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Thursday, December 15, 2022

2010 Video Of A HBCU Majorette Dance Line Chanting An Adaption Of The Sorority Chant "What Is A Delta?" (with a Delta version & An AKA version of this chant)


DrumMaster Studios, Uploaded on Oct 31, 2010

Chillin with the Current and Alumni Motion ... TxSU HomeComing - 2010

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Edited by Azizi Powell

This pancocojams post showcases a 2010 YouTube video of Texas Southern University's Motion On The Ocean majorette dance line chanting an adaptation of the historically Black Greek letter chant "What is a [insert name of a BGLO]".

The lyrics to that majorette chant are included in this post along with explanations of its Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) references. Selected comments from the discussion thread of this showcased video are also included in this post.  (A commenter in that discussion thread wrote that the chant was an adaptation of "What Is A Delta?". However, other BGLOs have their own versions of that chant and this Motions' chant could have been an adaptation of another BGLO's "What is a ___?"chant. )

The Addendum to this post showcases two examples of a "What is a Delta?" chant along with the HBCU references in that example and my comments about those chants. 

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

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to past and present members of Texas Southern University's Motion on The Ocean majorette dance line. Thanks also to all those who are quoted in this post and thanks to the publisher of this video on YouTube.

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PANCOCOJAMS EDITOR'S NOTE
"What is a __?" are dissing and bragging chants that are performed by certain historically Black Greek letter sororities and by certain historically Black Greek letter fraternities to insult other sororities (or other fraternities) and to praise their own sorority (or fraternity). In this majorette adaptation of that chant, the Motion of the Ocean members are dissing other HBCU majorette dance lines and praising their own dance line. 

I used the title "What is a Delta?" for the source BGLO (historically Black Greek Letter Organizations') chant because a commenter in this video's discussion thread wrote that the Motion of the Ocean's chant was an adaptation of a Delta chant. However, it could have been an adaptation of another BGLO that have versions of this chant. 

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TEXAS SOUTHERN UNIVERSITY'S MOTION ON THE OCEAN VERSION OF "WHAT IS A DELTA?"

One woman counts down:
5,6,7,8

Group chants in unison:
We are the Motion of the Ocean
What the Dancing Dolls ain't
Black Fox wanna be
And the J-Settes can't.
What the Sonic Boom like
And the Marching Storm loves
And what the Ocean of Soul can’t get enough of.
Now do this."
(The chant ends with each member of the Motions dance line holding their hand palm up for people to kiss it in homage to them.
-snip-
Here's the explanation of the references that are given in this chant:

"Motion Of The Ocean" = Texas Southern University's majorette line
"Dancing Dolls= Southern University's majorette line
"Black Fox" = Prairie View A&M University's majorette line
"J-Settes" = Jackson State University's majorette line that is now known as the Fabulous Jsettes.

"Sonic Boom" = Jackson State University's marching band
"Marching Storm" = Prairie View A&M University's marching band
"Ocean Of Soul" Texas Southern University's marching band
-snip-
The marching band references are given as if all the members of the marching band are male. 

-snip-
Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2022/12/five-historically-black-universities.html for a 2022 pancocojams post that showcases one YouTube video of all of the majorette dance lines that are mentioned in this chant.   

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SELECTED COMMENTS FROM THIS SHOWCASE VIDEO'S DISCUSSION THREAD

These comments are given without any explanations or editor's notes. 

Numbers are added for referencing purposes only.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aa8Isad507A


1. blacktazz0707,2010
"Lol HAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!! LOVE MY Motion!!!!!!"

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2. perry thomas, 2010
"They did not just say they Jsettes cant.... they wanna be the Jsettes, but they still tight tho"

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3.tsu1208, 2010
"So funny they trynna say somethin bout the J settes when they stole most of their counts from the J settes!!!!! lol"

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4.  Tye Golden, 2011
"@royalroose Well if you would look, you would know that everybody say the Motion steal from the Settes so of course they are going to say sumthing dissing the Settes because people diss them,."

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5. 
Jesus Lewis, 2011
"lol.... the old heads are thick and the current ones are all slim- but I will agree JSETTS are good- but I will say MOTION are good too. The styles are different! Beyonce and Janet- both good but two diffrnt style of dance. One may argue one is better than the other but it varies. and the mindset of Jsetts when they come up with routines may be "TO LEAVE IT ALL ON THE FLOOR..." while motion may have a mindset "CLEAN, CLEAR, ACROBATICS, TECHNIQUE??" idk. but let them have alike minds and u'll see"

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6. big mike, 2011
"they clearly got that chant from the DELTAS lol"

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7. Book Multimedia
"@royalroose  it's not disrespectful  to other teams at all. it's just a chant. .. All the BGLO's have been saying it for years.. they just borrowed  it and used Dance team names instead"

Jsette and Motion rivalry is pretty much a friendly one.   It's fans who blow it up.. Why? because they weren't exposed to The Motion Pre 2k5  .. after that everybody's compared everything they do to the Jsettes. of course. The STYLE of dance is the same. the Routines are not.

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8. Jarrett Goer, 2011
"@TheTroll18 i love the motion of the ocean, but baby please the dolls and the j-settes run the swac, okay, get it correct, j-settes are original with their 8 counts, the dolls will kill these girls with their techique, so please stop it, i luv the motion, but dont get to cocky, pleaselol"

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9. Nikki TheDancer, 2011
"LoL at the chant in the beginning! they are so hoooood in Texas, HILARIOUS!"

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Reply
10. Kinny Tillman, 2014
"They came at the dolls! Ahahah ðŸ˜‚😂 y'all brave"

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Reply
11.  K, 2012

"lol they all just got Dissed !

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12. big mike,2012
"damn they didnt even acknowledge the dancing divas,stingettes,ect lol"

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13. Showstoppa P, 2013
"Ummmmmmmmmmm taking aims at the schools yal called out???? While dancing like this???? never!!!!!!  please try again...lol"

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14. Stackz Cdg, 2014
"WHEN YALL COME FOR THE DOLLS PLEASE LOOK BETTER CAUSE SMFH YALL ARE NOT THAT CUTE HAVE A SEAT AN AS FOR JSETTES STOP STEALING THERE COUNTS"

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ADDENDUM- TWO EXAMPLES OF THE SORORITY CHANT "WHAT IS A DELTA?" (with my editor's notes) 

Example #1
"WHAT IS A DELTA? 

I love this one, although its pretty common (I'm sure my sorors know it already)

In 1908, you thought YOU were the best
But my 22 founders wouldn't settle for less
In 1913 they envisioned something greater
YOUR president walked out, and founded DELTA SIGMA THETA!!

What is a Delta?
What is a DELTA?

A Delta is, what a A-KA ain't
What a Zeta wanna be
What a Sigma can't
What the Alpha's like
What the Kappas love
What a QUE PSI PHI can't get enough of!

OO-OOP, OO-OOP, OO-OOP OO-OOP OO-OOP, OOOOOOO-OOOOOOOOP!!"
-crimsonendvy E-Greek Chant Off. https://onolympus.proboards.com/thread/..., Feb 29, 2008 [This link is no longer active.]
-snip-
Explanations for these BGLO references:

Delta = Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.
AKA =Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.
Zeta = Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc.
Sigma =Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc.
Alphas= Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.
Kappa = Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity,Inc.
Que Psi Phi = Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc.

These are some of the members of the National Pan-Hellenic Council which is colloquially called "the Divine Nine". Click https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Pan-Hellenic_Council for information about the NPHC.
-snip-
"OO-OOP, OO-OOP, OO-OOP OO-OOP OO-OOP, OOOOOOO-OOOOOOOOP!!" is an elongated version of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc's signature call. BGLO's signature calls should only be chanted by persons who are members of that particular organization.

DISCLAIMER: Showcasing a Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. version of this chant doesn't mean that this chant originated with or is most often used by that sorority. Also, showcasing this particular version of this chant doesn't mean that it is the version that members of that sorority must often chant. 

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It should be noted that in some versions of this chant, the sorority (or fraternity) organization's name that is given first doesn't mean that that chant is sung by a member of that particular organization. Instead, those examples could be chanted by another historically Black Greek letter sorority to diss/insult the sorority that is named and praise the chanter's sorority. Here's an example of that type of chant:

Example #2

"Sorority Chant -

What is a Delta?
What is a Delta?
She’s an imitator
A perpetrator
A wanna-be
Wanna-be like me
What Kappa don’t want
What an Alpha don’t need
What a Q-Psi Phi wished was a Skee Wee
-IvyProne08 ; 12/4/2007, cocojams.com ["cocojams" was the name of my multipage cultural website. That  website is no longer active.]
-snip-
The name "IvyProne" and the lyrics of this version are dead giveaways that the person who shared this version of "What is a __?" is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. 

"Skee Wee" is the AKA's signature call.

DISCLAIMER: Showcasing this Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. version of this chant doesn't mean that this chant originated with or is most often used by that sorority. Also, showcasing this particular version of this chant doesn't mean that it is the version that members of that sorority most often chants or chanted. 

Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2012/12/what-is-name-of-black-greek-lettered.html for a 2012 pancocojams post entitled "What Is A (Insert Name Of A Black Greek Lettered Organization)" Chants. That includes several text (word only) examples of these chants along with a few video examples of this chant.

Also, click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2015/03/examples-of-historically-black_39.html for a 2015 pancocojams post entitled "Examples Of Historically Black Fraternity & Sorority Chants & Songs (W-Z). That post presents a number of (words only) examples of these and other BGLOchants.

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