A music icon, a community-focused brewery, and an established Oakland taproom teamed up to create a special tribute brew.
The passing of legendary Bay Area rapper Gregory “Shock G” Jacobs, who died in April 2021, sent a wave of emotion throughout the world. Now Oakland’s first Black-owned brewery is honoring the music icon with his own brew, just days before a citywide commemoration of Jacobs’ birthday.
Jacobs is best known to many as the co-creator of the Digital Underground, a group that scored hits in the 1990s with songs like “The Humpty Dance and “Freaks of the Industry.” The group also introduced onto the music scene future talents like Mystic and Tupac Shakur. But while Jacobs was laid to rest in Tampa, Florida (where he lived with his family), Digital Underground co-creator Ronald “Money-B” Brooks told Nosh that the Bay Area should be the epicenter of a celebration of Jacobs’ life, as this is where the band felt most supported and at home. “We have to bring it back to the Bay. That’s where we started,” Brooks said.
In addition to an Oakland proclamation declaring Aug. 25 — which would have been Jacobs’s 58th birthday — as “Digital Underground Day,” Oakland’s Hella Coastal Brewery, in collaboration with Brooks and Oakland’s Federation Brewery, has released a new beer called “Shock G Forever” in the musician’s honor.