Shock G, the bombastic rapper who fronted late ’80s/early ’90s hip-hop collective Digital Underground, has died, according to an Instagram post Thursday (April 22) from his onetime groupmate Chopmaster J. He was 57.

The artist’s passing was confirmed in a statement from his family. “Our son, brother and friend, Gregory Jacobs, also known as Shock G, suddenly passed away today,” the statement reads. “The cause of death is currently unknown. We truly, truly appreciate all the out-pouring of love and concern. Please keep us in your prayers at this very difficult time.”

Digital Underground was best known for their 1990 hit “The Humpty Dance,” and Shock G (real name: Greg Jacobs) was front and center for the song’s MTV-favorite video as his alter ego Humpty Hump.

“34 years ago almost to the day we had a wild idea we can be a hip hop band and take on the world,” Chopmaster J wrote on Instagram. “Through it all the dream became a reality and the reality became a nightmare for some. And now he’s awaken from the fame long live shock G Aka Humpty Hump and Rest In Peace my Brotha Greg Jacobs!!!”

Digital Underground was formed in Oakland, Calif., in 1987 by Shock G, Chopmaster J and Kenny-K, and the collective included a revolving door of more than three dozen members over its almost three decades of activity — including some of the earliest recordings from a young Tupac Shakur.

The group had four top 40-charting hits on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, including the top 10 smash “The Humpty Dance,” which also spent five weeks at No. 1 on the Hot Rap Songs chart in 1990 and peaked at No. 11 on the all-genre Billboard Hot 100. The song also garnered a Grammy nomination for best rap performance by a duo or group. “The Humpty Dance” was one of two top 20-charting hits on the Dance Club Songs chart, alongside 1991’s “Same Song.” The latter track housed an early appearance of 2Pac on a commercial recording, as he raps the final verse on the track. He’s introduced in the previous verse by Shock G, who raps “2Pac, go ahead and rock this.”

The group also placed six entries on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, including a pair of top 10s: 1990s Sex Packets and 1991’s This Is an E.P. Release.

Machine Gun Kelly is his own bloody Valentine with his latest razor-sharp tattoo.

The rapper, who turned 31 on Thursday (April 22), not only viciously sliced through a candy-filled birthday cake Wednesday night, but he also got some new ink that looks like someone sliced his neck. He showed off photos and a video of himself getting a gruesome vertical line tattooed in red ink down his neck, right above his tattoo of the title of his Billboard 200 No. 1 album Tickets to My Downfall.

“If anyone ever liked my neck,… it’s going to look different,” MGK deadpanned, writing “Bye bye neck” in his Instagram caption on Tuesday. Einer Banz, who co-wrote and -produced Polo G’s current Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 hit “Rapstar,” was easily deceived and “thought that was a legit slice in ur neck,” he commented. The rapper’s “Burning Memories” collaborator Lil Skies mused, “Wow love it!”

The “Bloody Valentine” singer also announced he “yatted the neck” on Twitter.

See MGK’s new ink below.

J Balvin and Khalid’s first collaboration, “Otra Noche Sin Ti,” debuts at No. 5 on the Hot Latin Songs chart (dated April 24). The track earns Khalid his first entry and first top 10 on any Latin chart. J Balvin collects his 32nd top 10.

The song, a fusion of slow-tempo perreo and R&B, rallied to 5.6 million U.S. streams in the week ending April 15, according to MRC Data, after its first tracking week (it was released on April 9). The track also lands a No. 4 start on Latin Streaming Songs.

Sales, too, help its top five debut on the airplay-, digital sales and streaming-blended Hot Latin Songs list: “Otra Noche” registers 1,000 downloads, enough for a No. 4 launch on Latin Digital Songs.

“Otra Noche” joins another Balvin track on Hot Latin Songs. His recently released “Tu Veneno” (March 19), which is also part of Balvin’s forthcoming album, holds at No. 9 for a second week after its No. 6 debut and peak (April 3-dated tally).

Khalid, who secured his first Billboard Hot 100 chart entry with “Location” in 2017, makes his Hot Latin Songs chart debut with “Otra Noche Sin Ti.” He’s one of a number of primarily English-language recording artists to make their Hot Latin Songs debut straight into the top 10 in the past 12 months. He follows Snoop Dogg, Travis Scott, 6ix9ine, Dua Lipa, The Weeknd, Doja Cat and Sia. (All but 6ix9ine scored their debuts through a collaboration with an established Spanish-language recording artist.)

“Otra Noche” concurrently debuts on both Billboard Global charts: at No. 72 on the Billboard Global 200 and at No. 89 on the Global Excl. U.S. list. The song was produced by Lexus and songwriter Keityn, who also co-wrote Karol G’s “Tusa” and Sebastian Yatra and Guaynna’s “Chica Ideal.”

Los Legendarios’ Second Top 10: Elsewhere on Hot Latin Songs, producers Los Legendarios secure their second top 10 as “Fiel,” with Wisin and Jhay Cortez, jumps 12-7. It’s the second top 10 for Los Legendarios who just earned their first less than three months ago through another collaboration with Wisin “Mi Niña,” with Myke Towers (No. 10; Jan. 9-dated list).

“Fiel” pushes up the chart mainly boosted by streams. The song logged 4.7 million in the week ending April 15 (up 19%). As it takes the Greatest Gainer/Streaming trophy on the chart, it jumps 6-5 on Latin Streaming Songs.  Wisin scores his 12th top 10 and Cortez his seventh.

[Spoiler alert: This story contains the identity of the eliminated contestants on Wednesday night’s (April 21) The Masked Singer.] 

The Crab scuttled off the Masked Singer stage on Wednesday night (April 21), but not before giving the judges’ panel all the feels over an emotional wildcard ride. In a dramatic two-hour, double-elimination Super Eight episode that swept away both Crab and Seashell as season 5 surfs to a close, the crustacean with the voice of a ragged angel said goodbye with his pincers held high.

The man behind the Crab left it all on the stage with a trio of performances that brought the judges to tears and an earlier dramatic exit following a costume-induced panic attack. Crab’s emotional cover of Bill Withers’ iconic 1971 weeper “Ain’t No Sunshine” was a clear indication that they were dealing with a heavyweight vocalist. And his take on Rick James’ 1981 bass-slapper “Give It to Me Baby” was a further indication that this dude could bring the funk and the soul. His final, surprising choice on Wednesday night, Phil Collins’ titanic 1981 ballad “In the Air Tonight,” brought out Crab’s rocky edge, which made sense, since frequently incorrect judge Ken Jeong earlier suggested the man under the mantle could be ageless icon Lenny Kravitz.

Robin Thicke was close, suggesting former New Edition member and solo star Johnny Gill or perhaps “Ghostbusters” singer Ray Parker Jr., while Jenny McCarthy thought it might be Public Enemy rapper Flavor Flav and Nicole Scherzinger ended up being wayyy off base with her suggestion that it was either Kanye West or Keith Sweat.

Ken should have stuck with his initial guess of former New Edition and solo star Bobby Brown, who was indeed the sensitive, emotional crabmeat under that hard blue and purple exterior. The night’s other eliminated singer was Sister, Sister star Tamera Mowry.

Billboard spoke to Brown before his elimination to find out what happened the night he had to run offstage and why he’s psyched that his kids are now going to learn that titanic drum break in the Collins hit. Check out our chat with Brown below:

Whose idea was it for you to do this show?

Me and my kids watch the show every week. We’ve been watching it since the beginning, and so my wife and I thought it would be fun to do it and see if the kids could guess it was me… and they did.

I mean, your voice is so distinctive, so it wasn’t that hard. 

No, not really. I do have a recognizable voice and tone. So it was still fun to do and a lot of fun to be able to get out of the house during these times and do something.

You had to run offstage at one point because you got claustrophobic. Can you explain what happened?

I just got overwhelmed performing the Rick James song and not being able to move like I would normally move and trying to breathe at the same time.

Did you know beforehand that you were claustrophobic?

I did not know I was until I did The Masked Singer.

That’s a hell of a way to find out!

[Laughs] Yeah, that’s a hard way to learn, live on TV!

Why’d you pick the Crab costume? It seemed super cumbersome and sweaty and you even said it was hard to breathe during the Withers song.

It was just so well put together, with the claws and shell on my back and the mustache on the head. It was definitely hard to move around in it.

You usually move around a lot, but you seemingly couldn’t in that costume. What was the hardest part of performing in it?

Because it has so many layers and I’m so used to being free. I wear light clothes when I’m performing normally, and this had so many layers that it constricted me from moving like I do. But it was fun to have it on and I just had to deal with the fact that it was heavy and restrictive.

You’re so well-known — was there something about being anonymous that appealed to you?

Yes. In a lot of different ways. Knowing that the kids would be watching, I was like, “Why not do something out of the box that could be fun for me and kids?” So when we sit down and have TV time it would be fun for them. I know they’re enjoying every minute of it.

You talked in one package about the terrible stage fright you had at your first performance as a little kid — where you ended up being discovered — but if you knew that, why would you do this show? Is that what got in your head during the James song?

No, I didn’t have that in my head. Me having stage fright was so long ago and I’ve never [had it] again. It was so long ago and it’s never happened since that time, but having the costume on brought those memories back.

The judges guessed your old bandmate Johnny Gill, but also Kanye, Lenny Kravitz, Ray Parker Jr. and Flavor Flav. Were you surprised or offended by any of those guesses?

[Laughs] No, I wasn’t surprised. It’s just when you have the costume on, there’s no telling who the person is. Especially when you’re singing, you can sound like anybody these days. … Them guessing those names was a surprise.

How did you pick that Phil Collins song? It seems out of your wheelhouse, but you crushed it.

I just always loved that song, the way the drums come in at the end is just so powerful, it’s a powerful record. It was fun to sing that one on television and for my kids to be able to learn it. … They will [definitely] learn that one tonight.

You picked all emotional songs. What message were you sending with them?

I’m an emotional person. I just think that’s where my head was, where my heart was in singing those songs. It was therapeutic for me after going through everything I’ve gone through. Therapy is good.

Did you think you were going to win?

It wasn’t about winning for me. It was just about pure fun, because that’s what it is. I didn’t look at it as a competition, but just as a way to be able to get out of the house and have fun with my peers. I can’t wait to see who everyone else is when they’re revealed. I’ve been trying to guess myself and if people guessed me, that’s good for them. I’m still a big fan of the show and I’m trying to keep my numbers up [in the house] because I’m usually the one in the household who guesses the person right away.

Does Janet Jackson know you have a crush on her now that you revealed it in the clues? I mean, she does now, right?

[Laughs] I believe she does!

Edited by Dan Rys

Warner Closes in on New Latin Leader
The guessing game is over on who will replace longtime president of Warner Music Latin America and Iberia Iñigo Zabala when he retires at the end of 2021.

Inside Track hears that Warner Recorded Music CEO Max Lousada and president of international recorded music Simon Robson, who were looking outside the company for Zabala’s successor, have narrowed their search considerably.

A source familiar with the search says the frontrunner is Alejandro Duque, managing director of Universal Music Latino, Machete and Capitol Latin and a protégé of Jesús López, chairman/CEO of Universal Music Latin America & Iberian Peninsula. Duque, who’s in his late 30s, grew up in the Latin music business thanks to his father, who was a record executive in Colombia and took his first job with Universal in his home country.

The source says WMG has also had conversations with or about Alex Gallardo, president, Sony Music U.S. Latin; Gustavo Lopez, CEO of Saban Music Group (as well as a partner) and the original president of Universal’s urban Latin label, Machete Music; and Nir Seroussi, executive vp at Interscope Geffen A&M Records, where his purview is Latin music. Duque had not responded at publication time. Gallardo, Lopez and WMG declined to comment. Seroussi responded, “It’s not me.”  – Frank DiGiacomo

Azoff Is Hiring

Irving Azoff has taken another step forward with the new record label and music publishing venture he’s launching with son Jeffrey Azoff and former Columbia Records urban music co-head Shawn Holiday.

An insider says Azoff, who ran MCA Records in the 1980s and his own label Giant in the ’90s, has hired executive search firm James & Co. to find a leader to help run the label. Another source says Holiday will be involved in both the label and publishing sides of the start-up, and that Sony Music will almost certainly not be involved, as other publications have reported.

James & Co., which specializes in finding C-suite candidates for media and entertainment companies, was founded by Michele James and business partner Roysi Erbes in 2002 after James worked as AOL Time Warner’s chief talent scout. The firm’s clients have reportedly included the NFL, ESPN, Oxygen Media and SiriusXM. James and Erbes did not return calls requesting comment, and a rep for Azoff was unavailable for comment. – F.D.

If you have a tip or story for Inside Track, contact dan.rys@billboard.com