The Humpty Dance

"The Humpty Dance"
"The Humpty Dance"
Single by Digital Underground
from the album Sex Packets
Released	January 20, 1990
Recorded	1989
Studio	Starlight Sound (Richmond, California)
Genre	Golden age hip-hop; new jack swing; funk;
Length	6:30 (original version); 4:42 (radio edit);
Label	Tommy Boy
Songwriters	Shock G; George Clinton;
Producer	Shock G
Digital Underground singles chronology

"The Humpty Dance" is a song by the American hip-hop group Digital Underground from their debut album Sex Packets. Released as the second single from the album in January 1990, it reached No. 11 on the pop chart, No. 7 on the R&B chart, and No. 1 on the Billboard Rap Singles chart. The song is sung by Shock G's alter ego, "Humpty Hump", marking the character's second musical appearance; the first was Digital Underground's "Doowutchyalike," a pre-album video-single released in the spring of 1989. The song has been sampled by many different artists and producers.

In 2008, "The Humpty Dance" was ranked No. 30 on VH1's 100 Greatest Songs of Hip Hop and No. 65 on VH1's 100 Greatest Songs of the '90s in 2007. The song was included in the musical reference book 1001 Songs You Must Hear Before You Die. At the 1990 MTV Video Music Awards, it received a nomination for Best Rap Video but lost to "U Can't Touch This" by MC Hammer. Canadian television channel MuchMoreMusic's series Back In... rated the song's video as one of the worst of 1990.

In 2021, the song was ranked number 241 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.