Crediting "Pump Up The Jam" 1989 Hip Hop/House Record As The Direct Source Of "Pump It Up" Cheerleader Cheers

jackyabody0091, Apr 3, 2009

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Edited by Azizi Powell

Latest revision: November 29, 2020

This pancocojams post presents information about Technotronic Feat Ya Kid K's 1989 record "Pump Up The Jam" and considers that record's influence on the large family of "Pump It Up" cheerleader cheers. Some of these cheers were (are?) are composed and performed as foot stomping cheers.*

A video of "Technotronic Feat Ya Kid K performing "Pump Up The Jam" is included in this post along with an excerpt from that song's lyrics.

Four examples of "Pump It Up" cheers are included in this post.

The content of this post is presented for cultural, entertainment, recreational, and aesthetic purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to Manuela Kamosi and Thomas   for composing this song and thanks to  for performing it. Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post and thanks to the publisher of this video on YouTube.
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"Foot stomping cheers" is a sub-set of children's cheerleader cheers that have distinctive textual structures and distinctive performance styles. These cheers were (are?) usually performed by two or more African American girls ages around six years to twelve years who stand in lines  (usually horizontal lines), or in semi-circles, or in a circle with the soloist in the middle.  

The cheers have a distinctive call & response pattern that I refer to as "group/consecutive soloists". This call & response pattern differs from other cheers which usually are chanted with the group responding to a lead person or are usually chanted in unison. In contrast, the composition and performing pattern for foot stomping cheers consist of the group speaking  (often without the first soloist) first. The soloist then responds to the group. This pattern continues, and usually the soloist then has a short solo portion. The group may or may not chant again before the cheer begins again from the beginning with a new soloist. This pattern continues until every member of the group has had one equal (same amount of time) turn as the soloist. My experience is that the order of soloist is determined before the cheer begins, often with girls trying to be the first to call out "first", "second", "third" etc.

Probably the most widely known example of "foot stomping cheers" is "Shabooya Roll Call" from the "Bring It On All Or Nothing" movie.  However, that depiction is a rather exaggerated version of those cheers.  Here's a link to that scene:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=naw2tty2yic&ab_channel=iluzyoo

Based on my research, I believe that group of girls performed* what I refer to as "foot stomping cheers" in imitation of "real" cheerleading squads. Foot stomping cheer performances were informal though practiced performances that usually occurred without any audiences except other children (or pre-teens) in the playground or on the sidewalks where the girls happened to be. 

Because the structure of foot stomping cheers dictates that each member of the group had to have one equal length turn as the soloist for every cheer that was performed, these cheers weren't compatible with the time limitations that real cheerleaders face. For that reason, the two styles of cheers that traditional cheerleaders and stomp and shake cheerleaders perform short cheers that have a leader/group pattern or unison cheers.
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*I use past tense for performances of foot stomping cheers as I believe that these forms of cheers are rarely if ever performed since about the 2010. If that is true, it may be because of the increased interest in and opportunities for African American girls to perform "steps" (percussive routines that are very similar to historically Black Greek letter sororities and fraternities "steppin".  Another reason that these types of cheers may be rarely if ever performed is that the existence of stomp and shake cheerleading squads or modified stomp and shake cheerleading squads in certain American middle and high schools and community organizations. These squads as well as "traditional cheerleading squads" provide girls with opportunities to actually be cheerleaders rather than pretending to be cheerleaders when they perform stomp and shake cheers.

Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2016/09/foot-stomping-cheers-alphabetical-list_22.html for text (word only) examples of foot stomping cheers. Also, click the foot stomping cheer tag that is found below for additional examples of foot stomping cheers.

Also, click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2020/11/1993-stomp-and-shake-cheerleading-video.html for the closely related pancocojams post entitled "1993 Stomp And Shake Cheerleading Video (CIAA Exhibition Showcasing WSSU, VSU, & Four Other HBCU University Cheerleading Squads)". In that video three of those stomp and shake cheerleading squads performed a version of "Pump It Up".

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INFORMATION ABOUT MANUELA KAMOSI (ALSO KNOWN AS YA KID K)
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ya_Kid_K
'Ya Kid K (born Manuela Barbara Kamosi Moaso Djogi,[1] 26 January 1972) is a Congolese–Belgian hip hop recording artist. Ya Kid K, besides being a solo artist, is also known for her works for the dance/house act Technotronic….

Biography

At the age of 11, she moved to Belgium, later moving to Chicago (where she explored hip-hop, and the emerging sounds of house music), and later moved to Dallas, Texas. After moving back to Belgium from the US, she helped form a hip hop label called Fresh Beat Productions. She was part of the dance project Technotronic, [2] which debuted with a major worldwide hit in 1989, "Pump Up the Jam". Although she did not appear in the video, she was finally credited as vocalist on the track on the US reissue of the group's debut album.[3]

Singles

Although she wrote the lyrics and sang vocals on "Pump Up the Jam",[4] Technotronic had the fashion model Felly Kilingi perform in the video, without Ya Kid K's consent. The second single "Get Up! (Before the Night Is Over)" was Ya Kid K's debut music video with Technotronic. In 1992, Technotronic and Ya Kid K had a hit with "Move This," another single from 1989's Pump Up the Jam: The Album.”…

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SONG "PUMP UP THE JAM"
from https://genius.com/Technotronic-pump-up-the-jam-lyrics
"Pump Up The Jam" [was] "Written by [Congolese–Belgian hip hop recording artist] Manuela Kamosi (aliased as Ya Kid K) and Thomas De Quincey (aka Jo Bogaert), “Pump Up the Jam” was Technotronic’s debut single. Its music is heavily based on a track named “Technotronic” that De Quincey had released earlier in the year under the name Pro 24’s.

“Pump Up the Jam” peaked at #2 in the UK in late 1989, then also reached #2 in the US in early 1990."...

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EXCERPT FROM THE SONG "PUMP UP THE JAM"
..."[Bridge]
Yo! Pump up the jam
Pump it up
Pump it up
Yo! Pump it!
Pump up the jam
Pump it up
Pump it up
Yo! Pump it
Pump up the jam
Pump it up
Pump it up
Yo! Pump it
Pump up the jam
Pump it"

From https://genius.com/Technotronic-pump-up-the-jam-lyrics

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TWO EXAMPLES OF FOOT STOMPING CHEER FORMS OF "PUMP IT UP"
 
[These versions are given in no particular order. Numbers are added for referencing purposes only.] 

Version #1:
PUMP IT UP
(Everybody says) -Pump it up go 'head, go 'head. Pump it up go 'head. Pump it up go 'head, go 'head. Pump it up go 'head Tasha, go 'head, go 'head. Tasha, go 'head. Tasha, go 'head, go 'head. Tasha, go 'head *

Tasha or the name of the lead person does some kind of dance while she shouts this next part) YOU GOTS TO PUUMP ITT UPPP! Pump it up! Pump Pump it up!

Everybody does the same dance that the leader did while they say the same thing) YOU GOTS TO PUUMP ITT UPPP Pump it up Pump Pump it up

Then you repeat the whole cheer with the next leader who gives her name or her nickname.
Everybody has a turn as the leader. The next leader can do the same dance, but when they really want to impress people, they do their own dance.

*I forgot to say that people do foot stomps during this part. It's hard to write it out but the foot stomps go like this (left foot stomps and then clap once; right foot stomps & you clap once, and then the left foot stomps two time and then you clap. Right foot stomps & you clap once). Go back to the beginning and keep doing this until the leader says her part. Then you stop doing the steps. Nobody says anything or moves while the leader is saying her part. They are all watching her. 

After she finishes doing her dance, everybody tries to the same dance that she did while they say YOU GOTS TO PUUMP ITT UPPP Pump it up Pump Pump it up. And then you go back to the beginning of the whole cheer. 

I hope you like it.
-Tazi M. Powell (coach); Fort Pitt Cheerleaders; Garfield neighborhood; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 8/10/2007

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Version #2
PUMP IT UP 
Words -------------------------------------------------Basic Motion
Pump pump pump pump pump it up-------------  tap palms around the circle to start
Pump pump pump it up ---------------------------- step clap rock clap [2x]
Well, my name is [player’s name] ----------------- step clap rock clap
Pump it up ------------------------------------------- step clap rock clap
That’s what they call me ---------------------------- tap clap rock clap
Pump it up -------------------------------------------[repeat]
My sign is [astrological sign]
Pump it up
And I can work that body oddy oddy --------------shake and improvise
Make sure you don’t hurt that body
Pump pump pump pump
Pump it up
(1992)
From Recess Battles: Playing Fighting, and Storytelling by Anna R. Beresin (University Press of Mississippi, Jackson, 2010, page 104-105, in the section of that book whose sub-title is "Steps"), African American girls, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
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This is how that example was written in that book. 
 
Here's the introductory comments to this example:
"In 1991, I saw four African American girls doing what looked like a dance step. “Is that a step?” I asked. I wonder whether the dance was choreographed or if they were improvising. “No, no, this is a step”. Step, clap, rock, clap, step, clap, rock, clap, They rocked gently back and forth, clapping their hands lightly on the off beat. At first they sang quietly, but it built into a roar."

[After that example. the book's author wrote]
"The phase pump it up appears in several recordings, including "Pump Up The Jam" by M. Kamosi and T. De Quincy from 1989. Each girl gets a chance to say her name and her astrological sign and work her body."

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ONE EXAMPLE OF TRADITIONAL CHEERLEADING CHEERS FORMS OF FORMS OF "PUMP IT UP"
 
 PUMP PUMP PUMP IT UP 
Pump, pump, pump it up! (leader sounds)
Pump, pump, pump it up! (team)
Pump that [Team Name] spirit up! (leader sounds)
Pump that [Team Name] spirit up! (team)

Keep, keep, keep it up! (leader sounds)
Keep, keep, keep it up! (team)
Keep that [Team Name] spirit up! (leader sounds)
Keep that [Team Name] spirit up! (team)
- https://howtheyplay.com/team-sports/20-Best-Team-Cheers-and-Chants "Top 20 Cheers for Cheerleading, Sports Teams, and Team Captains" [This example is given as #3 in that list.]

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ONE EXAMPLE OF STOMP AND SHAKE CHEERLEADING FORMS OF FORMS OF "PUMP IT UP"
[One squad member says "Ready. "Hit it!


[The entire squad says the rest of these words at the same time.]

Hey Trojans
Yeah
Hey Trojans
Yeah
Hey Trojans
Yeah
Let's pump pump pump it up.
Pump pump pump it up.
The Trojans are ready to 
Pump pump pump it up
The Trojans are ready to 
Pump pump pump it up

[The second line of the squad]
The Trojans
Pump, pump, pump it up
[The first line of the squad]
The Trojans
Pump pump, pump it up
[The entire squad]
The Trojans
Pump, pump, pump it up.
Pump Ooh!
The Trojans
Pump pump, pump it up
The Trojans
Pump, pump, pump 
Pump it up.
Pump Pump Pump It Up
The Trojans are ready 
To pump it up.
Pump Pump Pump It Up
The Trojans are ready 
To pump it up.
- Virginia State University Woo Woos https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4tdFVI6NWU&feature=emb_logo&ab_channel=CheerPhi93 (1:46 to 2:25 in that video)
transcription by Azizi Powell (additions and corrections are welcome)

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LINKS TO TWO ADDITIONAL VIDEOS OF THE "PUMP IT UP" CHEER   

Example #1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GneUNvr4PUM&ab_channel=StompNShakeCheer
"Cheer: Pump It Up (P-U-M-P-I-T-U-P)" published by Stomp N Shake Cheer, published on Oct. 21, 2020
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This cheer is performed in a stomp and shake style by a high school student.

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Example #2
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4umnc9_QsvM&ab_channel=SMSCheer1
"Pump, pump, pump it up!", published on Dec. 9, 2016
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This is a mostly Black high school cheerleading squad which is performing in a slightly modified traditional cheerleading style (The modification occurs when the cheerleaders say the words "pump it up").  Notice that compared to stomp and shake cheerleading, there's no hip shaking, the legs aren't lifted from the floor, and the stomps aren't as bass sounding.

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