Song · Digital Underground
“The Humpty Dance” by Digital Underground
From the album Sex Packets (1990)
“The Humpty Dance” by Digital Underground appears on 7 radio countdowns from 7 stations between 1990 and 2025. It was first released in 1990 on the album Sex Packets. Its best result is #85 on the Q101 Top 300 Party Songs of All-Time (July 2004). In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #257 alternative song of 1990.
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"The Humpty Dance" was the second single from Sex Packets, Digital Underground's 1990 debut on Tommy Boy, and it belongs to Humpty Hump, the loudmouth alter ego Shock G dreamed up. Humpty had shown his face only once before, on "Doowutchyalike" in 1989. The group produced it themselves, Steve Counter recorded and mixed it, and the writing credits reach back to George Clinton, Bootsy Collins and Junie Morrison.
It went to No. 11 on the pop chart and No. 7 on the R&B chart and ruled the Rap Singles chart, and producers have been sampling it ever since. MTV nominated the video for Best Rap Video in 1990, though MC Hammer's "U Can't Touch This" took the prize, and Rolling Stone ranked it at 241 on its 500 Greatest Songs of All Time in 2021.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
RockLists rankings
Alternative & Modern Rock
Indie & Adult Alternative
All Rock Formats
Year-end countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | 87 | CFNY 102.1 The Edge Toronto, ON | CFNY Top 90 Songs of 1990 | 90 |
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | 85 | Q101 | Q101 Top 300 Party Songs of All-Time (July 2004) | 300 |
| 2021 | 437 | 90.9 The Bridge | 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the '90s | 908 |
| 2022 | 641 | The Colorado Sound | The Colorado Sound Top 900 Songs of the '90s | 900 |
| 2023 | 195 | The Current | The Current's 893 Essential Songs of the '90s | 893 |
| 2024 | 585 | KEXP | The Best Opening Tracks of All Time | 738 |
| 2025 | 255 | WFPK | WFPK Top 500 Songs of the '90s | 500 |
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