Edited by Azizi Powell
This is Part II in a two part pancocojams series about the African American Vernacular English originated sayings "Word", "Word up!", "Word as born" and "Word to the mother".
Part II showcases Cameo's 1986 Funk and Rock & Roll song "Word Up!".
Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2019/01/online-excerpts-about-african-american.html for Part I of this series. Part I provides excerpts from two online discussion threads about the African American Vernacular English originated sayings "Word", "Word up!", "Word as born" and "Word to the mother".
The Addendum to this post provides information about "The Five Percenters" who, among other things, popularized the saying "Word is born" which led to other colloquial "Word" sayings.
The content of this post is presented for cultural, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to Cameo for its musical legacy. Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post and thanks to the publishers of the videos that are embedded in this post.
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Click the "affirmative words and sayings in African American Vernacular English" tag for additional posts in this series.
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INFORMATION ABOUT CAMEO'S SINGLE "WORD UP!"
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Word_Up!_(song)
"Word Up!" is a funk and R&B song originally recorded by American funk band Cameo in 1986. The song was written by band members Larry Blackmon and Tomi Jenkins. Its frequent airing, on American dance and R&B radio, as well as its MTV music video (in which LeVar Burton appears as a police detective trying to arrest the band), helped the single become the band's best known hit.[3]
From the album Word Up!, "Word Up!" was Cameo's first US Top 40 hit, peaking at number 6 on the Billboard Hot 100 and spending three weeks at number 1 on the US R&B chart[4] and one week at number 1 on the US Hot Dance Singles chart. In the UK, it spent 10 weeks in the top 40, peaking at number 3 on September 21, 1986.
Besides being a commercial success, the track also earned critical acclaim from several publications. "Word Up!" won Cameo the Soul Train Music Award for Best R&B/Soul Single as well as the NME Award for Best Dance Record. Like the band's previous single "Single Life", "Word Up!" features a reference to the opening notes of Ennio Morricone's theme to The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.
"Word Up" was a colloquialism, popular in New York City and other US urban areas, that acted as an affirmation of what was said - a kind of a hipper "You Bet."...
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SHOWCASE VIDEOS
Video #1: Cameo - Word Up Live on Arsenio
VideoMusicManiac, Published on May 5, 2007
I looked around and didn't see this fine performance anywhere. This should never be lost again.
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Video #2: Cameo - Word Up
Anka, Published on Sep 15, 2013
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LYRICS - WORD UP!
(written by Larry Blackmon and Tomi Jenkins)
Yo pretty ladies around the world
Got a weird thing to show you
So tell all the boys and girls
Tell your brother, your sister and your mamma too
'Cause we're about to go down
And you know just what to do
Wave your hands in the air like you don't care
Glide by the people as they start to look and stare
Do your dance, do your dance, do your dance quick mamma
Come on baby tell me what's the word
Word up everybody say
When you hear the call you've got to get it underway
Word up it's the code word
No matter where you say it you know that you'll be heard
Now all you sucker DJ's who think you're fly
There's got to be a reason and we know the reason why
You try to put on those Airs and you act real cool
Got to realize that you're acting like fools
If there's music we can use it
You're free to dance
We don't have the time for psychological romance
No romance, no romance, no romance for me mamma
Come on baby tell me what's the word
Word up everybody say
When you hear the call you've got to get it underway
Dial L for love
C'mon all you people sing
W.O.R.D. up, W.O.R.D. up, W.O.R.D. up, W.O.R.D. up
W.O.R.D. up,
W.O.R.D. up"
Online source: http://www.metrolyrics.com/word-up-lyrics-cameo.html
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This concludes Part II of this two part series.
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