A Timeline of "Shabooya Roll Call" Chants & Sayings (In Movies, Television, TikTok, YouTube, And Other Social Media Sites) -Part I (1996 to 2016)

Edited by Azizi Powell

Latest Revision - March 10, 2023 [previous title: A Chronological List With Videos Of "Shabooya Roll Call...]"

This is Part I of a two part pancocojams series on Shabooya Roll Call chants and other uses of the words "shabooya roll call".

This pancocojams post provides my speculation about the origin of the word "shabooya". This post also presents the meaning of the word "roll call".

In addition, this pancocojams post presents a chronological list of precursors of the "Shabooya roll call" chants as well as examples of the "Shabooya Roll Call" chants or the words "Shabooya" or "Shabooya Roll Call" in movies, television shows, and recorded songs (from 1996 through 2016.)  

Videos of most of these examples are also included in this post. However, the words to these chants aren't included in this post.*

Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2023/03/timeline-of-shabooya-roll-call-chants.html for Part II of this pancocojams series. That post provides a chronological list of  "Shabooya Roll Call" chants or the words "Shabooya" or "Shabooya Roll Call" in movies, television shows, YouTube/TikTok videos,  and/or recorded songs from 2022 through March 2023. 

Videos of most of these entries are also included in this post along with brief information or links to information about those entries. 

Dependent on the example, this timeline includes all, some, or none of the words to these "Shabooya Roll Call "chants.

Links to most of these examples are given with each entry in this chronological list.

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

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post.
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*Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2012/01/the-right-rhyming-pattern-for-shabooya.html for a closely related pancocojams post entitled "The Right Rhyming Pattern For Shabooya Roll Call Verses".

If you are aware of any entries that should be added to this list, please share those entries in the comment section below.



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SPECULATION ABOUT THE ORIGIN OF THE WORD "SHABOOYA"
"Shabooya Roll Call" is an African American originated bragging and/or taunting chant with a distinctive structure and rhythm. These chants revolve around a person saying their name and (supposedly) sharing something about themselves. Consequently, there are no fixed or standard words for these chants except the "Shabooyah sha sha Shabooya Roll Call"  bobeginning words and refrain and the "Yeah" response to the people taking turns saying "My name is...".

Here are two song sources that I believe might be the source and/or sources for the word "shabooya":

1.The 1946 song "Choo Choo Ch'Boogie"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Choo_Choo_Ch%27Boogie
 "Choo Choo Ch'Boogie" is a popular song written by Vaughn Horton, Denver Darling, and Milt Gabler.

The song was recorded in January 1946 by Louis Jordan & His Tympany Five and released by Decca Records. It topped the R&B charts for 18 weeks from August 1946, a record equalled by only one other hit, "The Honeydripper." The record was one of Jordan's biggest hits with both black and white audiences, peaking at number seven on the national chart[1] and provided an important link between blues and country music, foreshadowing the development of "rock and roll" a few years later.[2]

Although "Choo Choo Ch'Boogie" is now seen as epitomising the style known as jump blues, it was written by white songwriters whose background was in country and western music."...

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2. The 1954 African American Doo Wop song "Sh-Boom"
Click https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6LaAUGAu4U for a sound file and summary about The Chord's Sh-Boom" which was promptly "covered" (re-recorded) by multiple White groups including The Crew Cuts. Here's an excerpt of the summary for that YouTube sound file: 

"Sh-Boom" is supposed to have been titled after the threat of an atom bomb explosion -- Shhhh-BOOM! -- which, in the midst of Cold War posturing in 1954, was a very real topic on the public's collective consciousness. However, this demented ditty also included the surreally optimistic message that everything was ultimately fine and as the rest of the lyrics suggested, "life could be a dream." By the end of June 1954, "Sh-boom" had climbed up the charts nationwide, charting on both the R&B (number five) and pop (number two) lists, a nearly unprecedented feat for its time. For all practical purposes -- along with the Crows' 1953 hit "Gee" (another upbeat B-side hit that DJs flipped over) -- "Sh-Boom" introduced the white audience to black R&B music for the first time."...
-snip-
"Sh-Boom" is often pronounced "Shaboom"

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WHAT "ROLL CALL" MEANS IN "SHABOOYA ROLL CALL"
"Roll call" is verb that means "the act or an instance of calling off a list of names (as for checking attendance)". "Roll call" is also a noun that refers to the list of names that are called off (as for checking attendance). https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/roll%20call

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A 1980S CHEERLEADING CHEER ENTITLED "ROLL CALL SHABOOM"

"When I was in junior high (1980), we cheerleaders had a similar chant,for people you can't rhyme).

Roll call, shaboom shaboom
Roll call, shaboom shaboom
Hi, I'm Julie,
I'm "funny"
so check me out!!
do, do, do"
- Anonymous, September 4, 2020, http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2012/01/the-right-rhyming-pattern-for-shabooya.html "The Right Rhyming Pattern For Shabooya Roll Call Verses" [comment]
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Unfortunately, no geographic location is for this example.
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In the early 2000s a young African American woman from Washington, D.C. told me that she remembered girls chanting a cheer like Shabooya Roll Call before the 1996 Get On The Bus" movie and the 2006 Bring It On All Or Nothing movie. However, she couldn't remember the words to that cheer..

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PEOPLE CREATING THEIR OWN "SHABOOYAS" CHANTS
As a result of the popularity that was given to the "Shabooya Roll Call" chant in the 2006 American movie Bring It On: All Or Nothing, a growing number of people online and offline started creating their own versions of these chants. Some of those people (I think mostly White Americans) started calling these chants "Shabooyas" ("Shabooyas" can be either singular or plural).  However, I don't think that noun is widely used for these chants, and I personally don't use the term "Shabooyas" to refer to these chants.

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PRECURSORS TO SHABOOYA ROLL CALL CHANT/SAYING

1992- R&B singer/composer Prince's song "My Name Is Prince". That song fits the spirit of bragging "Shabooya Roll Call" chants i.e. introducing yourself and making a rhyme that says something positive about yourself. Some verses in that song also fit the signature Shabooya Roll Call rhythm pattern. However, Prince's 1992 song doesn't include the word "Shabooya" or the words "roll call".  Click https://genius.com/Prince-and-the-new-power-generation-my-name-is-prince-lyrics for the words to Prince's song "My Name Is Prince". Here are two verses of that song:

[Verse 1: Prince]

My name is Prince and I am funky
My name is Prince the one and only
I did not come to funk around
'Tll I get your daughter I won't leave this town

[...]

[Verse 2: Prince]

My name is Prince and I am funky
When it come to funk I am a junky
I know from righteous I know from sin
I got two sides and they both friends
-snip-
Hat tip to Anonymous, May 9, 2016 in the comment section for the 2012 pancocojams post "The Right Rhyming Pattern For Shabooya Roll Call Verses" for sharing information about that Prince song.

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January 1, 1996 -Saturday Night Live Spartan Cheerleaders Skit

"S21 E11 | 01/20/96 [video no longer available]

Spartan Cheerleaders at a Chess Tournament

Spartan Cheerleaders, Craig (Will Ferrell) and Arianna (Cheri Oteri), perform at their high school’s chess tournament. However, their overly spirited routines annoy the chess players, including Glenn (Mark McKinney) who tells them off."
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Hat tip to commenter Anonymous July 2, 2022[The Right Rhyming Pattern For Shabooya Roll Call Verses”, comments ,2012. Here's part of that comment:

..." the Spartan cheerleaders on Saturday Night Live, which used the lyric “cha cha butchee” instead of “Shabooya” but is otherwise clearly the same chant. Although a few comments elsewhere on the internet claim that SNL was referencing “Get on the Bus”, the first SNL episode featuring the roll call chant (1/20/96) predates the Spike Lee movie’s release (10/16/96) by almost nine months."...

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TIMELINE OF SHABOOYA ROLL CALL" CHANTS AND SAYINGS (1996-2016)

October 16, 1996 - Get On The Bus (American movie; Spike Lee, director)

Shabooya !!!!!!!!!!!! Scene from the film Get On The Bus ( 1996 )

New 7 Michael7, April 20, 2010
-snip-
The words to that version of "Shabooya Roll Call" are given in the pancocojams post "The Right Rhyming Pattern For Shabooya Roll Call Verses" whose link is given above.

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2006 - Bring It On: All Or Nothing

a.  Crenshaw Heights cheerleaders Camille (Solange Knowles-Smith), Kirresha (Giovonnie Samuels) and Leti (Francia Raisa) perform a roll call for the cafeteria audience. This clip of that movie is known as "the "dancing on the table" scene.)

Shabooya Roll Call

Peacock, Apr 13, 2021
-snip-
The words to the "dancing on the table" version of "Shabooya Roll Call" are given in the pancocojams post "The Right Rhyming Pattern For Shabooya Roll Call Verses". 

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b. Britney (Hayden Panettiere) chants a portion of "Shabooya Roll Call" at her former high school's homecoming dance (as part of her turn in the "introduce yourself" cheer).

Introduce Yourself

smidgy06, Nov. 2, 2008 
-snip-
Click https://www.quotes.net/mquote/981987 for the words to this version of "Introduce Yourself" cheer

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October 18, 2012 - "Work Bus" episode of The Office (American television series)



The Office, Feb. 19, 2021
-snip-
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Work_Bus : " "Work Bus" is the fourth episode of the ninth season of the American comedy television series The Office and the show's 180th episode overall."..

Examples of "Shabooya Roll Call" cheers that were chanted in that episode are found in the discussion thread for that video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iD4MAy8jAWc&t=123s&ab_channel=TheOffice  (as well as in most YouTube discussion threads about Shabooya Roll Call).

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Feb. 10, 2016  "Being Frank Episode" of It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia, first aired Feb 10, 2016

“Shabooya Roll Call”[is] mentioned several times in this episode whose summary is “A day in the life of Frank Reynolds as he tries to keep up with the gang's newest scheme.”

Here's some information about that episode and its use of "Shabooyah Roll Call" from  

https://www.cracked.com/article_32879_frank-reynolds-15-fascinating-facts.html#:~:text=14%20He%20repurposed%20%E2%80%9CShabooyah%20Roll%
"He [Frank Reynolds] repurposed “Shabooyah Roll Call.

….The term originated in the 1996 Spike Lee film Get on the Bus, and it was used as a rap or cheer for introducing people.

It’s also referenced in Bring It On: All or Nothing and The Office, but Frank’s usage of his now-signature phrase is meant to not-so-subtly show interest in women with large breasts.”….

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2016 - The Roll Call Song by Twaimz

Warning: This song includes a small amount of profanity.



Twaimz, published January 8, 2016

Click https://genius.com/Issa-twaimz-the-roll-call-song-lyrics for the lyrics for that song and for some information about Twaimz.

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Feb 10, 2016 - "Being Frank" episode of Always Sunny In Philadelphia (American television series) 

[Editor's note: I didn't include the video of this episode because I consider some of that episode to be problematic for a family friendly blog that focuses on Black culture.

Here's some information about the use of Shabooya in that "Being Frank" episode from
https://www.cracked.com/article_32879_frank-reynolds-15-fascinating-facts.html#:~:text=14%20He%20repurposed%20%E2%80%9CShabooyah%20Roll% 
..."He [Frank Reynolds] repurposed “Shabooyah Roll Call”.

….The term originated in the 1996 Spike Lee film Get on the Bus, and it was used as a rap or cheer for introducing people.

It’s also referenced in Bring It On: All or Nothing and The Office, but Frank’s usage of his now-signature phrase is meant to not-so-subtly show interest in women with large breasts.”….

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This concludes Part I of this two part pancocojams series.

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