Keep It Beautiful: Inside the Funkyverse of Shock G and Digital Underground

Visionary rapper of the groundbreaking “The Humpty Dance,” producer of Tupac Shakur’s iconic “I Get Around,” and driving force of legendary hip-hop group Digital Underground, Shock G shares his story in Keep It Beautiful.

This fully illustrated memoir by Gregory “Shock G” Jacobs, as told to Alexis Wolfe Mbassa, captures the eternal vibrance of his style–playful, soulful, colorful, and profound. In Keep It Beautiful, music lovers and 80s and 90s nostalgists will find a rare lens into the early days of hip-hop when it was an underground urban movement flirting with mainstream culture–bringing new takes on club classics and new style to the nightlife and street scenes. Curated by close friend and artist, Alexis Wolfe Mbassa, this stunning, full-color work offers a never-before-seen glimpse into the genesis of Shock G’s group, Digital Underground, which launched the music career of rap icon Tupac Shakur.

Keep It Beautiful (one of Shock G’s well-known sayings) combines traditional memoir, photographs, lyrics, the artist’s own illustrations and storyboards, handwriting, and photography to create an appealing package that is both keepsake book and a deeper look into the mind of an artist.