Family, friends, strangers, and music lovers honored the life of producer and rapper Gregory “Shock G” Jacobs this past Saturday. Jacobs was laid to rest at Allen Temple A.M.E. Church in Tampa. Thousands tuned in to the funeral ceremony virtually via Livestream to pay their respects.
The ceremony lasted nearly four hours with speakers ranging from family friends to fellow musicians from the 90s hip hop scene.
Famous entertainers including Bootsy Collins, producer Kwame, Chuck D, Big Daddy Kane, Cee-Lo Green, Busta Rhymes, Jermaine Dupri, George Clinton, and others paid their tribute at the service, according to WFLA.
“His legacy was how he loved people unconditionally,” Reverend Doctor Alesia Ford-Burse said at the service. “He loved to a default.”
Some of his fellow group members also came out to remember their friend.
“He was just a true artist,” said friend and Digital Underground member Ronald Brooks, known as Money B. “Basically the art was everything and he was just such a giving person.”
The 57-year-old hip-hop icon was found dead in a Tampa, Fla. hotel room on April 22. Jacobs’ cause of death has yet to be determined.
The co-founder and lead vocalist of the hip hop group Digital Underground, Jacobs grew up in Tampa before going on to musical fame. Digital Underground, scored a huge Billboard hit with “The Humpty Dance” and rose to fame in 1989.
Shock G was also a successful producer, having co-produced Tupac Shakur’s album “2Pacalypse Now.” He is credited with launching 2Pac’s legendary career.
Shock G & Tupac R.I.P. pic.twitter.com/65erSVJ562
— HIPHOP📸IN📸PICTURES™️®️ (@allinhiphop) April 27, 2021
We lost another legend,” said rapper Robert “Rob Base” Ginyard. “The hip hop community is going to miss you, Shock. But, really, the whole world is going to miss you.”
Nzazi Malonga, a longtime friend said the rapper struggled with drug addiction for years, according to the Associated Press. Tampa police records also detail Jacobs’ struggle with drugs in the weeks before his passing, according to Tampa Bay Times.
Despite these events, Saturday’s ceremony focused on the positivity in Jacobs’ life and his influential legacy.
There was even a parade of Polaris Slingshot vehicles blasting his music in his memory.
“It was awesome man,” Brooks said. “You see them playing the Humpty Dance and usually funerals are sad but look everyone’s having fun and that’s the way he would have wanted us to end his story.”
He is survived by his mother, Shirley Kraft; father, Edward Racker; brother, Kent Racker; and sister, Elizabeth Racker.
