Edited by Azizi Powell
This is Part V of a six part series of posts on a sampling of African American and Caribbean songs whose titles include the words "Get Up" or "Get On Up".
This post showcases Elephant Man's 2004 Dancehall record "Get On Up and Dance".
Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2012/07/various-sound-files-videos-of-get-up.html for Part I of that series.
Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2014/08/the-esquires-get-on-up-example-lyrics.html for Part II of that series.
Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2014/08/james-brown-get-up-sex-machine-get-up.html for Part III of this series.
Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2014/08/jodeci-get-on-up-example-lyrics-comments.html for Part IV of this series.
Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2014/08/public-enemy-get-up-stand-up-example.html for Part VI off this series.
The content of this post is presented for historical, cultural, entertainment, motivational, and aesthetic purpose.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to Elephant Man for this record. Thanks also to all those who are quoted in this post, and thanks to the publishers of these videos on YouTube.
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EDITORIAL COMMENT
The "Get Up" songs that are showcased in this series encourage people to get up and dance. while the "Get Up Stand Up" songs encourage people to address the wrongs that they experience in oppressive societies.
I find it interesting that James Brown's “Get Up Offa That Thing" includes lyrics that encourage people to "dance 'til you feel better" and "dance to try to relieve that pressure". And I content that Black dance songs and play songs-along with Black work songs and religious songs- helped Black people survive the horrors of slavery. And dance songs along with other non-religious songs and religious songs continue to help Black people survive the oppression we've faced post slavery up to and including today, even if it's only to take our minds off of that oppression for a little while.
Part III of this series includes more comments about this subject.
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INFORMATION ABOUT ELEPHANT MAN
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elephant_Man_(musician)
"O'Neil Bryan (born 11 September 1975), better known by his stage name Elephant Man, is a Jamaican dancehall musician.
Born in Kingston, Jamaica, he started out his musical career as a member of the Scare Dem Crew, later continuing as a solo artist. He was later characterised for several trademarks, such as his dyed yellow-orange hair, his unique low-key voice, and his stage performance, which included jumping and running, or even climbing on stage props and monitors. His acoustic trademark is marked by a light lisp...
Many of his songs are found on various Riddim Driven albums by VP Records and Greensleeves Records's Rhythm Album series. He performs on popular riddims such as "Diwali", "Coolie", "Stepz", and "Bubble Up"...
Years active: 1997–present"...
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SHOWCASE VIDEO: Elephant Man - Get On Up and Dance(Thrilla Riddim)
Doing Numbers Like SuDoku Uploaded on Mar 11, 2009
Thrilla Riddim
Get On Up And Dance (Original Mix) by Elephant Man from the album Biggest Ragga Dancehall Anthems 2004
-snip-
The chorus of that song is:
Get on up and dance (Alright)
tunda clap and dance (alright)
Keepin it jiggy then yuh waan come wid it
Everybody ready ready and dance
Get on up and dance (Give dem di dance now)
tunda clap and dance
(A ready ready ready ready)
Keepin it jiggy then yuh waan come wid it
Everybody ready ready and dance
-snip-
Click http://www.lyricsmania.com/get_on_up_lyrics_elephant_man.htmlfor the complete lyrics to this song. Those lyrics include one curse word.
-snip-
TUNDA CLAP (THUNDER CLAP)
A "tunda clap" ("thunder clap"; "thunderclap") is a type of hand gesture that is performed in a rhythmical, repetitive manner while dancing to dancehall music. This type of clapping is usually done in response to lyrical commands in the song. The thunder clap is supposed to (loosely) imitate the sound of thunder (i.e. The sound made by this clap isn't a sharp crack, although perhaps it was originally meant to be performed that way.)
How to perform "thunder clap" (thunderclap)
The following instructions are from my observations of my daughter doing this clap which she learned from some Jamaicans during a summer vacation in 2004 or 2005:
In response to the song's instructional command to thunder clap,
hold your right hand palm up away from your head and then slide the palm of your left hand over the palm of the right hand starting at the back of the palm.
This thunder clap is repeated in a moderately slow pace to the beat (or on the off beat?) of the dancehall song while continuing to dance to that song.
-snip-
Here's another explanation of "thunder clap" from http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=thunderclap
"Thunder Clap
Clapping in the air with a sliding motion. With one hand raised first, with the second to meet it half way, clapping, with the second hand left extended. Repeat back and forth.
Look at that guy, he knows how to thunder clap!!"
by Setrock, October 29, 2004
Note: That page includes sexually explicit definitions for thunderclap.
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KEEPIN IT JIGGY [Revised 2/6/2015]
"Keepin it jiggy" means to "keeping the energy and enthusiasm up (so that people can dance and otherwise have a good time).
The phrase "keepin it jiggy" is an expansion of the phrase "gettin[g] jiggy with (wit) it" which is the title of African American rapper Will Smith's 1997 hit song.
"Gettin jiggy wit (with) it" means to "have a good time", "to get hyped (excited)", "to move and dance in an excited way". "Gettin jiggy" often also has connotations of moving (dancing) in a provocative, sexualized way.
Here's one definition for the word "jiggy" from
http://forum.dancehallreggae.com/archive/index.php/t-59720.html, jamdowntnt, 08-20-2005
"jiggy= adjective to describe having a good time..."
-snip-
In the phrase "it's a jiggy time", the word "jiggy" acts as an adjective. However, in the phrase "keepin it jiggy" and "gettin jiggy wit it", the word "jiggy" is a noun.
here's a second quote from that same blog, posted by Don Malvo, 08-20-2005
"Jiggy - originally black American urban slang, made popular in mainstream American culture by actor/rapper Will Smith and co-opted by Elephant Man, has since become passe in the African-American community in which it originated; used varyingly to refer to 'having a good time' (as jamdowntnt put it) or a blanket descriptive term for the colourful, dance-oriented style of dancehall reggae currently in vogue, epitomized by artists Elephant Man and Voise Mail (and a few tracks by Beenie [m]an."
-snip-
"Gettin jiggy with it" was also used among African Americans as a positive commentary on a person's non-standard, funky fashion style. In that usage, a person who was "gettin jiggy with it" was keeping up with the energy and creativity of contemporary street fashions.
A pancocojams post on the word "jiggy" will be published ASAP and its link will be added to this post.
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