Your Life's A Cartoon

Album: released as a single (1988)
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Songfacts®:

  • Backed with "Underwater Rimes," "Your Life's A Cartoon" was the first Digital Underground single, and the song that earned them a recording contract.

    Group leader Shock G wrote the song in 1987 and recorded a demo at a studio provided by Chopmaster J, who became a member of Digital Underground as a drum programmer, promotion man and business coordinator. Shock planned to make copies of the song for his friends, but Chopmaster had bigger ambitions. He sent it to his friend at the local label TNT Records, which had them make a proper recording and released the single in 1988. This single got the attention of Tommy Boy Records, which signed the group and released their first album, Sex Packets, in 1990.
  • The song incorporates the Pink Panther theme along with various other cartoon elements (including a laugh track) to form the track. The lyrics, however, are not exactly whimsical. The song is about a guy who cheats on his wife, later to discover that she cheated on him in return. As his life falls apart, he is left to ponder his poor choices. His life is a cartoon because he didn't take it seriously.
  • This got some exposure on the San Francisco radio station KMEL on their new music showcase "Kiss It or Diss It." The listeners kissed it, which gave the song and the group a vote of confidence.

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