Latest revision- March 9, 2023
"Shabooya Roll Call" is an African American originated call and respond bragging and/or taunting chant with a distinctive structure and rhythm. The chant is supposed to begin with the words "shabooya sha sha shabooya roll call" and end with the words "Shabooya roll call".
The earliest published example of a song or chant with a "shabooya" pattern that I'm aware of is the 1992 song by Prince entitled "My Name Is Prince". [Thanks Anonymous May 9, 2016 whose comment is in this post's discussion section.]
Click https://genius.com/Prince-and-the-new-power-generation-my-name-is-prince-lyrics for the complete lyrics to Prince's song "My Name Is Prince". That song was first released on Oct. 13, 1992
[Verse 1: Prince]
My name is Prince a
And I am funky
My name is Prince the one and only
I did not come to funk around
'Tll I get your daughter I won't leave this town
[...]
My name is Prince a
And I am funky
My name is Prince the one and only
I did not come to funk around
'Tll I get your daughter I won't leave this town
[...]
[Verse 2: Prince]
My name is Prince and I am funky
When it come to funk I am a junky
I know from righteous I know from sin
I got two sides and they both friends
Update: July 4, 2022; Hat tip to commenter Anonymous July 2, 2022. Here's part of that comment:
..." the Spartan cheerleaders on Saturday Night Live, which used the lyric “cha cha butchee” instead of “Shabooya” but is otherwise clearly the same chant. Although a few comments elsewhere on the internet claim that SNL was referencing “Get on the Bus”, the first SNL episode featuring the roll call chant (1/20/96) predates the Spike Lee movie’s release (10/16/96) by almost nine months."...
Read that entire comment and my replies below.
-end of July 4, 2022 update-
Read that entire comment and my replies below.
-end of July 4, 2022 update-
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Another early documented use of the word "shabooya" is Spike Lee's 1996 movie Get On The Bus.
Shabooya !!!!!!!!!!!! Scene from the film Get On The Bus (1996)
Uploaded by New7Michael7 on Apr 19, 2010
"Scene from the movie " Get on the bus" ( 1996 ), directed by Spike Lee ( whose soundtrack featured Michael Jackson ), in which the people of the bus starts to rap with a catchy chorus."
-snip-
Here's my transcription of that scene. I've used bold font for the rhyming, near rhyming, or "supposed to be rhyming" words font to more clearly show them (Note: The bold font does not mean that those words are emphasized.)
GET ON THE BUS SHABOOYA ROLL CALL
Shabooya sha sha shabooya roll call
Shabooya sha sha shabooya roll call
-repeat multiple times-
My name is Mike
Yeah
Representing New York
Yeah
I’m not a Muslim
Yeah
Still don’t eat pork
Roll Call
Shabooya sha sha shabooya roll call
Shabooya sha sha shabooya roll call
Don’t call me Evan
yeah
Cause I’m on the move
Yeah
Don’t call me junior
Yeah
But you can call me Smooth
Roll Call
Shabooya sha sha shabooya roll call
Shabooya sha sha shabooya roll call
Hey My name is Evan
Yeah
Evan senior
They got my son
yeah
On a misdemeanor
Roll Call
Shabooya sha sha shabooya roll call
Shabooya sha sha shabooya roll call
My name is Gary
Yeah
I’m down with Shelly
Yeah
She’s got the butta
Yeah
I got the jelly.
Roll Call
Shabooya sha sha shabooya roll call
Shabooya sha sha shabooya roll call
My name is X
And I’m a Bruin
And I blah blah blah
[laughter because he messed up]
My name Jamal
Yeah
My mind is free
yeah
We need more love
Yeah
And unity
Roll Call
Shabooya sha sha shabooya roll call
Shabooya sha sha shabooya roll call
My name is Pop
Yeah
We at the top
Yeah
Now all this Shabooya
Yeah
Has got to stop.
The movie Get On The Bus may be the earliest documented record of the word "shabooya", since 2006, that word has been most closely associated with Bring It On - All Or Nothing, the third movie in the teenage cheerleader movie series. There are two scenes in the Bring It On - All Or Nothing movie in which the "Shabooya Roll Call" cheer is featured - the cafeteria table scene and the school dance scene.
Both the Get On The Bus version and the Bring It On-All Or Nothing cafeteria table scene version of "Shabooya Roll Call" have the same call & response lyrical structure. Both have the same "shabooya sha sha shabooya roll call" refrain, and both have the same "Yeah" group response. Furthermore, the Get On The Bus version, the Bring It On-All Or Nothing cafeteria table version, and the school dance version of "Shabooya Roll Call" each have similar numbers of beats in their four line soloists verses. As determined by counting the number of syllables in each line of the soloist's verse, the usual number of syllables per soloist line is 5. However, some soloist verses have lines with 6 syllables in a line, and a fewer number of soloist verses have lines with 4 syllables in a line.)
Here's the video of the Bring It On-All Or Nothing cafeteria dance scene with the words to the Shabooya cheer superimposed on the video screen. (Warning! There is a curse word used prior to the cheer starting.)
Bring It on: Shabooya !! {Dance on duh Table}
iluzyoo, Apr 2, 2011
bring it on all or nothing
-snip-
Update: November 4, 2019: This video replaces another video of the same scene that is no longer available.
Here's my description of that scene:
Two African American teenage girls and one Latina teenage girl perform an exaggerated version of a foot stomping routine for the cheer "Shabooya Roll Call" during a high school lunch period.
Here's the words to the cafeteria table scene with the soloist's lines written in syllables, the rhyming words given in bold, and the number of syllables pers in that soloist verse given in brackets after each line of that verse:
SHABOOYA ROLL CALL
Camille: Here we go now!
Camille, Kirresha, Leti: [starts dance routine] Sha boo ya sha sha sha boo ya. Roll call.
Sha boo ya sha sha sha boo ya. Roll call.
Leti: My name is Le ti. [5]
Group: Yeah
I like to par ty [5]
Group: Yeah.
And when I shake it,
Group: Yeah
the boys say "ay ma mi!".* [6]
Camille, Kirresha, Leti: Sha boo ya sha sha sha boo ya. Roll call.
Camille: My name Cam ille. [4]
Group: Yeah
Give you three wishes.
Group: Yeah
You see me shake it, [5]
Group: Yeah
'cause I'm de li cious. [5]
Camille, Kirresha, Leti: Sha boo ya sha sha sha boo ya. Roll call.
Kirresha: My name Kir re sha.[5]
Group: Yeah
Get out my face. [4]
Group: Yeah
'Cause when I shake it, [5]
Group: Yeah
it's like an earth quake.** [5]
- lyrics from the movie Bring It On: All or Nothing (2006)
* Notice that the Leti verse doesn't follow Shabooya Roll Call's "right rhyming pattern" as the end word [Leti] of the first line of the soloist's verse rhymes with the end word [party] of the soloist's second line instead of the end word or element [mi] of the soloist's fourth line.
** I'm aware that there's considerable debate about whether Kirresha says "earthquake" or "hurricane". Since the word "hurricane" doesn't rhyme with "face" and also has three syllables, that would put that line over the usual syllable number of "5". For those reasons, I agree with those who believe that Kirresha said "earthquake" since that word fits the "right rhyming pattern" for Shabooya Roll Call cheers.
The "Shabooya Roll Call" verse in the school dance scene is one verse of a longer cheer. Here's that verse (with its rhyming words given in bold font, the words written in syllables, and the number of syllables in each line given in brackets.)
My name is Brit ney. [5]
I cheer so strong. [4]
And when I shake it, [5]
you bet ter bring it on. [6]
Sha boo ya, sha sha sha boo ya, break it down now.
Using the right rhyming pattern and having the right numbers of syllables is important when "Shabooya Roll Call" verses are chanted as part of a foot stomping movement routine. If the rhyme is "off" and the words are too long (the line contains too many or too few syllables, that messes up the syncopated beat. Here's a video of three African American teenagers or pre-teens doing a movement routine while they chant verses of "Shabooya Roll Call" that they made up:
ShaBooyah
Uploaded by kaitmagkay on Jan 3, 2009
Reika Kayla and Kaity having fun with the family and theres a little interruption by Kristina and Chris laughin
Here's the words to that Reika Kayla and Kaity version of "Shabooya Roll Call" with the soloist's lines written in syllables, the rhyming words given in bold, and the number of syllables pers in that soloist verse given in brackets after each line of that verse:
All: Shabooya sha sha shabooya roll call
Shabooya sha sha shabooya roll call
Reika - My name is Rei ka [5]
Rest of the group - Yeah
Reika- I cheer so strong [4]
Group - Yeah
Reika - When boys see me [4]
Group - Yeah
Reika -I turn them on [4]
Group - Oh!
All: Shabooya sha sha shabooya roll call
Shabooya sha sha shabooya roll call
Kayla- My name is Kay la [5]
Group - Yeah
Kayla - and I’m so hot [4]
Group - Yeah
Kayla - Some girls don’t like me* [5]
Group - Yeah
Kayla - be cause they’re not [4]
Group - Oh!
All: Shabooya sha sha shabooya roll call
Shabooya sha sha shabooya roll call
Kaity - My name is Kai ty [5]
Group - Yeah
Kaity -I like to prance [4]
Group - Yeah
Kaity -And let me show you [5]
Group - Yeah
Kaity -my lit tle dance [4]
Group - Oh!
All: Shabooya sha sha shabooya roll call
Shabooya sha sha shabooya roll call
- kaitmagkay on Jan 3, 2009
I made this transcription from listening to the video. I'm uncertain if this is an accurate transcription because of the laughter in the background.
Remember, there are supposed to be four lines in the soloist verses to "Shabooya Roll Call". Also, remember that the 2-4 rhyming pattern: the end word of line 4 is a word that's supposed to rhyme (or near rhyme) with the end word in line 2.
Furthermore, keep in mind that "5" is the usual number of syllables in each line of the soloist verse, although there might be lines with "6" or "4" verses. Keeping all that in mind, and preparing ahead of time by having a stock number of end rhymes, and memorizing your "Shabooya verse" will help you gain props as a skillful Shabooya chanter.
ADDENDUM:CULTURAL COMPETENCY AND SHABOOYA ROLL CALL VERSES
-Azizi Powell, 1/30/2012
I believe that it's important to be aware that- as is the case with other foot stomping cheers - traditionally, people chanting "Shabooya Roll Call" type cheers are supposed to either be bragging about themselves, or taunting/insulting ("dissin", "putting down") some unidentified person.
The fact that "Shabooya Roll Call" verses are used to taunt/insult others shouldn't be surprising since "Shabooya Roll Call" type verses probably originated as a pre-dozens African American rhyming composition.
However, in a number of "Shabooya verses" that I have read online the person making up the verse includes a demeaning descriptor of herself or himself (for instance: "My name is ___/ I may be short". In other examples of these verses that I've read online, females wrote "My name is ___/ I am a whore". In the dozens, a person would NEVER insult himself (or herself) or his or her family members. The same prohibition is supposed to hold true for "Shabooya Roll Call verses".
And while I'm on the subject of "Shabooya Roll Call" verses - it's my hope that people composing these verses don't use them as opportunities to role play what they think African American people are like. I believe that it's important to recognize that as influential as the Bring It On cheerleader movie series has been, that movie series's depiction of real African Americans leaves a lot to be desired. Judging from the YouTube viewer comment threads and Facebook pages (I won't supply any links), there's a lot of White people (in the USA and elsewhere) who think it's alright and even cool to put on a fake, exaggerated, stereotypical Black "accent" or a fake Latina accent while reenact that "Shabooya Roll Call" cafeteria scene. And also judging from a number of examples of self-created "Shabooya verses" posted to a number of online sites, a number of people think that it's alright and cool to use so-called African American names for the roll call verses that they compose. I've read a lot of "Shabooya verses" on Facebook with the name "Shaniqua" when this is not the person's name who is posting that verse. I've also noticed a number of "Shabooya verses" that are homophobic. I strongly believe that each of those types of verses are wrong. There's lots of ways of pretending to taunt or put down individuals for fun in those types of cheers without being culturally incompetent. People can be still creative, and still have fun while following the golden rule of "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you".
Think about it.
*Click http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dozens for information about the dozens. By "pre-dozens" I mean rhyming cheers or song that help young people gain the word/rhyming skills and confidence to compete in real dozens insult exchanges. "Yo Mama Don't Wear No Drawers" is another example of an African American "pre-dozens" song. Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2011/10/yo-mama-dont-wear-no-drawers.html for a pancocojams blog post about that song.
****
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Very informative. I'd be interested to see an update with your take on this rap/cheer as featured on the 10/18/2012 episode of The Office.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous October 19, 2012, thanks for your comment which alerted me to the inclusion of the Shabooya rap/cheer that show.
DeleteI confess that I've never watched that show. Did you or anyone else transcribe the words to that chant which was included on that episide? If so, I'd love to read them or view them if there's a video link.
Thanks again!
Here is the link to the Office episode from the 18th. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kAdVAbOtVK4
DeleteThe lyrics are pretty simple as they only did a 30 second scene on it but it was great.
Here is the text:
ReplyDeleteAll: Shabooya roll call. Shabooya, ya, ya, shabooya roll call.
Pam: My name is Pam.
All: Yeah.
Pam: I like to paint.
All: Yeah.
Pam: You think you’re better?
All: Yeah.
Pam: Oh no, you ain’t.
All: Roll call. Shabooya, ya, ya, shabooya roll call. Shabooya, ya, ya, shabooya roll call.
Kevin: My name is Kevin.
All: Yeah.
Kevin: That is my name.
All: Yeah.
Kevin: They call me Kevin.
All: Yeah.
Kevin: ‘Cause that’s my name.
All: Roll call. Shabooya, ya, ya, shabooya roll call. Shabooya, ya, ya, shabooya roll call.
Thanks Anonymous - the same or both of you - for posting the link and the lyrics to The Office's Shabooya chant.
ReplyDeleteSince you asked for my opinion, I'd say this:
The beginning words for that chant (the words that everyone says) were weak. I think that line flows better if it starts with the word "Shabooya" and then repeats that word (and, even better, after the word "shabooya" repeats the beginning syllable two times - "sha sha". That makes that line more percussive. Instead, in The Office's chant, the end of the word "shabooya" was repeated resulting in the syllable "ya" being said three times in a row. And I thought that was rather corny.
Also, one problem with The Office's shabooya chant is that the group's words aren't supposed to change. Notice that the second and third form of the group's line is the same but the first time it is said is different from those other two forms.
That lack of consistency messes with the rhythm and flow of the cheer. It also means that the chanters either don't know which version of that line they should say, or they have to memorize two different versions of that line. Which is no big deal, but oh well.
Now with regard to the soloists - I think that Pam's lyrics worked reasonably well. Her end words "paint" and "ain't" rhyme. And at least she didn't put herself down, but I don't know whether you could say that her line "I like to paint" was "bragging up" herself. (These chants either should be insulting another person or self-bragging.)
But, in my opinion, her "shabooya" would have been stronger if instead of saying "Oh no, you ain't, she had said "I know you ain't". That would have been a clearer put down to the person she's addressing than the way she put it.
As to Kevin's part of that chant. Does it work? Um..no. But is it supposed to work in the context of that episode? I don't know since I've not watched that series. Is Kevin supposed to be comedic relief? Is his character supposed to be an un-hip square? Are his lines supposed to fail? If so, he succeeded.
In order for his chant to work (if it was supposed to work), the end word in his second line (the word "name") should rhyme, or near rhyme with the end word of his 4th line. "Rhyme" doesn't mean that you repeat the same word.
As an example:
Soloist- My name is Kevin
The rest of the group - Yeah
Soloist - That is my name.
The rest of the group - Yeah
Soloist - If you don't like it.
The rest of the group - Yeah
Soloist - Then you're to blame.
-snip-
I don't consider that a great "shabooya", but at least it has attitude.
Thanks again!
I enjoyed this exchange.
Thank you for your analysis on The Office chant. Yes, Kevin is an un-hip square. That is his character. Ironically he is an accountant who cannot add numbers unless he thinks of them as "pies" (which is part of the full episode). You can also see the blonde girl Angela making faces at Kevin's stupidity as he chants his lines just as she looks at him in the office when he says something stupid.
ReplyDeleteAs far as the chant, I believe "shabooya" was done intentionally in this "corny" way. This is the 9th season of the Office and I have seen every episode from every season and "corny" is the brand of humor for the show. I believe they intentionally made it corny in order to spoof "Get on the Bus" because they had to work on the bus for the day while their office was repaired. The entire series is based on a corny spoof of everyday office life. It presents all the different types of characters one works with in an office setting...but greatly exaggerated.
The Office is adapted from the British Show of the same name, but ultimately is a "spin off" of the movie "Office Space". The great thing about it is that the Office and the Shabooya chant opened my eyes and watch the video and read up on "Get on the Bus". I think I have watched that "Get on the Bus" scene 100 times already just because the Office spoofed it. At first I did not like it but when I found out it was spoofed from "Get on the Bus", I had a new appreciation for it. Thank you for reviewing this. I have learned much.
You're welcome.
DeleteI'm glad my guess about Keith's character on The Office was confirmed. I watched that episode of that show and plan to watch other episodes.
I learned about the 1996 Shabooya Roll Call cheer that Spike Lee included in his Get On The Bus movie from a person who sent in a comment about it on my Cocojams website.
The Internet is a great way of sharing information!
The Office is not a spin off of "Office Space" the movie. That movie was a spin off of an animated short that used to be on Saturday Night Live called Milton written by Mike Judge, the guy that did Bevis & Butthead on MTV in the 90's. The British version of the Office came first and was the first television project of British comedian, Ricky Gervais. He created many of the characters based off of people that he had worked with in an office. This show was two seasons and a finale so it was adapted for American television as well as at least 7 other countries. Just wanted to clarify. Love the Shabooya!
ReplyDeleteThanks for that information, Anonymous!!
DeleteThere's another version of the Shabooya chant at the end of the Office episode everyone's discussing... they're back at the office and are all exhausted. They are all chanting, but extremely unenthusiastically, except for Andy, the boss, who's always too enthusiastic. He then segues from the chant into a bluegrass banjo solo. I think they're actually making a funny and deviously subtle joke about appropriating another culture's traditions. But I could be reading waaay too much into it!
ReplyDeleteHello, Anonymous 10/31/2012!
DeleteThank you for informing me and others about another way that the Shabooya chant was incorporated into an episode of the Office television show.
I've attempted to watch that episode of the Office online but it either doesn't start or if it does start, it freezes up on me.
I'd love to see that part of the episode that you're referring to. I think you might be right about Andy's segue from a "Shabooya" chant to Bluegrass music being "a subtle joke about appropriating another culture's traditions". Of course, I've read that the Bluegrass genre of music includes African American traditions. The very act of playing a banjo is an example of incorporating African traditions, since the banjo originated in West Africa.
While I acknowlege and celebrate the fact that the Shabooya Roll Call chant and other such chants are expressions of African & African Diaspora traditions, I think it's fine for non-Africans to perform them.
Hello, again.
DeleteLet me also say this:
My reason for writing this post was to remind or inform people that the Shabooya Roll Call chant is related to the Black insult traditions of The Dozens.
"Shabooya Roll Call" and other such chants are supposed to be fun AND they are supposed to either be self-bragging, or insulting [dissin] someone unrelated to you, or they are supposed to be both self-bragging & dissin. AND my purpose is in reminding or informing those who may not be aware of it that those chants are supposed to conform to a specific rhyming pattern.
It's been interesting to read & view so many examples of Shabooya Roll Call online on various blogs and YouTube video viewer comment threads. But I've noticed that almost all of the performances of these chants that I've watched are separated from the foot stomping step routine that in its "original" form would have been performed by their chanters. I regret this because I love the aesthetics of REAL step shows and their related movement art, foot stompingS cheers. Instead I see videos of mostly females reciting a chant while standing stiffly in place, or just swaying from side to side, and/or pantomining certain words.
The Shabooya Roll Call cafeteria scene in the Bring It On-All Or Nothing movie portrayed the three high school cheerleaders chanted performing step/dance movements which chanting "Shabooya Roll Call". But their movements were certainly not how such a chant would have been done in the real world prior to the influence of that movie.
Actually, I don't have anything good to say about that movie's Shabooya chants. And I very much disliked the cultural incompetency of that movie, but that is a somewhat unrelated subject. I won't go there but I will say that in my opinion, that cafeteria scene Shabooya Roll Call was a Black and Latina sexualized, ghettoized performance which wasn't at all what steppin/foot stomping is really like.
Unfortunately, I've only found a few video examples online of foot stomping cheers. I've added a few video examples of approximations of foot stomping cheers to a page my cultural website that focuses on text examples of that sub-genre of cheerleader cheers. Click http://cocojams.com/content/foot-stomping-cheers-0 to view those videos and read examples of foot stomping cheers.
Luckily, the movement art of steppin as performed by Black Greek lettered fraternities/sororities and other Black and non-Black fraternities/sororities and other organizations is very similar to the movement art that is associated with [mostly] Black girls' performances of foot stomping cheers. Click http://cocojams.com/content/fraternity-sorority-step-stroll-related-videos for videos of steppin.
But then again, the bus scene in Spike Lee's movie is an example of a Shabooya chant that was performed by Black males without any accompanying physical movement. Plus traditions that are alive are subject to change. So I guess there's also that. And I guess I'll just have to get used to some people performing Shabooya Roll Call cheers the way they want to perform them-but hopefully they'll compose those chants using the "right" rhythm pattern and with the recognization that the chant is supposed to be fun, and people are suppose to brag on themselves, and/or insult a person who isn't related to them. And I REALLY hope that those insults in those chants aren't racist, sexist, homophophic, or aren't offensive in other ways. Because if they are then those chants shouldn't be fun because they are hurtful and that's not what "Shabooyas" are supposed to be.
Best wishes!
My name is bethany
ReplyDelete(yeah)
and I love tigers
(yeah)
dont try to dis me
(yeah)
cause im a biter!
Anonymous, thanks for taking the time to add that verse.
DeleteSince a person chanting a Shabooya Roll Call verse isn't suppose to dis (insult) herself or himself, I suppose being a "biter" (as you said in your verse) is a good thing. But in my opinion saying that you're a biter isn't a good brag. Nor do I think that saying you're a biter is a good threat to give to the person who is thinking about disssing [insulting] you.
For those reasons alone, I don't think this rhyming verse works well as a Shabooya roll call verse.
Also, "tigers" and "biter" don't rhyme.
DeleteYes, anonymous. That too.
DeleteDo you have any knowledge of the roll call as it relates to the Prince song "My Name Is Prince" from 1992? The chorus is clearly modeled after this roll call, just dropping the "yeah!" response - "My name is Prince" / and I am funky / when it comes to funk / I am a junky" Other parts of the song use the roll call rhythm, too.
ReplyDeleteGreetings, Anonymous.
DeleteI admit that I hadn't heard of this 1992 Prince song until I read your comment.
I checked out its lyrics and its video and yes, I definitely agree that the rhythm (tempo) and beat of certain lines in Prince's 1992 record "My Name Is Prince", and the bragging nature of those specific lines are patterned after bragging foot stomping cheers such as "Shabooya Roll Call". The lines from that "My Name Is Prince" song that I'm referring to are of "My Name Is Prince" are patterned after bragging foot stomping cheers such as "Shabooya Roll Call". The specific lines from that "My Name Is Prince" song that I'm referring to are
"My name is Prince and I am funky
My name is Prince the one and only"
and
"My name is Prince and I am funky
When it come to funk I am a junky"
-snip-
Of course, there are lots of ways that this song differs from a Shabooya Roll Call chant and other foot stomping bragging chants. One way is that only Prince and no other member of that group takes a turn in bragging up himself (or herself).
Thanks for hipping me to this song, Anonymous (I guess better late than never). I've decided to publish a post about "My Name Is Prince" which will include the comments that I just made with a hat tip to you.
I'll add that post's link to this discussion thread when I publish it.
Yeah, it isn't a direct copy of the chant because as you said it is just from one person, but I find it interesting Prince released the song in 1992. All of the references to the roll call I can find (Get on the Bus, Bring it On) came years after the Prince song, so I am wondering if Prince started it in a sense. Or more so, where did he get the concept?
DeletePrince actually uses the roll call rhythm throughout the song. Even in the verses, the lines use the rhythm of the roll call and sound like they could lead into the "Shabooya" refrain.
Prince's song "My Name Is Prince" may be the earliest documented example of this Shabooya rhythm bragging chant, but -although there's no way of proving it- I think that it's likely that Prince may have picked up that "My name is __" bragging pattern and tune from African American girls/pre-teens from various communities in the USA. I know that my daughter and her friends in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania were doing synchronized foot stomping movements while chanting cheers in the mid to late 1980s. And I've directly collected examples and have found online examples of and comments about those types of cheers from African American (and Latina) females. The earliest date that I've found for these cheers is 1976. The latest dates that I've directly collected examples is the 2000s. I don't know if foot stomping cheers are still done now.
DeleteHere are the two (out of four) examples of what I call "foot stomping cheers" from the record "Old Mother Hippletoe" in which the girls chant their names. http://www.newworldrecords.org/liner_notes/80291.pdf.
Unfortunately, I haven't found any online sound files of these tracks from that record, But, if I recall correctly, none of those tracks use the "Shabooya" tune.
"Cheering Is My Game" [title]
Dn, dn, dn, dn, dn. (Twice)
CALL: Barbara. Barbara is my
name.
RESPONSE : Dn, dn, dn, dn, dn,
similarly
Cheering, cheering is my game.
Freddie, Freddie was my man.
But Ken is my main man.
Dn, dn, dn, dn, dn. (Twice)
Cheer continues us each girl
announces her name and boyfriends.
**
Hollywood Now Swingin' /
Dynomite [titles]
Hollywood now swingin'! (4 times)
CALL: Name is Nita.
RESPONSE: Hollywood now swingin'!
Similarly
I know how to swing.
Every time I swing,
Stevie come around.
CALL: He popped me once.
He popped me twice!
All I felt was—dynomite!"
-snip-
All of this to say that it wouldn't at all be surprising if Prince heard girls chanting those types of cheers in Minneapolis or elsewhere and then used that pattern in the "My Name Is Prince" song.
I meant to say that prince's song "My Name Is Prince" may be the oldest documented example of this Shabooya style chant. I know that that song doesn't include the "Shabooya Roll Call" refrain. The oldest documented example of a chant with that refrain is in Spike Lee's 1996 movie "Get On The Bus".
DeleteAn African American woman from the Washington, D.C. area shared with me that she and her friends "did" a chant that included "Shabooya Roll Call" before Spike Lee's movie. But I have no documentation of that other than her sharing that memory.
Greetings, Anonymous May 9 & May 10, 2016
DeleteYour comments motivated me to research online information about the roots of bragging in African American songs, chants, and rhymes. That research led to the article that is showcased in this pancocojams post: http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2016/05/roots-of-african-american-braggadocio.html Roots Of African American Braggadocio Blues, Rap, R&B, & Children's Cheers (Southern Culture journal article excerpt).
As that post's title indicates, I now realize that the roots of the Shabooya bragging cheer goes much farther back than Prince's "My Name Is Prince" song.
I'm going to continue to do some research about the topic of bragging in African American songs, chants, and cheers and will be publishing other pancocojams posts on that topic. Those subsequent posts can be found by clicking that tag or looking up those words in pancocojams' internal search engine.
Thanks again for motivating me to look out information about this topic. I hat tipped you in that above mentioned pancocojams post. If you want me to use your real name or part of that name, please share it with me and I'll add it to that post.
My god you overanalyze things. To insane levels. How about this. There is no right and wrong in life. There is only what you do or don't do. I mean Ive had to 20 pages of analysis and supposed 'proper form' and what the content is 'supposed to be'. Relax lady. People cant sing anything they want however they want.
ReplyDeleteGreetings, D.
DeleteI agree that I over analyze things. If you're "in to" astrology, my rising sign is Virgo and so is my Mars. Those are signatures for a person who is really (probably too much) in to details.
That said, I believe that sometimes there are right ways and wrong ways of doing things.
The purpose of this post was to point out that there are right ways and wrong ways to compose insult/bragging rhymes that have been called "shaboyas".
Well, this thread sent me down a rabbit hole. Obviously being a descendant of Call & Response, I'm guessing Shabooya developed in the late 1950's or early 60's. I don't remember it from my childhood. It sounds more like something that would have come out of one of the larger NE Coast cities. At Urban Dictionary, one of the least reliable sites, most commenters mentioned it with Spike Lee. One person said something about the Maori people, so I spent way to much time looking into that until I figured out there must be a Cultural Center. I found one and sent them a message just now. I assume though the Urban comment was just thinking about Call & Response.
ReplyDeleteAs for The Office, it's a common trait for numerous characters to 'appropriate' certain things from other cultures and then get it totally wrong. Take care.
Thanks for your comment, Ruki44.
DeleteI get what you mean about going down a rabbit hole in search for the oldest documented example of a certain rhyme and also the sources of that rhyme format and lines...
I also agree that the entries on urbandictionary.com are often quite wrong. But given that anyone can add whatever definition they think or heard or were told is the right one for a particular word or phrase, it's to be expected that those entries are often wrong or incomplete. But I've also found that some urbandictionary.com's entries are spot on and confirmed by other online sources -and by my own experiences, research, and memories.
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Here's urban dictionary's shabooya entry that mentions Maoris:
"shabooya
meening mauri roll call
the tribe leaders call and the tribe replies by repeating shabooya"
by d clark November 29, 2003 https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=shabooya
-snip-
The only reason I can think of that the commenter wrote this
is that the Shabooya roll call's performance with stamping feet and aggressive stances/words has a VERY slight resemblance to Maori hakas. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haka.
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Spike Lee's "Get On The Bus" movie (which contains a "shabooya roll call" chant) was released in 1996.
Prince's "My Name Is Prince" track -which contains lines that are quite similar to the shabooya roll call format/vibe- was released in 1992.
Of course, it's possible that the "Shabooya Roll Call" chant/rhyme was developed in the late 1950s or early 1960s as you postulate. But no documentation of that early date has been found.
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I agree with your comment about "The Office" television show's inclusion of a shabooya chant. They tried, got it wrong, but in doing so, helped raise awareness about that chant.
I enjoyed the discussion in this post. In particular I think it’s interesting how pop culture formalizes one variation of something as the “official” one, even when there are more authentic (and dare I say better) versions circulating earlier or even at the same time.
ReplyDeleteTo hopefully add to the discussion, I’ll mention that another wide usage of the “roll call” chant came from the Spartan cheerleaders on Saturday Night Live, which used the lyric “cha cha butchee” instead of “Shabooya” but is otherwise clearly the same chant. Although a few comments elsewhere on the internet claim that SNL was referencing “Get on the Bus”, the first SNL episode featuring the roll call chant (1/20/96) predates the Spike Lee movie’s release (10/16/96) by almost nine months.
Greetings, Anonymous July 2, 2022.
DeleteThanks for your comment. I agree that it's fascinating to consider how one version of something becomes much better known that earlier, more authentic, and better versions. I believe that a large part of the reason for this is how well known the messenger/plaform is that is associated with a particular version. For instance, although the African American rock band Fishbone wrote and performed the song "Ugly" in 1985 as a political diss, the adapted "Wildcat" 1986 movie's cheerleader cheer version "U G L Y/you ain't got no alibi" is the one that is widely known.
Your comment about Saturday Night Live's Spartan cheerleaders "Roll Call" chant is greatly appreciated. I confess that I'm not a fan of Saturday Night Live and consequently didn't know about those skits.
Your comment led me to https://snltranscripts.jt.org/95/95kspartans.phtml SNL Transcripts: Alec Baldwin: 01/20/96: Spartan Cheerleaders. Here's an excerpt of that cheer from that page:
…"Together: Roll call! cha cha butchee, cha cha cha butchee roll call.
Arianna: I’m Arianna, I have team spirit, I don’t do drugs, so check me out.
Together: Cha cha butchee, cha cha cha butchee Roll call.
Craig: My name is Craig, I did drugs once, I am a spartan, so check me out.
Together: So check us out. U.G.L.Y. you ain’t got no alibi. Your ugly, hey hey your ugly. K.I.N.G. You can’t take my king from me your ugly.Yeah yeah your ugly. Not cute. Spartan spirit, Spartan spirit.”….
-snip-
I particularly focused on the "check me out" phrase in that cheer. There's a number of what I call "foot stomping cheers" from the 1970s and 1980s that include the words "check", "check it out", or "check me out".
I think that the SNL "Roll Call" cheer/chant and the (9 months later) Spike Lee Get On The Bus "Roll Call" chant both tapped into the same wellspring of African American girls' recreational cheers that were being chanted throughout many African American communities nationwide. However -returning to your point about what made "Roll Call" popular was the version that was included in the 2000 "Bring It On" cheerleader cheer movie. And the popularity of the 2007 Bring It On All Or Nothing movie -with its "Shabooya Roll Call" cheer in two scenes of that movie- is what Really resulted in the popularity of that particular Roll call cheer.
Anonymous, your comment about SNL's Spartan Cheerleaders Roll Call cheer and that cheer's inclusion of the words "check me out" got me wondering about those words in foot stomping cheers that I've collected. I've found several examples that include the words "check", or "check it out" or "check me out". I intent to "check out" other versions of SNL's Spartan cheerleaders' Roll Call cheers. One conclusion that I'd make about those cheers based on the first one that I've read is that whoever wrote the Spartan "Roll Call" chant deserves props for making that cheer close to the authentic African American chants in several ways-including the use of "check me out" and the use of the U G L Y" cheer.
DeleteThere's a lot that could be unpacked here, but suffice it to say that I plan to publish a pancocojams post on those authentic examples of foot stomping cheers that I've come across which include "check", "check it out" and "check me out" which were chanted in the 1970s and 1980s. And I'll add that link to this post.
Thanks again, Anonymous!