Digital Underground’s Money B Reveals The Truth About Tupac, Shock G’s Humpty Hump Struggles & Untold History

Money B Tells His Story…

Before Tupac Shakur became one of Hip-Hop’s most influential figures, before “The Humpty Dance” turned Digital Underground into a household name, and before Shock G’s alter ego Humpty Hump became larger than life, there was a collective of young artists in Oakland determined to do something different.

Money B was there for nearly all of it.

Born in Philadelphia and raised in the Bay Area, the veteran MC grew up surrounded by revolutionary politics. Both of his parents were members of the Black Panther Party, and he attended Oakland Community School, where Huey P. Newton personally handed him his graduation certificate.

That foundation would eventually intersect with one of Hip-Hop’s most creative groups and one of its most iconic artists, Tupac Shakur.

Now, with his new book, A D.U. Party Don’t Stop: The Money B Story, Money B is revisiting the triumphs, tensions and unexpected moments that helped shape his extraordinary journey. (Click here to purchase this riveting memoir.)

In this candid conversation with AllHipHop’s Chuck “Jigsaw” Creekmur and DJ Thoro, Money B discusses everything from Tupac’s early days and their shared political upbringing to Shock G’s frustration with Humpty Hump’s popularity. He also addresses an unusual viral photograph of himself with Tupac and recalls the night Digital Underground deliberately got booed at the Apollo Theater.

The Interview

AllHipHop (Chuck Creekmur): Your parents were Black Panthers?

Money B: Yes. Both my mom and my dad joined the Black Panthers at the Philadelphia chapter in 1970, I want to say. Then my dad moved to the Bay like a year or two later. About a year after that, me and my mom followed.

Shortly after, that’s where I attended Oakland Community School.

AllHipHop: What was the difference between that school and a regular public school?

Money B: You were placed in class not by your age, but by your aptitude. However much you were able to learn, you weren’t held back.

Another thing about the school is we were taught how to learn as opposed to being forced what to learn. It was encouraged to ask questions, to be inquisitive.

I probably read Malcolm X when I was like 11. They would teach us about Marcus Garvey, and we knew about Langston Hughes. I actually met Rosa Parks. She came and visited.

AllHipHop: There’s a picture of you and Huey P. Newton in the book. What’s the story?

Money B: That’s when I graduated from Oakland Community School, basically sixth-grade age. Every year, Huey P. would usually be there at the graduation ceremony, and he’d be the one to hand out the diploma.

That’s a picture of Huey P. Newton giving me my certificate of graduation. That’s actually my brother and sister in the picture with me.

DJ Thoro: With that upbringing, was there any conflict when you wanted to get into the music business?

Money B: My father always hoped that I would talk more about pro-Black, socially conscious music because he loved Public Enemy and Paris.

He actually was a consultant on Paris’s video. When Paris came out, he reached out to my dad.

AllHipHop: What was the original concept of Digital Underground before the group became what we knew?

Money B: Originally, Shock wanted Digital Underground to be more like a pro-Black militant group.

But back then, you couldn’t be a biter. Up until Public Enemy came out, it was like, somebody’s doing it. We can’t do that. We couldn’t come out wearing dashikis because the Jungle Brothers were already doing that.

If you really pay close attention, Digital Underground’s music always has an underlying message. We just weren’t over the top with it.

We make you dance, want you to have fun, party, kick it with us, but also learn a little something along the way.

Shock’s main message, at least the way I interpreted it, was about unity and bringing everybody together.

AllHipHop: How did you and Shock G actually meet?

Money B: Digital Underground put a record out in 1988 called “Underwater Rimes.” At that time, it was just Shock and Chopmaster J.

They needed a DJ. DJ Fuze was recognized as probably one of the hottest DJs in the Bay, and me and Fuze were a group called Raw Fusion.

They came to the crib, and Fuze was renting a room in my mom’s apartment. So I’m there with these guys coming to take my DJ!

After the meeting, Fuze agreed to work with them, but only under the condition that they work with us. We’re a group. We’re not breaking up.

AllHipHop: Digital Underground eventually became a huge collective.

Money B: It definitely was a collective. Everybody came in with the understanding that the goal was for everybody to get their own deal and project.

We were literally Wu-Tang before Wu-Tang.

When Pac came aboard, he was a solo artist. Me and Fuze were Raw Fusion before we got in the group, knowing this was going to help us get a deal for a Raw Fusion album, a Tupac album, Saafir and everybody else.

AllHipHop: How did Tupac come into the group? Was he trying to get down with you guys?

Money B: No, that’s not how it happened.

He was a solo artist signed to TNT Records, which was the label we were signed to.

Before he was a solo artist, he was in a group called Strictly Dope with Ray Luv. They were working on their demo, so they were around us.

Pac and I were close to the same age. When he used to come to Oakland, my house was the hangout house. Me and Fuze had the equipment, turntables, records, and my block was active. Pac liked that.

It got to a point where I think Atron feared he might lose him because it was taking too long, in Tupac’s opinion, for him to get a deal.

We were about to go on our first U.S. tour, and Atron asked if we could bring him.

Everybody likes to say he was a dancer. His job description was just to come and help us with whatever we needed help with.

It could be dancing, helping break down equipment, all these things we all did. He wasn’t just a roadie. He would rhyme, sometimes be the hype man. We all had roles.

AllHipHop: Did you and Pac connect as Panther Cubs, since both your parents were Black Panthers?

Money B: Yes and no.

We didn’t sit around and have meetings about how we were going to take down the white man. We didn’t do that.

But because we had similar upbringings, when he would talk about what people thought were radical thoughts, his messaging was never foreign to me.

When he mentioned political prisoners, Geronimo Pratt and Assata Shakur, I knew who these people were.

He didn’t have to explain anything to me. I think there was probably some comfort in that.

It was unspoken.

AllHipHop: Let’s talk about Humpty Hump. Did he eventually become bigger than Digital Underground?

Money B: He became the star. There became a point where Humpty was bigger than the entire group.

More importantly, he was bigger than Shock G, but Shock G was the one who created him.

Shock openly admitted that some chicks would want him to put the nose on!

He told us the first time Humpty Hump really got busy. Shock G didn’t get it. Humpty got it!

But Shock was such a great musician, and he wanted to be recognized for that.

At one point, he felt like all people wanted was Humpty. He wasn’t trying to kill Humpty, but he wasn’t excited to keep doing it.

I think The Body-Hat Syndrome album was a way to go in the opposite direction because Tommy Boy wanted more Humpty pop songs.

He didn’t want to give them another Humpty hit because then he would be pigeonholed forever.

AllHipHop (DJ Thoro): I was at the Apollo when you guys came out with bags over your heads and everybody started booing. Who planned that?

Money B: We were at rehearsal, goofing around. I think Pee Wee came up with the idea because of the Unknown Comic from The Gong Show.

Shock was like, “No, let’s really do that.”

But the only way it would work was if we got booed. We had to think of the wackest everything to make sure we got booed.

We couldn’t let production know. The Sandman didn’t know. Kiki Shepard didn’t know. Mark Curry didn’t know.

Mark’s from Oakland, and I knew him. If I had said something, he would have recognized my voice.

When we revealed ourselves, they went crazy. New York love was crazy!

AllHipHop: There’s also that picture of you and Tupac that people keep talking about. Can you clarify it?

Money B: I get it. If I was a friend of that person in that situation, I’d be cracking on them.

But back then, if you were on the road, the only person who had their own room was the star, which was Shock.

Other than that, me and Pac were roommates. Fuze and Money? Everybody had a roommate.

Obviously, he sat down and took a picture. I don’t know what else you want me to say.

Other than that, you’re implying something, and if you know me, it’s ridiculous. If you don’t know me, that’s fine, too.

AllHipHop: Nothing to see here?

Money B: Nothing to see.

Editor’s note: The interview has been condensed and lightly edited for clarity. The final exchange refers to Money B and Tupac sharing a room while touring, with other group members also assigned roommates.