Next, the freewheeling group shows listeners “The Way We Swing” and asks how we like it. Tracks including “Rhymin’ on the Funk” find Shock G trading clever lines with Bay Area rapper Ronald “Money B” Brooks. Turntablist David “DJ Fuze” Elliott spins Parliament Funkadelic, Chic, and Sly and the Family Stone samples and more throughout the album, set against live drums and jazz-inflected piano for a truly original strain of hip-hop on tracks like the brief snippet “The New Jazz (One).”
“Freaks of the Industry” rides a smooth soul groove as listeners overhear tales of Shock G and Money B’s scandalous adventures, complete with multiple choice quizzes asking what you would do in the same situation. The track’s foundational loop is replete with over-the-top but obligatory ecstatic moans. You’d better wear headphones so your mom doesn’t hear as the song melts into its sparkling piano-based coda.
Party starter “Doowutchyalike” is a hedonistic manifesto that again features Shock G’s alter ego Humpty Hump. Alongside the song’s spirited encouragement to hang loose and the occasional gross-out gag comes another rallying cry: “Now, red, white, black, tan, yellow, or brown / It really doesn’t matter, we can all get down,” says Shock G. Another Jacobs character named MC Blowfish arrives with an Edward G. Robinson accent during deep blue funk of “Underwater Rimes.” Although the boys in the band predominantly seem to be seeking good times and illicit thrills, “The Danger Zone” is a cautionary portrait of rampant drug dependence on neighborhood streets.
Sex Packets’ loose thematic narrative on side two includes the titular concept. “No sex can be safer,” a pitchman promises during the title track, offering “biochemically compacted sexual affection” in tablet form to those who can’t get enough (or any) of the real thing. “Just tell me how many for you this time,” he says. The “Packet Man” pushes his product in shady street deals. He knows you’ll be back for more.
The original album’s 14 songs are expanded with five extras including cassette bonus cut “A Tribute to the Early Days,” an instrumental mix of “The Humpty Dance,” the previously unreleased hip-hop noir of “Blue View,” and an extra two and a half minutes of “Gutfest ’89.” The latter track describes an imaginary festival showcasing women from around the world and musical acts headlined by the Who, the Clash, Herbie Hancock, Miles Davis, and naturally, Digital Underground. Those who don’t find the partner of their dreams on the grounds amid the revelry can “go home with a packet.”
The album arrives on black-and-blue splatter vinyl with an eye-popping gatefold sleeve that opens to reveal a 3D recording studio based on Jacobs’ line artwork. A 12-page booklet includes new liner notes by TNT Records’ Atron Gregory and archival photos of the members with family and promo shots.
