*Tommy Boy Records is celebrating one of hip-hop’s most distinctive debut albums with the release of a remastered and expanded anniversary edition of Digital Underground‘s “Sex Packets.” Set to arrive on March 27, the 35th anniversary reissue brings fresh life to the 1990 classic that introduced the world to the group’s irreverent, funk-drenched sound.
Per the news release, the reissue will be available in multiple formats, including 180-gram light blue/black on clear splatter 2LP vinyl, 2CD, and digital. Each version features redesigned 3-D gatefold packaging that opens to reveal a pop-up recording studio display rooted in original artwork created by Digital Underground mastermind Gregory “Shock G” Jacobs under his pseudonym “Rackadelic.”
All physical formats will also include a 12-page booklet filled with never-before-seen archival photos and liner notes penned by Atron Gregory, whose TNT Records played a pivotal role in launching the group’s career.
The expanded edition comes loaded with five bonus tracks making their streaming and download debuts. Highlights include the previously unreleased “Blue View,” the cassette-era “A Tribute to the Early Days,” and “The Humpty Dance (Humpstramental Mix).” The rare full version of “Gutfest ’89” will be exclusive to the 2CD and digital formats, while the digital version adds the Mini-Hump Radio Mix of “The Humpty Dance” as a bonus. A lyric video for album cut “Freaks of the Industry” is also set to drop on March 20.
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“Sex Packets” made a significant commercial impact upon its original release, earning RIAA platinum certification and landing on both Rolling Stone and The Source’s lists of the greatest hip-hop albums of all time. “The Humpty Dance” climbed to No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot Rap Singles chart, while the album itself reached No. 24 on the Billboard 200.
Blending the laid-back energy of the Bay Area with Miami bass influences and the sonic DNA of George Clinton’s Parliament-Funkadelic, Digital Underground carved out a lane entirely their own. The group’s ever-evolving lineup eventually included a young Tupac Shakur, and Shock G went on to build a production legacy that included work with Prince and Luniz before his passing in 2021.
Fans can pre-order Sex Packets (35th Anniversary) now: 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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