Stealing Stomp & Shake Cheers

Edited by Azizi Powell

Latest revision: May 28, 2022

This pancocojams post presents my editorial note about attributing stomp & shake cheers to the squad that composed them. This post also presents general comments about the use of stomp & shake cheers by squads/teams that didn't compose them.

This post focuses on Winston Salem State University's cheerleading squad doing their "Rock" cheer and a video and comments about other squads' doing that cheer.

The content of this post is presented for historical and cultural purposes.

All copyrights reemain with their owners.

Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post. Thanks also to all those who are featured in videos that are included in this post and thanks to the publishers of those videos on YouTube.  

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PANCOCOJAMS EDITOR'S NOTE [revised May 28, 2022]
A number of comments on various YouTube discussion threads that I've come across in 2022 indicate that it's not possible to steal stomp & shake cheers because those cheers are "universal."

Let's be clear. There's no such thing as a "universal" stomp & shake cheer.

Commenters who write about universal stomp & shake cheers may be basing that opinion on the fact that most traditional (go to go) cheers have no known composer. While that is true, it's likely because no attempt was made to document the composers of those cheers. Stomp & shake cheers don't have to follow that same path. Because stomp & shake cheerleading is relatively new*, it's possible to document which cheerleading squad was the first to perform a specific cheer.   

Instead of using the term "universal" stomp & shake cheer, the terms "popular cheers" and/or "widely known cheers" could be used.

Apart from the debate about whether stomp & shake cheers are stolen if they are performed by squads that didn't compose them or by squads that don't have permission from their original creators to perform them,  if and when another squad's cheer is performed, that cheerleading squad should be given its due respect and given credit for its composition. 
-snip-
*Based on my online research, stomp & shake cheers were first performed at the university level in the 1970s (at Virginia State University and at Winston Salem State University). Click  
http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2015/06/when-did-stomp-shake-cheerleading-begin.html for the pancocojams post entitled "When Did Stomp & Shake Cheerleading Begin? (Online Comments & Website Statements)".

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IMPORTANCE OF ORIGINALITY
Stomp & shake cheerleaing highly values originality in the composition of cheers and in the creation of cheer routines. If a stomp & shake cheerleading squad does chant cheers that come from other squads, they aren't supposed to perform the same routines that the other squad did.

Here's a comment exchange about this from a discussion cheer about a North Carolina high school cheer battle:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MOfdtSC__x8 GREATEST CHEER BATTLE: Carver High School Vs. Winston Salem Prep Academy, published by Two Sockz Productions, Feb.1, 2018

Pat Mitchell, 2017
"Overall great battle, however so many other cheers seen in this video: WSSU, HUHS, seen a little blue chip. I think it’s okay to use other cheers and even melodies but don’t take them directly"
-snip-
WSSU= Winston Salem State University
HUHS= Harding University High School (Charlotte, North Carolina)
Blue Chips = the name of St. Augustine University's cheerleading squad (Raleigh North Carolina)

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Reply
Bobby Rashaad, 2017
"Pat Mitchell right u suppose too remix them and make em better"
-snip-
Sometimes in cheer battle, the rival squad will respond to a cheer by chanting the exact same cheer that that squad had just performed, to show that their routine for that cheer is hotter than the other squad's.  Here's a comment about that from the same discussion thread about the cheer battle between Carver High School and Winston Salem Prep Academy:
Let's Talk, 2018, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MOfdtSC__x8 
"You know the beef is real when the team is using the other team  cheers they said we can do your own cheers better than you 😂😂😂"
-snip-
"Your own cheers" doesn't mean that the squad actually composed those cheers.

However, another commenter from that same discussion thread wrote this:

Debbie Tripp, 2018,https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MOfdtSC__x8  
..."Let's be real, if your squad follows with the exact same cheer, you're going to get booed. That's about not being original, not sportsmanship. Just like if you were at the Apollo".
-snip-
"at the Apollo" refers to the audiences at "Showtime At The Apollo" being known for booing an act that they don't like.

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COMMENTS ABOUT CHEERLEADING SQUADS/TEAMS DOING ANOTHER SQUAD'S CHEERS (with a focus on other squad performing WSSU cheers) 
From https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IEuEBTt5FH8 WSSU 2013 CIAA EXIBITION
CheerPhi93, Mar 4, 2013 
1. summary staement by CheerPhi93, video publisher
"WSSU 2013 CIAA* EXHIBITION FRONT VIEW! "HOW COME WHEN WE DO A CHEER,YOU DO THE SAME CHEER?" "HERE IS YOUR CAMERA, PRESS RECORD" LOL! FINALLY THE POINT WAS MADE TO A FEW OTHER SQUADS! NO NEED TO MENTION NAMES! U-KNOW WHO U R!!!!! O'YEA...CHEER-PHI ALUMS ALWAYS SUPPORT OUR BABIES...WE MAKE SURE THEY LOOK ON POINT IN A NEW UNIFORM OR 2 EACH YEAR....ROCK ON!"
-snip-
In comments [in a later YouTube discussion thread] CheerPhi93 identifies himself as a former member of WSSU's cheerleading squad. "CheerPhi" is the former name for WSSU's cheerleading squad.

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2. FANSOFTHECIAA, 2013
"LOL I SO LOVE THIS VIDEO ITS TO SHADY YOU'RE SITTING RIGHT BESIDE THEM STEALING BLUE CHIPS IM SURE HE AND THE OTHERS ARE WATCHING TO SEE WHAT THEY CAN STEAL FOR NEXT YEAR EXHIBITION"
-snip-

"Blue Chips" is the name of St. Augustine University's stomp & shake cheerleading squad. St. Augustines is in Raleigh, North Carolina.  

*Here's information about CIAA
From https://en.wikipedia.org/?title=Central_Intercollegiate_Athletic_Association "The Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA)...is a collegiate athletic conference, mostly consisting of historically black colleges and universities. CIAA institutions are affiliated at the Division II level of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).

Conference members are primarily located in North Carolina (eight) and Virginia (two). There is also one school from Maryland and another from Pennsylvania....

The CIAA cheering squads practice Stomp 'N Shake that incorporates voice, gymnastics, and dance."
-snip-
Here are a few comments from http://www.lipstickalley.com/showthread.php/484118-Stomp-n-Shake-Cheerleading-!!!-East-Compton-Clovers-Who about other historically Black Colleges & Universities (HBCU) "stealing" Winston Salem State University's cheer/cheer routines:
Bootylicious, 03-05-2013,
Topic: "Stomp-n-Shake Cheerleading !!! East Compton Clovers Who?"
"The Real Life East Compton Clovers!!! Yes Gurls Red Team SLAYS every other HBCU Cheerleading team in America!! I love the slander!!!
-snip-
The "Clovers" was the name of the fictitious predominately Black cheerleading squad from East Compton, California in the 2000 movie Bring It On, the first movie in that high school cheerleader movie series. In that movie members of the "Toros", a suburban, predominately White cheerleader squad weren't aware that a former captain had stolen most of their routines from the Clovers.

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1. Bootylicious, 03-05-2013
"WSSU cheers are stolen right off youtube by cheerleading squads all across america from middle & high school to pop warner and college teams. WSSU also stunts and tumbles but the CIAA banned stunting. The CIAA is famous for it;s Stomp-n-Shake style of cheerleading which is famous in the Carolina's, Virginia, Maryland."

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2. Boobie Miles, 03-05-2013
quote from another commenter:
"they are talking about how people steal their choreography from Youtube, but everything I just saw in that video was directly inspired from a Black Greek Stepshow... no shade"
-end of quote-

....Search for WSSU cheerleaders on twitter and post your results ;-) the CIAA crowd loves WSSU and [they] received the loudest applause at the end of the show."
-snip-
While WSSU's cheerleading squads and their fans are very critical of others using their cheers/cheer routines, it is a fact that they publish a number of videos of their cheers on YouTube and it is also a fact that WSSU cheerleaders & fans are proud that those videos are quite popular.

For example, here's an excerpt of an interview with the WSSU Head Cheerleading Coach Joevanne Estrada:
http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs039/1102836658889/archive/1110810635530.html "WSSU RAM BITS"
"What are the most popular cheers done by WSSU Cheerleaders?
DO IT, SURVIVAL, SOME PEOPLE DON'T LIKE, POWERHOUSE, AND ROCK.

How has the WSSU Cheerleading style evolved over the years?*
The WSSU Cheerleaders have mastered incorporating both the "traditional" and "stomp & shake" style in their dynamic show stopping routines. The programs stunt, tumble, and dance program has advanced like no other and continues to dominate all of the HBCU's conference programs. The WSSU cheerleader's routines are the most viewed through internet and social media sites, over 1 million on youtube. as well as imitated by recreation, middle/high schools, and other colleges throughout the nation.
-snip-
I added italics to highlight that sentence.

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INFORMATION ABOUT WSSU'S CHEER "ROCK" 
[Update 9/21/2016]
Here's information from this article written by a former member of Winston Salem State University's cheerleading squad that identifies the composer of the cheer "Rock":
-From http://ucdecheerphi.wixsite.com/ucde/cheer-phi-chronicles "WSSU’s Original Cheer Phi" by Wannette Stevens -Fripp, September 2011
"During my junior year the location of the CIAA cheerleading exhibition was not the only changes to our program. The coach that had coached WSSU for 17 years Deborah Rivers had relocated due to her job. DeMonte Cox the creator of the chant “Rock” became our coach and the legacy lived on and I was so happy! DeMonte was an excellent coach. He was so creative. He helped us make up dances, and cheers and chants. He brought stunting ideas and kept us at the top of the cheer tier. Most importantly DeMonte did not show favoritism and didn’t get involved with a lot of the petty arguments"...
-snip-
Italics added to highlight this information.

Online articles indicate that Deborah Rivers was the WSSU cheerleading coach from 1976 to 1993.

Here's a comment that was posted in the discussion thread for  Shaw University Cheerleaders performing at 2011 Pep Rally. part 1 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=agGZmZj6-DM (given as Video #3, comment #9 below)

"I will say this....the "Rock" cheer was made up in 1994 by my Cheer-Phi Brother "Jamming-Ra" / roommate whom I watched from start to finish with the words and moves as part of our requirement to bring back 2 new chants before returning for Cheer Camp...Of course, he showed the chant originality to the squad and they perfected it with the infamous "shirt-shaking" and Rock was born.....AND THAT IS A FACT!"...
-CheerPhi93, 2015
-snip-
Jamming- Ra is another name for Demonte Cox.

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SHOWCASE VIDEOS (with selected comments from the discussion threads for those videos)

Numbers are added for referencing purposes only.

Example #1: WSSU Cheerleaders 10-11/ "ROCK"



Yorztrulie, Uploaded on Oct 10, 2010

Showing all you other squads how to REALLY rock! Get in where you fit in.
-snip-
The word "rock" in this cheer means "to do something very well" as well as "to move your hips to the beat in a back & forth motion".

Selected comments from that video's discussion thread:
1. cavettaj, 2010
"COULDN'T have said it better in the discription.... but imma POINT EM OUT! THIS VIDEO goes to St. Aug, FSU & u that publicly take cheers knowing you're NOT original! YESSS i said it. So while you're getting your LIFE... GET A LIFE!"

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2. Steave Clements, 2010
"please vsu already fits in.no disrespect..but as for st.aug and fsu.lls.u got a point..an fsu is pretty gud.they actually remind me of wssu"
-snip-
"VSU" is Virginia State University's cheerleading squad that is known as the "Woo Woos". VSU and WSSU appear to be considered the originators of two different styles of stomp & shake cheerleading.

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3. cavettaj, 2010
in reply to Steave Clements
@SAC010 they IMITATE WSSU FOOL... its only right that u like the originators!

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Example #2: Wssu cheerleaders 2013-2014 spring open house ROCK



wssu, Published on Jul 22, 2014
-snip-
Selected comments from that video's discussion thread:

1. Or Nah, 2014
"Yess the rock chant yassss!!!!!

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2. taurus james, 2014
"What are the words ?"

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3. bubblegum2614, 2014
"Words please!"
-snip-
Another blogger* who identified himself as a former stomp & shake cheerleader gave a link to another video of WSSU's "Rock" and also shared the words to that cheer in the discussion thread of a 2011 article that I wrote for the sociological blog "Race and the Changing Shape of Cheerleading" by Guest Blogger Azizi Powell, Jul 21, 2011]
:
upstompjunkie , 2011, http://thesocietypages.org/socimages/2011/07/21/race-and-the-changing-shape-of-cheerleading/ 

"WSSU Rock
http://youtube/AwjmylxCrcI
.

Words: The S.U. Rams, Are really hot. And where gonna show you how, How we rock."
-snip-
"S.U." in this cheer stands for "WSSU" (Winston Salem State University).
-snip-
*It's possible that upstompjunkie is the same blogger as CheerPhi93. 
 
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Example #3: Shaw University Cheerleaders performing at 2011 Pep Rally. part 1



shawcheer, Published on Apr 26, 2012
-snip-
Shaw University is a historically Black university in Raleigh, North Carolina.

The Rock cheer is found at .36-1:04 of this video. Here's my transcription of that cheer:

Cheer caller:
The Chi chi's
are jamming
and we’re too hype
[squad- Hype! Hype!]
We’ll show you how to move
[squad- Hey! Hey!]
And how to rock
Let’s go!

Entire squad:
Rock!
Rock!
the chi chis are jamming
And we’re to hype
we’ll show you how to move
and how to rock
rock
rock
-snip-
Selected comments from that video's discussion thread:

1.  Steave Clements, 2014
"All wssu cheers im over it"

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2. Jane Smith, 2014
"That "Rock" cheer was stolen from WSSU.. Don't be fooled."

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Reply ·
3. puremusicluveer, 2014
"Chi Chi's they say you stole that cheer! All I can say is you WORKED the heck out of it!!! That's right if you are gonna do it, show them how it should be been done! Let's go Shaaaaaw U! Love my chi Chi's!!!"

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4. Jane Smith, 2014
"@ "Evy08" baby girl, clearly you're confused! EVERY school in the CIAA, minus the woo woos, steals from WSSU Cheer Phi, FACT! Shaw, FSU, JCSU, St. Aug. etc constantly steals WSSU cheers. It's actually quite sad. I mean, Where's the originality? You can not tell me you've watched this video and can honestly say that their "rock" cheer wasn't stolen from WSSU.. Yes, slightly modified, but still STOLEN! ...Lol child stop!
-snip-
Woo Woos - Virginia State University's (VSU) cheerleaders

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5. puremusicluveer, 2014
"You can't be serious. Lol"

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6. Jane Smith, 2014
"I'm very serious! I hate when Shaw, as well as the other CIAA squads, steal from WSSU. Then have the audacity to bash WSSU! Give credit where it's due that's all I'm saying. WSSU is built from Tradition! So it's easy for me to say certain cheers, such as the "rock" cheer, was stolen because it's been apart of WSSU cheer program for decades. There's no way around it."

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7. shawcheer, 2015
"To clear the air.....the Chi-Chis did not steal "ROCK" from WSSU. A former WSSU cheerleader works for Shaw University and volunteered to teach the girls a cheer in 2011. The cheer taught was "ROCK". The girls had no prior knowledge of "ROCK" being a WSSU cheer."

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Reply
8.CheerPhi93, 2015
"+shawcheer This would be interesting to find out which "former WSSU cheerleader" would break rank and teach material to another squad...Possible but hard to believe. Additionally, even though the team may not have had prior knowledge, this is a technology age and I am not 100% sure if I believe the "team" didn't know....Now if they know now, then why continue to do it?"

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9. CheerPhi93, 2015
"I will say this....the "Rock" cheer was made up in 1994 by my Cheer-Phi Brother "Jamming-Ra" / roommate whom I watched from start to finish with the words and moves as part of our requirement to bring back 2 new chants before returning for Cheer Camp...Of course, he showed the chant originality to the squad and they perfected it with the infamous "shirt-shaking" and Rock was born.....AND THAT IS A FACT! .......Therefore, regardless how you revise it or lack thereof, this is clearly stolen....imitation is the greatest form of flattery!"

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10. Rashawn Johnson, 2015
"however you put it, EVERY squad in the CIAA or better yet, CHEERLEADING period has done nothing but recycle and rotate cheers. There are cheers that every squad does from Cheer-phi, to the Woo Woo's, Luv-A-Bulls, Bluechips etc, the not ONE member from any year, of any squad made up. i mean really?,"ROCK" is one of the most general cheers out there, ANYBODY could make it work which is why copy-writes dont exist for this or any cheer. I mean cheer-phi is creative but lets not make them look like grand originators. All this STEALING mess for any of the squads is played, its just a matter of who looks better doing it is all."

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11. CheerPhi93, 2015
"Rashawn Johnson....When it comes to Rock...it is and still is authentic by the person I know and watched who made it. You can view my videos from early 90s and see the evidence. I will not debate about whether or not cheers/chants are recycled throughout the sport. That is an implied fact. No one is making Cheer-Phi/WSSU Red Squad/ or in my day WSSU Varsity look grander than the next. You are correct, when you say all this stealing is played. Maybe, folk should be creative enough to make up their material from scratch and then the argument/debates will be mitigated. Until then, the issue will continue to surface. Whether you put Rock on any other squad from here to yonder, the comments will always come back as "Stolen from WSSU"...That is not being grander, that is just stating a fact. In addition, if Rock is played, why does it seem like it is one of the most stolen piece of material in the CIAA by various schools, particular the Southern part of the CIAA? Why the squad you are defending doing it? Lastly, please name One or more chants/cheers that WSSU have stolen from anyone else? If you can't, then your argument doesn't carry much value."

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12. Rashawn Johnson, 2015
""Take is Easy..Take it slow come on mighty _ lets go go go", does Cheer-phi not do that cheer?, theres a video that says they do. my point is this, EVERY squad does cheers that the next one does, im almost 110% sure that Cheer-Phi didnt make that cheer up. So is it safe to say that WSSU stole that cheer from some pop warner squad from back in the 70's or 80's?, or how about "Pump It Up"?, i cant name a squad INCLUDING cheer-phi that doesnt do that cheer. I promise you if someone were to say that cheer-phi stole those cheers, the next platform youd probably stand on would be along the lines of "well the moves are different". Lastly all i said about "Rock" was that it was a GENERAL cheer with no ties to any squad, not that it was played. So in the end, what good does it do to say that one squad stole from the other if every squad is at guilt for it?"

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Reply
13. CheerPhi93, 2015
"Rashawn...take it easy...take it slow...yes you named "one" general chant..OK....yes, I will give you credit for that....we all know those types of chants/cheer can stretch across multiple cheering groups (pop warner-ACC-NCA)....We all know go this, rah-rah, ,defense/offense this or that, hip hip hooray cheer/chants are universal for decades....OK...point taken....BUT when the "SIGNATURE" cheers/chants are taken then again the debate will continue....that is the good! Especially when it is taken and used when two teams meet up or a team post it and wonder why the original team gets bent out of shape....Something similar to what Robin Thicke/Pharrell is going through over "blurred lines" and Marvin Gaye's track....similar material different artist; however, our material isn't copy written is all I am saying!"

14. Destiny Harris, 2015
"Why under every HBCU Cheer videos I look at , I see WSSU Fans claiming they stole their cheer. Like damn, can y'all let other squads have their shine... And tbh, all hbcu CIAA Cheer squads look the same to me VSU,WSSU,BSU,SU and etc. I think the way CIAA Cheerleaders cheer is just a tradition, like a style. Just like HBCUs Dance teams dance the same... Its Just A HBCU Tradition"

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