Edited by Azizi Powell
This pancocojams post presents my speculation about the similarity between a part of the chorus of Beyonce's 1019 song "Brown Skin Girl" and a portion of New Edition's 1983 song "Candy Girl".
The content of this post is presented for cultural, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to New Edition and thanks to Beyonce for their musical legacy. Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post and thanks to the publishers of these videos on YouTube.
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PANCOCOJAMS EDITOR'S NOTE
I woke up this morning chanting in my head the words
"? girl"
All my world
Looks so sweet
Special treat".
I couldn't remember the two syllable word indicated in this post by the question mark, but I thought that it was the beginning of a girls' foot stomping cheer*. Whatever that beginning word was, I also thought that that part of that particular cheer reminded me of Beyonce's 2019 song "Brown Skin Girl".
When I got up I asked my daughter (who used to perform foot stomping cheers with her friends) if she could help me figure out the missing word. Without any hesitation she said "Candy Girl".
The "complete" words to the beginning portion of "Candy Girl" foot stomping cheers/hand clap rhymes are
"Candy girl
All my world
Looks so sweet
Special treat."
Those words remind me of the first three lines (and only the words in those lines) of Beyonce's "Brown Skin Girl":
"Brown skin girl
Your skin just like pearls
The best thing in the world "
Note that both of these examples include the words "girl" and "world". The word "pearls" in Beyonce's song also rhymes with the word "pearls."
Were the people who wrote Beyonce's song "Brown Skin Girl" inspired by those three lines in New Edition's song "Candy Girl"? I've no idea. But I just wanted to pass along my thoughts about the similarities between those very small portions of those two songs.
*At least two pancocojams posts have showcased the "Candy Girl" foot stomping cheer. The Addendum of this post quotes a small portion of one of those posts "New Edition - "Candy Girl" And Examples Of "Candy Girl Foot Stomping Cheers" http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2013/10/new-edition-candy-girl-and-examples-of.html. That 2013 post includes the complete lyrics to New Edition's "Candy Girl" as well as several examples of "Candy Girl" foot stomping cheers.
Information and examples of "Candy Girl" foot stomping cheers and a "Candy Girl" hand clap rhyme are also found in the 2017 pancocojams post entitled ""Candy Girl" - R&B Record, Hand Clap Rhyme, & Foot Stomping Cheer (with an excerpt from Kyra D. Gaunt's Book "The Games Black Girls Play")" http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2017/08/candy-girl-r-record-hand-clap-rhyme.html.
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ADDENDUM #1: SHOWCASE YOUTUBE EXAMPLES
Video #1: Candy Girl official video New Edition 1983
dakwa4life, Published on Mar 19, 2009
Official Video (1983)
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Video #2: BROWN SKIN GIRL
Beyoncé, Published on Jul 19, 2019
Provided to YouTube by Sony Music Entertainment
BROWN SKIN GIRL · Beyoncé · SAINt JHN · WizKid · Blue Ivy Carter
The Lion King: The Gift
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ADDENDUM #2: INFORMATION ABOUT CANDY GIRL CHEERS/HAND CLAP RHYMES
From http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2013/10/new-edition-candy-girl-and-examples-of.html New Edition - "Candy Girl" And Examples Of "Candy Girl" Foot Stomping Cheers
"Candy Girl" is an example of a "dance style" foot stomping cheer. Those types of foot stomping cheers provide opportunities for the "cheerers" (steppers) to show off their dancing ability. The focus in these cheers is on dance names. Ideally, when it's her turn as soloist, each girl is supposed to highlight a different dance. Usually, this means current dances, but old school dances [popular dances that aren't done anymore] can also be highlighted.
The foot stomping cheer "Candy Girl" begins with the group-including the soloist- chanting these lines that are a folk processed form of New Edition's "Candy Girl" song:
"Candy Girl
All my world
Looks so sweet
Special treat."
-snip-
The person whose turn it is as soloist then briefly does a particular dance and the group performs that dance along with the soloist. (The members of the group don't need to perform the dance exactly the same way as the soloist).
The cheer then immediately begins again from the beginning with a new soloist.
I've collected three examples of the "Candy Girl" foot stomping cheer (through direct and online collecting) and I've also come across one example of a "Candy Girl" hand clap rhyme. The words to those examples appear to be quite consistent over time and geographical areas.
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