's shock value thrown in. A few tracks gave Flight of the Concords vibes - silly songs about who they are and about rapping itself. I didn't make it through all 65 minutes, but I'm just thankful I wasn't listening to the 85 minute cassette version!!!
I imagine that if in the 90's a bunch of guys with limited musical experience were tasked with creating a Bart Simpson hip hop album within four days, the result would sound an awful lot like this. Impressively immature.
Honk mimimimi
It's catchy but not something I'd listen to again
P-Funk before Dre
Fun and creative but nothing mind blowing 3.5*
Early rap
Some of it is all right, for me not bad compared with other hip hop of the time. But my gosh, it's repetitive.
Insane to have this come behind A Tribe Called Quest's People's Instinctive Travels: two albums from the same year where one still sounds good in 2025 and the other sounds like it's stuck in the House Party movies. The rhymes are good but, as the song says, they're not in any particular order, but hey, they're having fun! It's fine, I guess. They're not bad but every song is too long and so is the album, and if I'm not wearing hammer pants then I'm not really in the mood for this. Cool to hear a something bicep sampled in here, so a 2 generally but bumped to a 3 because even though the samples are too long, they're all great choices.
This definitely sounds like a joke, but it's not clear on who. At first it sounds like the joke is on Digital Underground, and this is one of those awkward early incarnations of rap, with ham-fisted rhymes and corny production that hasn't aged well at all. Then I realised that no, this was clearly never intended to be taken seriously (as the album title should've made obvious); instead maybe the joke's on other rappers, or preconceived notions of rap... or... something. Then, when yet another track stretched beyond 6 minutes of the same basic beat, it definitely felt like the joke was on me, the listener. It wasn't until the track Packet Man that I finally 'got' what these guys were going for, and I enjoyed my second listen through much more. Still a bit throwaway though. 2.5
There's a good reason why this album has over a 100million listens for the Humpty dance then the numbers fall off a cliff for the rest of the album. Sure Rymin on the Funk has 600000 more listens than anything I've ever done, but this is not a good album. A couple of decent tracks
Sex packets? No, it’s not what Coach Kivette reads off of for his 7th grade health class. It’s digital underground’s debut album. This album fluctuates between strong lyricism + unique production and then sounding extremely outdated and corny. If you squint through the misogyny, fatphobia, and racial stereotyping (and this is a pretty massive “IF”), this album has charm. You don’t have to be a hip hop connoisseur to see how digital underground has influenced modern artists (Kendrick Lamar and Thundercat come to mind as using similar theatrics, 4th wall breaking moments, and samplings from Parliament/Funkadelic). Piano man carries this album. If nothing else, this album impressed me with how willing it was to take creative risks and stand out in an era when rap tended to be serious and political. Spending 7 minutes selling a fictional drug that gives you wet dreams says it all. I made Morgan listen to “Freaks of the Industry” so that she could answer the multiple choice quiz mid-song, and I think her reaction to the song pretty much sums it up, “That was… something. They just don’t paint a picture like that anymore.”
Nawp
Wasn't expecting much based on the corny title and album cover. The Humpty Dance was a pleasant surprise though, fun beat and hilarious lyrics. Much of the rest of the album was closer to what I was expecting at the outset. The whole sex packet concept is also just weird but not really in a funny or interesting way
★★★½
Well this has been playing for what feels like an hour, but am only on track three. Like majority of hip hop albums in the 1001 albums, the charms of this genre have largely passed me by. The tracks play in the background but they are making no impression, good or bad, whatsoever
Hip hop, 🤔🧐
⭐⭐ 4/10 You know in Eurodance, the breaks where some random 90s rapper gets loose. This album is just those breaks
I don't really understand the appeal. I don't really care to listen to music that objectifies people. Maybe I am misunderstanding this album; the sci-fi storyline at the end implies something deeper is going on here. It started to redeem the album for me, but then it didn't stick the landing.
After Straight Outta Compton came out in '89, most of us were over this New Jack Swing inspired hip hop. And I still am.
1. humpty dance - 1.5 2. zuuing - 1 3. funk - 1 4. jazz - 0 5. rimez - 0 6. gutfezt - 0 7. zone - 0 8. freakz - 0 9. doo - 1 10. packet - 0 11. zez - 0 12. ztreet - 0 13. man - 0 14. reprize - 0
2.5
5 stars for humpty. 2 for everything else.
Other than the obvious "Humpty" hit and "Doowutchyalike", this is just tongue in cheek mid level rap. Nothing to write home about. I do like some of the incorporations of jazz through out, but it's not enough to recomend this or even really want to revisit the album. Not even sure why this is essential. There are several rap album I don't like but say, yeah, that's important... This, nah. (5.4) ★★½
I Get nostalgic for the time period listening to this, but there is a reason why this type of hiphop was mainly buried in the 90s. 3 stars
"The Humpty Dance" is a classic, and "Doowhutchyalike" isn't far off, but I think it's a big drop-off after that. I guess it's a concept album about some magical condoms or something, which is kind of interesting for 1990 -- It seems like it kind of paved the way for something like Dr. Octagon -- but, a lot of the rapping is pretty basic and old school and that sort of brings it down for me. The P-Funk based beats are generally pretty cool. 3 stars.
If the A Tribe Called Quest album from the same year is a little closer to the rap Pet Sounds or at least rap Today! then this one is much more like Sex Rap Safari or Sex Rap USA. In other words really corny and dated and a little slipshod in places but also oodles of fun. Humpty Dance is tbh a kinda garbage start but on The Way We Swing they cue up Hendrix Band Of Gypsys and it becomes a good record again. Whole album is a mega Will Smith-athon because the grooves constantly evoke Fresh Prince Of Bel Air and on Underwater Rimes even a bit of Shark Tale. Gutfest 89, Freaks Of The Industry, Doowutchyalike and entire Packets suite all ribald highs. The Danger Zone dullest low.
Surprisingly funny.
Classic hip hop
3.5 Madness, but some legitimately catchy parts
Meh nothing special imo 5/10
My takeaway from Sex Packets is packets, sex packets and other obsessions typical of a rap, hip-hop record. I've often said here, "I don't like rap", but the more I listen to the genre on this list, the more I respect craft, more tolerant and realized there is some great rap/hip-hop albums out there...this is not one of them. Sex Packets is pretty much everything I dislike about the genre. It has the usual misogyny, stupid skits and dumb obsession with sex, but it's mainly lightweight, non-threatening, goofy and dated. Gee, maybe the Fresh Prince isn't so bad after all? It seemed to go on and on and on and it couldn't end soon enough.
4 stars! I really like the FREAKS OF THE INDUSTRY song.
What an awful album. I love modern hip hop and appreciate the rough patches we needed to get here, but damn. Over an hour of weird horny repetitive rapping in weird voices, with bad skits mixed in. 1/5
Sooo much fun stuff on this album, but also a bunch of unimportant stuff. The MC Blowfish bit in Underwater Rimes is my favorite part of this album.
If P-Funk was a hip hop group, it would sound like this. So funkin' good.
I can understand why this was instrumental to the Hip Hop scene.
01) The Humpty Dance - 6,0 02) The Way We Swing - 5,5 03) Rhymin' on the Funk - 5,5 04) The New Jazz (One) - / 05) Underwater Rimes (Remix) - 5,5 06) Gutfest '89 (Edit) - 6,0 07) The Danger Zone - 5,5 08) Freaks of the Industry - 5,5 09) Doowutchyalike - 5,5 10) Packet Prelude - / 11) Sex Packets - 5,5 12) Street Scene - / 13) Packet Man - 5,5 14) Packet Reprise - 5,0 TOTAL: 5,55 (56/100) Current ranking: 377/439
Čuo sam prije samo the humpty dance
2.3 - I dunno about the whole listening to sex noises tbh. I Just didn't get it
This is a funny little album of highs and lows. At points very tacky, but other times smooth, aged terribly in places but perfectly relevant in others. As an album I kinda don't really like it because of the undulations, but I could certainly pop back to a few of these tracks. Fave Tracks: Underwater Rimes, Gutfest '89, Sex Packets, Packet Man 3.5/5
My exposure to "The Humpty Dance" was through Weird Al, and 7 year old me had no awareness of the context of the source song. Even 30 years later I am still a bit naive. In terms of Rap/HipHop I am more partial to this funky style, but it can be tough to stay paying attention for an hour to follow the stories. Aside from the opening track there were a few others I recognized that were pretty good. The whole sex packet concept is a bit troublesome in today's world but it is silly enough that it probably won't be cancelled or whatever. I'd love to be back in the 90s when things were simple. Will they be as simple if I'm not a pre-teen, who knows. Favorite track "The Danger Zone" 3/5
Non dénué d’humour; vif et mordant dans son propos comme dans ses rythmes
Everything was 4 minutes too long
Meh. They don’t do anything that De La Soul didn’t do better. So I mean, it’s funny, catchy stuff, but kinda mid compared to their contemporaries based on what I know. Not a must-listen.
Favorite Track: Humpty Dance
Mc Blowfish is the perfect metaphor for this album: cringe and bloated. Gets an extra star for production
I realized I do not care about the fact it's a concept album. For me, the Packets Prelude / Sex Packets / Street Scene / Packet Man / Packet Reprise medley was just... meh. "Doowutchyalike" was good, but too long. Really, that seemed to be a pattern throughout the album. Good songs, too long. Having one of the most well known songs in the 90s as the first song, it really makes the rest of the album kind of a letdown for me. Top tracks: "The Humpty Dance", "The New Jazz(One)," "Doowutchyalike," "The Way We Swing," "Rhymin' On The Funk"
Were we really still doing this in 1990? I mean the Sugarhill Gang came along in 1980 and a decade later we're doing the same kind of rap/hip-hop? If this album had come out in 1980, it'd probably be trail blazing. But it's somewhat embarrassing that this was still going on in hip hop. I mean, white people like me might resonate with it (or Young MC who, yeah, only hit the scene in 1989) but thank god Ice T, Ice Cube, NWA, LL Cool J and the gangsta rap scene came along. At least they had substance. And thank god for Chuck D and other political rappers. This album is fun and all but the rapping is juvenile and the lyrics are bubblegum. I'm being a little harsh because they really do have some fun beats. Great beats. But I've always rolled my eyes at the Humpty Dance (lyrics and vocal rhythm) and now I do the same at their other single Doowutchyalike (which I didn't recognize). Songs like The Way We Swing and Rhymin on the Funk weren't much better lyrically. Don't get me started on Underwater Rimes. And I don't see the concept on this concept album - no link from one song to another. Oh and most songs are 2 minutes too long (Doowutchyalike 5 minutes too long). So I'm not going higher than a 3. But given all my eye rolls, sorry, I can't even go with a 3.
Ok, I certainly like P-Funk, but man, these songs just go too long almost every time. Decent rapping, good grooves (but too long and repetitive), usually funny lyrics (Freaks of the Industry cracked me up, even if it was totally inappropriate). Favorite tracks: The Humpty Dance (stupid, but catchy), The Way We Swing, Packet Man.
Nope
It's pretty fun, got some good beats, but each track could do with 1 or 2 minutes shaving off.
It’s ok - interesting take on hip hop of the era but feels a little corny at times. Humour is dated and over all it feels like a long skit that isn’t very funny - so the novelty wears off with every listen. I don’t hate it but it’s not something I’m interested in seeking again in the future.
Fav song: Gutfest89 Fun production and lyrics that don't take themselves too seriously. I generally prefer this type of stuff to the more aggro sounds of gangster rap.
I was mild on the record for a while, but the last two tracks became way more rape-y than I was expecting and it really sank my thoughts on the album.
Mira, el gangsta rap puede ser agobiante, asi que cualquier desvío de ese sub genero que aparezca en esta lista es bienvenido.
Could have done without a lot of those lyrics
Wasn't Great.
Rating: 6/10 Starts off very good, then becomes too committed to the "Sex Packets" concept which was awful lyrically. The production was great though.
It’s a concept album about being really, really horny. I still like The Humpty Dance, but the rest of the whole album does not age well (even compared to only 90s hip-hop).
The humpty dance was a great listen of course but the album itself didn’t do anything for me. Old school hip hop can feel a little like nursery rhymes. Yay for the contribution to what came next but I won’t go back to it.
I like it and it's a great party album, but I'm not a party DJ anymore so I don't think I'd add it to my collection. 20 years ago I should have had it.
Great beats and table-turning, not a fan of the braggadocios 90s vocal style
I not likey I think it bad and smell like poopie
Pretty funky. Good samples. Hendrix, Parliament, Herbie Hancock. Lyrics could be a lil silly tho
Enjoyed it for the most part, nice variety but nothing really stuck too much personally
I had no idea that the album with "The Humpty Dance" was actually a speculative fiction concept album about the proliferation of a drug that replicates sexual satisfaction!
very interesting. i fw most of it but some of the songs were very drawn out
I’m not sure who consulted on the rap additions to this list but it’s been a very strange collection to this point. This album wouldn’t come close to cracking a decent 100 rap albums to listen to before you die.
1.9 What the hell are these guys talking about!? Sex Packets, Gutfest, humpty dance?
All right, stop whatcha doin' 'cause I'm about to ruin The image and the style that ya used to I look funny, but, yo, I'm makin' money, see So, yo, world I hope you're ready for me Now gather 'round, I'm the new fool in town And my sound's laid down by the Underground I drink up all the Hennessey ya got on ya shelf So just let me introduce myself My name is Humpty, pronounced with a Umpty Yo, ladies, oh, how I like to funk thee And all the rappers in the top ten Please allow me to bump thee I'm steppin' tall, y'all and just like Humpty Dumpty You're gonna fall when the stereos pump me I like to rhyme, I like my beats funky I'm spunky, I like my oatmeal lumpy I'm sick wit dis, straight gangsta mack But sometimes I get ridiculous I'll eat up all your crackers and your licorice Uh, yo fat girl, come here, are ya ticklish? Yeah, I called ya fat, look at me, I'm skinny It never stopped me from gettin' busy I'm a freak, I like the girls with the boom I once got busy in a Burger King bathroom, I'm crazy Allow me to amaze thee They say I'm ugly but it just don't faze me I'm still gettin' in the girls' pants And I even got my own dance Five stars for getting busy in a burger king bathroom. 5/5
In what world, in what universe, in what dimension is this an album one must listen to before they die? I envy those fortunate enough to depart this life without enduring it. Score: 1/5
I’m beginning to think this Humpty guy fucks. Three stars.
Definitely a little long, but I really enjoyed some of the production and flow
Early 90’s upbeat hip hop sound
Muy buen rap de la costa oeste con marcado sonido funky e Influencias obvias de Afrika Bambaatta Funcadelic y Prince Bizarro disco conceptual aunque con lírica y sonidos aún actuales es el antecedente directo para o 2 Pac o aDr Dre y junto con Nas son de los más salvable de la costa oeste
A couple nice songs I find it quite odd that there is a story across the songs but it only starts midway through the album
So so
I mean it had its moments. But, for all intense and porpoises it was mediocre. Juvenille wordplay, hoorendous production, very uninspired faux jazz undertones. At some point I just realized that De La Soul and Tribe Called quest literally walked so Digital Underground could shit it's pants and fall on the floor foaming at the mouth.
Used to sound great in the ol Caprice!
It's a bold move to make the first album you release a concept album. You aren't a known quantity and the first thing people are going to hear from you is a somewhat offbeat concept album about sex and drugs. I mean, I'm 100% here for it. I'm just surprised that's what Digital Underground chose to do. Anyway. This was a trip, man. Some really cool beats and grooves here. Sometimes I was left wondering if this was included simply for "The Humpty Dance." Because while there are some great tracks here, it does start to sound a little samey as it goes on. The track lengths don't help, either. I don't know. I wanted to love this. 90's hip hop is its own thing. It's on another level in terms of style, content, and attitude. Hip-hop artists back then weren't afraid to be funny or go out on a limb with a crazy or goofy concept like this. But the length really gets me, and I just can't imagine that the album as a whole is really that highly regarded. It's not bad by any means, but it's a three star effort for me. Standout Tracks: The Humpty Dance, Rhymin' on the Funk, Gutfest '89, The Danger Zone
decent
Dated, misogynistic, silly, and way too long...but Humpty Dance was an anthem of my coming of age and I can't help but love it.
Not my thing.
Loved it until we got to the packets. Which makes me feel like I missed the point.
Pretty cringy with some very jay puffiny lyrics... quite the piece of "art".
Is this like a sub-genre called horny rap or something? The whole thing is very cringe. My biggest question is how did Tupac end up on one of these tracks?
These past 30ish days I've had 2 Tribe Called Quest albums, Lauryn Hill, and 36 Chambers, so this album had some real competition, but just couldn't quite cut it. The beats are ok at best, but it just isnt that fun. However the real problem is the "bars". A lot of cringe lyrics, bad flow and I don't like his voice. Mid 2.
Almost a four. The vibe was just fun until they got to one song where I was sorta skeeved out by how they were talking about women.
una pesadilla sonora, repetitiva
With all the gangster rap on this list this is a fresh breath of air. Nice beats and sampling. the more comic ones feel more interesting than the serious to me. but what takes of a star is the length of the tracks, most overstay their welcome. Lyrical content is nothing to speak of, generic hip hop shit so i don't really listen to it. mostly grade it on the flow of the rhyme more than the content. Would have been 3 if the tracks were shorter
Dreadful
Fun P-Funk influenced classic hip-hop that's somewhat soured by many of its tracks running a tad long. 3 stars feels too low, but 4 would feel too high. Pretend this is a 3.5
Good
Appalling
Rapp en samt af betri gerðinni. Fyrir utan hvað viðfangsefnið er asnalegt, sérstaklega þegar þeir fóru að tala um pillur sem líktu eftir ýmsum konum og ég fékk eiginlega bara nóg. Fram að því hafði kjánahrollurinn bara náð að gaurnum sem söng með misheppnaðri Laddarödd
One hit and some weird stuff
silly as hell, joyously so. 3.5
Extra star and relisten just for Underwater Rimes
Look, it's really hard to follow The Humpty Dance. It's also really hard to listen to this album while at work without becoming very paranoid that my earbuds leak sound. I really enjoyed the instrumentation and funk sound on this and I guess I have a lot of openness to really stupid cheesy horndog song material. 3.5
Very dated.
Nope.
A lot of these early 90s hip-hop albums feel like they're here under obligation to give rap more representation, rather than because of the quality. This is one of them. There is absolutely no reason this should be over an hour long, it gets repetitive by the second song. In fact, you could half the runtime on all of these songs and have a superior album. Title track is genuinely good though, only positive thing about the album.
I liked this. The only song I was familiar with was The Humpty Dance which was on a mix tape my cousin made and I thought it was so cool then. I still think it's so cool now. The album was definitely goofy in some parts. But I loved a lot of the songs on the first listen.
ahhh Humpty 😍😍
Good god. Frat boy level puerile. A very poor man’s 2Live Crew
This was fun in a goofy way, but went on way way too long. 3/5 Highlights: The Humpty Dance The Way We Swing Underwater Rimes
There’s enough good ideas here to produce a 4 track EP, but that’s about it. Most of these songs are at least twice as long as they should be and they get boring pretty quickly.
Massively dated, good beats but let down by weird adolescent lyrics
Cool beats, stupid lyrics.
all of the songs on this album are way way too long. also some shite lyrics
This was awful
every song is overly long, and the flows and rhymes are instantly dated and mega corny in that 1990 fresh prince way, but i almost admire the intersection between this album's brazen stupidity and its sex-positivity
fun funk Favorite track: rhymin on the funk other picks: humpty dance, underwater rimes, freaks of the industry
I guess a humorous concept hip hop album was something of a novelty in 1990. I can see how this could have been pretty influential some other 90s artists, particularly Dr Octagon. It's not without its charm, but man, it really didn't age well. The non-stop obsession with sex is fairly cringeworthy. It has some genuinely good moments in the music, but it suffers from many songs and the album itself really outstaying its welome. Sorry but five songs are longer than 6 minutes and each of them desperately needed to be edited down. Amazingly, the cassette version is even worse, with extra songs and extended versions. The music just isn't good or interesting enough to warrant these lengths. A trimmed down version could have gotten 3 stars, but as it is, it was a slog to get through.
Lol what was that?
This did not pass the test of time. The Humpy Dance gets a star, though.
It was silly in the same vein as Tribe Called Quest or De La Soul, but it wasn't as clever. There weren't any standout grooves either.
Gahhh. My best friend in middle school loved the hungry dance. It was her favorite song. I’ve always hated it. My feeling have not changed.
Horny dudes fantasy x old school Hiphop. For 65 minutes.
I tuned out pretty quickly, the sound is just so generically 90's. I think parts of this were supposed to be funny but I wasn't laughing
classic hip hop
The bass line on the Humpty Dance is brilliant. Other than that, I hear an hour of young men awkwardly stroking their own egos over mediocre robotic backing tracks.
THis was soooo good. Basically all the songs were great. I love funny hip hop. I love Tupac. I love Gutfest '89. My favourite song was proibably 'Doowutchalike' because it's 8 minutes long
its been a bit since i've been generated an album i fell in love with more, i've been given stuff i already like and shit but this is just such a fucking good album its so fucking funny
While I appreciate the P-Funk Allstars grooves, and appreciate everything Shock-J did for hip-hop, this just isn't my jam.
This was weird.
Så fed første sang
god amigo hipi yop yop yop
really wanted to like this a really silly and charming 90s hip-hop album ruined by having songs that are way too long. no song on here has to be 4+ minutes. almost every song on here drags on for wayyy too long
Hip Hop was further than this in 1990.
Surprisingly entertaining, almost a concept album with the ‘packet suite’ towards the end. Quite enjoyed. 3.5 stars.
Humpty dance that volume down
Lyrics are terrible, couldn't get past that - nope
The Humpty Dance is a staple from my high school years. Not all of the rest of it holds up though.
In the first 3 seconds, "Do me baby" . Got immediately tired of it, and the rest of the lyrics followed raunchy suit. It's cute and nothing new, hip-hip-hopping, rhyming and bopping, I wish someone be stopping you.... When you have a stereotype you adhere to, you're just fearful to stand out and be yourself. History does not remember the forgettable.
I don't know why but this deserves an extra star compared to the other hip hop garbage... maybe I have changed...
I like the way these guys schwing
Can't get through, just not my style
Oof so cheesy and lame. The lyrics are so so bad so the enjoyment entirely comes from the beats which seem pretty standard for other hip hop albums I’ve heard from this period. A great example of all the shit hip hop in this era! It’s important to highlight the shit so the actual great albums can be compared to something Rating: 1.8
The production is immaculate, the flows are distinctly late 80s, and the lyrics are playfully cheesy. Just a fun time the whole way through. The only real issue is that so many song go on for 6+ minutes; One even nearly hits 9 minutes! For some songs I don't even mind it, but some of those tracks need cut down a bit. Could cut at least 10 minutes off this record and not miss much.
Very old school, unique style but I got a bit tired of those simple 80s raps. The genre has evolved over the years.
Fun old school hip-hop with horny lyrics and funky beats. Sounds like there’s a fairly large cast of MCs but they’re all unified by a goofy sense of humor and strong technical rapping. Haha the last few tracks of the album get taken over by the concept of "sex packets," pills that give you visions of having sex. I love that they were so into this idea that they dedicated a mini-suite of songs to it.
Early 90's new jack swing type beats with a pretty smooth rap flow above them. It sounds nice (the diction is great overall), but I'm not really impressed enough for it to be on the list. I think the big draw here is that this is the act that it kickstarted Tupac's rap career, but his debut came in the following release. It was listenable and fun but I think didn't really wow me enough to warrant a higher rating.
Reminds me of music from pingu
Some good sampling on here, a Parliament track is always welcome, but that’s about it. This era of rap is fine just a bit too goofy sounding which is exemplified by the Humpty Dance being the big song on here. Shout out to these guys for giving Pac a start though (2.5/5)
Rap with questionable lyrics _can_ be combined with cool grooves! Who would have thunked it?
Pretty good. Different, I like that.
Genuinely exciting to find more older hip-hop that I enjoy. This has a great funky early 90s feel. Not quite a 5* for me but definitely a 4*. Great vibes music wise, some of the lyrics did not age well but they are certainly of their time. I tend to try to overlook that. The last few songs lose the thread a little bit for me so that's why it's more of a 4* than a 5* for me.
Definitely of its time. Kinda fun. Kinda gross.
I don’t even really like their big hit. Plus it being over an hour long seems egregious. Also admit this is just not my thing. 2/5
Like a mix of Will Smith and De La Soul. 6/10
Finally something I can dance to! I love it. Definitely didn't remember that this album was called sex packets lol
Classic 90's hip hop. Not as good as an NWA or Snoop or Dre but still very good.
Meh
One of the best New Jack Swing albums made. A classic!
Part of the originals, trend setting and ground breaking.
not my style
few really good songs but i feel like most songs really didnt need to hit the 6 or 7 minute mark at all. freaks of the industry was a great song but also a bit long. (2.5/5.0)
Granted, this album went on right after The White Album by the Beatles, but I was truly unimpressed. Humpty Dance obviously stands out, although most of the rest are almost comical. One star would be too harsh, but this is certainly a weak two.
This album was a bit of a surprise, I knew two songs prior to listening front to back, and they were my least favorite on the album. It was a better album than I expected going into it.
I really liked the first handful of tracks, but then it got a little raunchy for my middle-aged prudish tastes. Still when it wasn't making me uncomfortable I did quite enjoy it.
Didn’t love. The sound was not for me and though a product of its time, I found a lot of the songs sexist and demeaning towards women. Was cringing through a lot of it.
Didn’t care for this, even Humpty plays longer than I remember. The one song was huge back in the day at the clubs, so gets >1 cred, but not by much.
I never thought I’d be saying this, but dayum…the sex lasted way too long. And still no climax. While I can somewhat appreciate the whimsical approach here, the overall listen was just simply dated, boring and utterly forgettable. The two charting songs are the only thing keeping this out of 1* rating.
I’d have been embarrassed to be found listening to this.
Digital Underground sure likes to rap about….Digital Underground. How the eff is Underwater Rimes a song? Seems like this wanted to be all sexy but would be like dropping your pants in front of a girl and her just laughing.
I’m going to steal a comment from another review that perfectly sums up this album… The Humpty Dance is over six minutes long. This. Album. Is. Too. Long. Should be 30 minutes shorter. And even then it would be cringe and dated. I do enjoy the first few minutes of The Humoty Dance, tho. 1.75/2
While I'm pleased he once got busy in a burger king bathroom this album is not the one for me. I just think me and the sex packets have different priorities for what we want in music. I would say the first song overstays it's welcome at over 6 minutes but by that point I had mentally checked out. Other questions: why did the MC look like a lobster? Why do they rhyme attention and prevention so much? Do they think bike horns are erotic? Is a sex packet a condom? Wait Tupac was in this band????
Parts of this are charming and I do like some of the beats, but so much of it is corny and inane that I can’t say I enjoyed it all that much. Also these guys seriously needed editors—did Doowutchyalike really have to be 9 minutes long? Best song: Underwater Rimes
I dreaded listening to this, but I actually enjoyed it more and more as time went on.
Entertaining.
A bit dated, some nice tunes though.
Awful music for (what I can only assume are) awful people.
The cover and the fact that 2Pac was involved at some point (later on) was somewhat promising. But after what felt like a hundred 6+ minutes hip hop songs with little variation, I had to give up hope and just let the record play out while doing more important stuff like organizing cleaning supplies.
Pretty average hip hop, not my thing
Not for me. Very dated.
Aiming for high-brow high-concept high-prog rap, but comes off as rambling thoughts of a high stoner. There's the germ of an idea in there somewhere, but it has been stretched gossamer thin.
Humpty Dance is a classic song while the rest of the tracks were very hit or mostly misses. Also TIL that 2pac got his start in this group.
Way too long! Second half definitely was better than the first half which was Run DMC levels of cap. Early hip hop is so brutal sometimes.
Luckily I had something else to do so wasn't a complete waste of time. Shame the app doesn't allow us to score zero for complete trash like this.
Not a great 💿. There’s a reason you only know 1 track from DU.
Thought these guys were a one hit wonder, but the deep cuts on here kinda slap. Fair play digital underground, do ya thang!
nostalgia but hmm a bit hit or miss
Very smooth, classic old-school rap. I enjoyed the rhythms and production, but the lyrical content got pretty repetitive.
This kind of hip hop just hasn't aged well.
Great old school rap hip hop
Funky funny hip hop
Well, Sex Packets. What can we say? I mean, this must have brought enthusiasm in its day from the hip hop community? Young dudes of its era? We all remember the Humpty Dance, but it goes so much further than that. Lots of content that wouldn't be exciting for many today, but must have been important at the time. It is a fact that you can hear some echoes of this work in more recent hip hop bands like maybe a Jurassic 5 or something. Otherwise, meh. Why?
"Sex packets, a dollar for two, just tell me how many for you..." When everyone else was consumed with smoking crack and avoiding AIDS, these guys were pushing ecstasy pills, masturbation and doing the 'hump' in the Burger King bathrooms. Great album for the time it existed.
"The Humpty Dance" is great as a novelty song. The gimmick that Shock G carries through the whole of "Sex Packets," however, gets old fast. But thank you, Digital Underground, for launching the career of Tupac.
While the Humpty Dance is a silly, timeless classic song, the rest of the album feels solidly grounded in 1990.
So early 90s. Got bored.
Far too long, and though some of it is amusing, lots is just cheesy. Could easily have dropped everything from "Packet Prelude" onwards
Way too long. It’s kind of fun, and I like the sense of humor combined with the cheesy 90s hip-hop style, but not a fan of the theme (such as it is). No desire to listen to this again.
Humpty Dance and a whole lotta future sex love drugs, if thats your kink.
1.5/5
I didn't enjoy this one at all. Very dated, very same-y, and needlessly long.
This app is trolling me. This the day after Stereo MCs. I swear this was planned. Ok I may have overreacted based on the cover. This could actually be fun. Yes there is definitely a Fresh Prince vibe, that cannot be denied. Loads of Clinton. No period of culture has dated more than the early 90s, and this isn't an exception, but it's an enjoyable little bout of nostalgia. Added a couple of tracks, but some was just bad, the title track is sub-Prince rnb which I have no idea why they dragged out for over 7 minutes.
A couple songs on here were fun boom bap but overall the album felt one dimensional. Too many of the songs were unnecessarily long.
Funky indeed!
"Sex Packets" is the debut studio album by American hip hop group Digital Underground. It is a concept album based on large pills which are in condom-size package and developed by the government to provide users a satisfied sexual experience in situations where such experiences would be counterproductive to the mission at hand. Oh, Boy! The album had positive reviews and did well commercially hitting #24 in the US and #59 in the UK. The second single "The Humpty Dance" opens the album. A funky hip hop beat. Shock G on the mic as he describes his sexual prowess despite his ugly looks. Some absolutely great rhymes in this song. "Gutfest '89" opens with a guy talking about a conference with a bunch of great bands and, of course, Digital Underground closing. The jazzy music starts with a quick hip hop beat. Large girls in cages fighting naked at Gutfest, y'all. "Freaks of the Industry" gets the bass going with a chill vibe. You can't go wrong sampling Diana Ross and Donna Summer. Well, maybe you can but they didn't. The first released song was "Doowutchyalike." It's a busy song with multiple rappers. There's horns, a groovy dance beat and scratching. For some reason, I thought of Bell Biv DeVoe. Do what you like. Be who you are. "Sex Packets" is smooth and jazzy. A nice job of sampling Prince. They describe, well, the sex packets being all over the town. This was a fun album. It is funny, has clever lyrics and carries that ridiculous concept through the album. The music is funky and jazzy at times. They make repetitive jokes about the sexual packets. There's nice use of sampling particularly Parliament and Prince. There's an overall chill vibe. This album is definitely worth going back for a listen.
Weird
Dated but still enjoyable as background hum.
A 90s album that's stuck in the 90s. First listen I was like: Yuck. Second listen it started to grow on me but it still has lots of yuck. So 1.5 makes it a 2?
Hmmmm, exceedingly cringe content, basic-at-best flows, unexciting production. This was a bit of a chore to get through and I'm not giving it a second listen. It was maybe less horrible than the Dr Dre and Kanye albums I scored as a 2, so I guess this one is like a 2.4 - it ain't getting rounded up to a three at any rate. Fave track - "Underwater Rimes" was the highlight. I liked the parts of "Doowutchyalike" that addressed the radio station / block party DJ too, I guess, if not so much the rest of the song.
Sorry, but not even the fact that it's about a space orgasmer packet made it any less boring.
Some weird shit, it's quite unserious and the rhymes are ediocre . The beats are quite catchy at times, though I do think they are quite simple and uncreative.
Quality silliness with some old skool bangers
Some of my favorite samples I’ve ever heard on a hip-hop album!
Sounds quite dated now but Humpty Dance is a banger
The Humpty Dance is what it is, and what it is, is great fun...but dear lord early hip-hop must be one of the worst ageing genres of them all.
Terrible name for an album. Hip hop and funk fusion that can get repetitive. It's definitely different from the other stuff out at the time (basically a West Coast version of the Native Tongues movement in New York), but is sometimes too out there. Highlights: "The Way We Swing" (a laid-back brag song), "Underwater Rimes - Remix" (there was a lot of pot smoking in the studio, right? MC Blowfish???), "Doowutchyalike" (I'm guessing this is the band's mission statement, cool funky horns...8 1/2 minutes is a lot, though) Notable: "The Humpty Dance" (the first song on the album is the big novelty hit), "Gutfest '89" (I'm assuming they are namechecking their influences at the beginning. Their flow reminds me of De La Soul. Apparently, it's a sex festival...), "Freaks of the Industry" (female orgasm sounds make up part of the background rhythm, explicit lyrics), "Sex Packets" (a 12+ minute suite with a mix of skits and raps)