Holy Funk and Sacred Flow: Meet Pope Delbizzle I and Cardinal Em-Dizzle the Divine

Delbert M. Grush adopted the persona of Delbizzle and Emery Knudtson as Em Dizzle for the sake of a story.

In an unexpected event that sent shockwaves through Christendom and the global communities, the first American pope was elected, and he was not walking into the papacy; he took the electric slide. Meet Pope Delbizzle I, a.k.a. His Flyness, Supreme Pontiff of the Digital Underground. Ordained by none other than Shock G, pseudonym assigned by the ever-holy Humpty Hump himself, Delbizzle has funked up the Vatican with a new liturgical order: righteous beats, reverent rhymes, and an unshakable swag.

With the papal motto “Doowutchyalike, but keep it righteous,” Delbizzle I, is bringing a whole new meaning to apostolic succession. He's remixed tradition in true divine style, from replacing incense with low-frequency funk to canonizing turntables as sacred instruments. His papal bulls? Not printed on parchment but pressed on vinyl scrolls. Every Friday, the Sistine Chapel turns into Club Vatican, with “Funky Fridays” featuring fusion sets and live scratching under Michelangelo’s frescos.

But no global leader vibes alone.

Enter his funky right hand: Cardinal Em-Dizzle the Divine, a.k.a. Bishop of the Boogie and Vicar of the Vibe. Chosen in a cipher and confirmed by Parliament-Funkadelic, Em-Dizzle is more than a sidekick; he's the spiritual hype man of the Holy See. Known for miracle freestyle blessings and crip walking papal runways in Boogaloo fashion, Em-Dizzle authored the game-changing encyclical Fide et Funk (“On Faith and the Groove”), bridging theology and thump in unprecedented ways.

Together, Pope Delbizzle I and Cardinal Em-Dizzle form the Council of Holy Rhythm, the first papal duo to headline both Vatican II.0 and Coachella. In their hands, sacred tradition and secular soul converge in harmony, proving that holiness doesn’t have to be quiet... sometimes it comes with bass drops and breakbeats.

In the words of His Flyness himself: "The Word was made flesh... and the flesh had rhythm."

And lo, the faithful did groove.

Digital Underground Signed Image

Remembering Gregory Jacobs, a.k.a. Shock G Before he was a platinum-selling artist or the masked mischief-maker of 1990s hip-hop, Gregory Jacobs was a gifted, restless spirit who saw music not as a product, but a playground. Known to the world as Shock G, and even more famously as Humpty Hump, Jacobs created a universe of alter egos, personas, and sonic textures that didn’t just entertain, they liberated. He permitted others to be weird, funky, and authentic.

And for those of us who knew him, like Delbert M. Grush, who would one day reimagine that same spirit in the fictional creation of Delbizzle prescribed by Jacobs himself.

The Architect of Alternate Egos

Gregory Jacobs was born in Brooklyn in 1963, but his creative soul spanned boroughs, eras, and dimensions. Trained in classical piano and influenced by George Clinton’s Parliament-Funkadelic and the Zapp Band’s talkbox wizardry, Jacobs fused funk, jazz, and hip-hop with digital artistry. As the founder of Digital Underground, he ushered in a new chapter of Bay Area hip-hop, one steeped in satire, surrealism, and slamming beats.

But it was as Humpty Hump, the rubber-nosed party prophet with a gravelly voice and wild rhymes, that Jacobs found cult immortality. The 1989 track “The Humpty Dance” wasn’t just a hit; it was culture. Humpty wasn’t a side persona; he was a whole movement, challenging what hip-hop could look and sound like and art as a collective.

As Delbert, then a young soldier in the U.S. Army, recalls: "Talking to Greg was like stepping into a parallel universe, where funk was scripture, and laughter was sacred. He taught me you could have depth and absurdity in the same breath. Giving me the name Delbizzle, we discussed everything from the industry, culture, art, to combat"

The Mask and the Mirror

Shock G created multiple characters: Humpty Hump, MC Blowfish, Peanut Hakeem, Icey-Mike. This wasn’t gimmickry, it was commentary. Jacobs understood that the Black experience, the artistic self, and even spiritual identity were layered and contradictory. His personas were masks that told more truth than a naked face ever could. He would not break character. As Delbert recalls: "If Greg were in persona, he would not deviate if you had a message for an alternate ego. He would get back to me at a later time."

He mentored a young Tupac Shakur, giving him his first break on Digital Underground’s “Same Song.” Even then, Shock saw beyond personas into potential. He was, in his way, a shepherd of gifted voices.

Jacobs passed away in April 2021 at the age of 57. The world lost not just a rapper, but an imaginative force who used his alter ego as an art form. His impact echoed globally. His death resonates with Delbert. That loss became a seed, eventually blooming into the satirical sacred figure of carrying the gifted name, Delbizzle, a fusion of funk and freedom.

"I made Delbizzle I, because Greg showed me how to honor the ridiculous without mocking the truth,"  Delbert says.  "Humpty didn’t desecrate tradition, he liberated it from being stale."

Shock G’s brilliance was never meant to live in a single lane. His music, humor, and vision continue to inspire across genres and even across fictional realms. Delbert’s playful reimagining of a funkified papacy shows how far the ripples of Shock G’s artistry have traveled.

It’s no accident that Delbizzle the First and Cardinal Em-Dizzle the Divine carry echoes of Jacobs' universe. Like their spiritual forefather, they hold space for paradox: reverence and rhythm, truth and absurdity.

As Pope Delbizzle might put it:

"Doowutchyalike, but keep it righteous."

Rest in peace, Gregory Jacobs. The beat goes on, and on, and on, and it's still funky as hell at Digital Underground.com, where the legacy lives on. On behalf of all who hold faith, hope, and unity dear, heartfelt congratulations to Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, elected as the first American Pope Leo XIV, on ascending to the papacy. May your leadership bring global compassion, wisdom, and peace. As you step into this sacred role, I hope this journey is guided by grace and strengthened by prayer. May your papacy be a beacon in times of challenge and inspiring change.