Digital Underground's Sex Packets Expanded For 35th Anniversary

(MMM) Digital Underground's classic debut "Sex Packets" is set to be reissued by Tommy Boy Records for its 35th anniversary on March 27, 2026. "Alright, stop what you're doin' 'cause I'm about to ruin / The image and the style that you're used to..." With those words, Digital Underground's "The Humpty Dance," pushed hip-hop into a bold, new direction, sonically inspired by the sound of George Clinton's Parliament-Funkadelic, mixing the creativity of the Bay Area and Miami scenes with memorably funny verses.

Sex Packets, their breakthrough debut album that offered "The Humpty Dance," "Doowutchyalike" and more, returns for its 35th anniversary as a remastered and expanded edition from Tommy Boy Records on March 27, boasting redesigned 3-D artwork and rare and unreleased bonus tracks.

Available on 180-gram light blue/black on clear splatter 2LP vinyl, 2CD or digital, Sex Packets (35th Anniversary) will boast the extra tracks "A Tribute to the Early Days" (originally available on cassette versions of the album) and "The Humpty Dance (Humpstramental Mix)"; the previously unreleased "Blue View"; and the rare full version of "Gutfest '89," exclusively available on the 2CD and digital products. The digital version includes an exclusive bonus track: the Mini-Hump Radio Mix of "The Humpty Dance." All five tracks will be available to stream or download for the first time ever.

All physical formats will feature a 12-page booklet with never-before-seen archival photos and liner notes by Atron Gregory, whose TNT Records helped catapult Digital Underground to fame. The gatefold packaging, created with the design team at Lovepop, opens to reveal a three-dimensional pop-up recording studio display based on original artwork by Digital Underground mastermind Gregory "Shock G" Jacobs. Jacobs' artwork, drawn under the pseudonym "Rackadelic," will also feature in a forthcoming lyric video for album cut "Freaks of the Industry," releasing on March 20.

Forged in equal measure by the laid-back Bay Area scene and the frenetic sounds of Miami bass, Digital Underground were a group apart, even as hip-hop was entering bold and unpredictable new directions in its journey to the heart of mainstream culture.

MC Shock G joined forces with Tampa's Kenneth "Kenny-K" Waters, Bay Area rapper Ronald "Money B" Brooks and turntablist David "DJ Fuze" Elliott, creating an inspired group that defied expectations. P-Funk samples mixed with live drums and jazzy keyboard arrangements, and the lyrics often matched Shock G's comical alter egos (including MC Blowfish and the instantly recognizable Humpty Hump). (Sex Packets was something of a concept album about "Genetic Suppression Relief Antidotes" (G.S.R.A.), a government-developed glowing substance meant to release sexual tension in delicate situations.)

Sex Packets was a qualified success when it was released in the spring of 1990. Lead single "Doowutchyalike" was a club classic, peaking at No. 19 on Billboard's Hot Rap Singles chart and No. 20 on Billboard's Hot Dance Music chart. "The Humpty Dance" took things even further, reaching No. 1 on Billboard's Hot Rap Singles chart, No. 7 on Billboard's Hot R&B Singles chart, and No. 11 on the Billboard Hot 100. The album itself hit No. 24 on the Billboard 200 album chart and No. 8 on the Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, earning a platinum certification from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). It placed in the top 20 of The Village Voice's annual Pazz & Jop poll, chronicling the year's best-reviewed albums, and featured on Rolling Stone and The Source's lists of the greatest hip-hop albums of all time.

Digital Underground remained a vital hip-hop act as the years went on. Their oft-changing line-up highlighted up-and-comers like Bay Area battle rapper Saafir and the incomparable Tupac Shakur. Shock G led Digital Underground while building an impressive production discography that included collaborations with Prince, 2Pac and Luniz-songs that remain treasured by fans well after his untimely passing in 2021. Pre-order and pre-save here

Sex Packets (35th Anniversary) Track List
CD/LP 1
The Humpty Dance
The Way We Swing
Rhymin' on the Funk
The New Jazz (One)
Underwater Rimes (Remix)
Gutfest '89 (Edit)
The Danger Zone
Freaks of the Industry

CD/LP 2
Doowutchyalike
Packet Prelude
Sex Packets
Street Scene
Packet Man
Packet Reprise
A Tribute to the Early Days (CD/LP/digital bonus track)
Blue View (previously unreleased CD/LP/digital bonus track)
The Humpty Dance (Humpstramental Mix) (CD/LP/digital bonus track)
Gutfest '89 (CD/digital bonus track)
The Humpty Dance (Mini-Hump Radio Mix) (digital bonus track)

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