Eggers MS Cheer, Oct 12, 2024
#cheerleading #cheer #cheerleader
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Edited by Azizi Powell
This pancocojams post showcases two videos of the middle school and high school stomp and shake cheerleader cheer "Say It With Your Chest" along with the lyrics for those examples.
This post also provides some history of the saying "Say it with your chest" including my notes about how that saying has evolved to a description of basketball players performing superlative jump shots.
The content of this post is presented for historical,cultural; and recreational purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to all those who are featured in these videos and thanks to all those who are quoted in this post.
Thanks also to the publishers of these videos online.
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SOME HISTORY OF THE SAYING "SAY IT WITH YOUR CHEST"
"Say it with your chest" was first popularized in 2012 by African American comedian Kevin Hart during a stand up comedy show. In that show, Kevin Hart said that after his uncle had been in prison for fifteen years, his uncle responded to his words "Hey Uncle Richard. It's been fifteen years since I last saw you. How are you?" with the words, "Say it with your chest, little ass ni-ga".*
*This word is fully spelled out in the transcript for that video. That video also includes profanity.
That Kevin Hart example presumably focuses on that comedian's uncle's propensity to respond to anything in an aggressive manner because he had spent so much time in prison. However, "Say it with your chest" probably meant that the person who is challenging someone better make sure that he or she is up to the challenge . One way of conveying that a person is up to the challenge of a fight or a competitive game is that his or her says his words with conviction i.e. the way those words are said convey strength and not weakness. (Some online commenters refer to the fact that those words should be bass sounding and not high pitched.)
Also, a person who is conveying that he or she is ready to battle hold his or her body in a fighting stance. The person has a mean mug (grit face) and stands with his or her chest puffed up. In addition, the person who conveys that he or she is ready for battle often leans slightly towards his or her rival his rival.
"Say it with your chest" appears to have been usually used in the past and is currently used as a warning to an adversary that he or she better mean what he or she is saying or be ready for a serious beat down if and when a fight or a competitive athletic game begins. .
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"Say it with your chest" used as a high compliment to a superlative basketball move.
By 2022, "say it with (his or her) chest", has also been used to refer to the superlative way that someone performed a particular action.
Here are two examples from basketball games:
Example #1
https://youtube.com/shorts/LoSlFHgj1UU?si=W_bXK3PfVo4qyK1b
August 8, 2022; @Sportz_1618
Say it with your chest.😂
-snip-
An announcer saying "LeBron said it with his chest!" after professional basketball player LeBron James scored a basket in a high flying jump shot during a televised basketball game.(This statement conveyed that LeBron James' bold jump shot showed that he wasn't only talk but he could back up his talk and show that he was truly the GOAT (greatest of all times).
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Example #2
https://youtube.com/shorts/PSqs8kUtO_0?si=Y7YQTe6o2V8TLbaG
@nba-thebestvideosofnbaands3983, July 17, 2022
“grimes turns the corner. Nice find sims say it with your chest.; Sims plus the foul"****
WHAT DOES "SAY IT WITH YOUR CHEST" MEAN IN THE CONTEXT OF STOMP AND SHAKE CHEERS".
"Say it with your chest" is a line from confrontational, bragging stomp and shake cheers (battle cheers).
In the context of those cheers, "say it with your chest" is a warning that the rival team better have their "A game" on if they dare to challenge the team whose cheerleaders are saying that cheer. The implication is that the other team (and/or their cheerleading squad) won't be able to measure up to the test because the cheerleading squad saying that line in their cheer are the best.
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EXAMPLE OF WORDS FOR SHOWCASE CHEER #1 (given at the top of this post)
Callout: So if you got a problem, say it with your chest!
This ain't what you want
But this what you gon' get!
The team of the knights, you know where we at
Our team is the best
Better than the rest
So if you got a problem, say it with your chest!
This ain't what you want
But this what you gon' get!
The team of the knights, you know where we at
Our team is the best
Better than the rest
So if you got a problem, say it with your chest!
silent
So if you got a problem, say it with your chest!
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SHOWCASE VIDEO #2 - Milby HS CHEERLEADERS "Say it with yo chest”
@CHEERSHEATE, March 3, 2025
Houston (Texas)
🗣️ Say it with yo chest IG: @wmswolverines_cheer #BlackGirlsCheer #cheer #cheertok #BlackTikTok
-snip
Lyrics:
This is aint what you want
But this what you gon get
???
???
We know what you want
We know whose the best
So if you got a problem
Then SAY IT WITH YOUR CHEST
-snip-
There are multiple examples of this cheer online, particularly on Tik Tok, However, there are very few transcriptions of this cheer online.
It’s possible that these cheers that I've found online have different words than those that are given here. The question marks mean that those words are indecipherable to me.
In some instances when commenters shared what they thought the last word in that line and and its preceding lines given as question marks, don't rhyme. I consider that to be a sign that that transcript is incorrect.
One reason why these cheers may have different words for those portions is because the commentators weren’t sure what was being said and wrote down what they thought was said.
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The cheerleaders who are performing this cheer on the full court appear to be either White or Latina.
All of the cheerleaders who are sitting in the bleachers watching this cheer appear to be Black. These appear to be (or act like they are) disinterested in that performance.
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MY NOTES ABOUT THE '"SAY IT WITH YOUR CHEST" CHEER
"Say It With Your Chest" is a group bragging/confrontational stomp and shake cheer that is performed as a sideline or full court basketball cheer. I haven't come across any examples of this cheer 9as of this date) as a bleacher cheer.
The earliest online example of the stomp and shake cheerleading cheer "Say It With Your (Yo) Chest" that I've come across online is https://www.tiktok.com/@oldmillcheer/video/7174760225570934058 ,Oldmillcheer, December 8, 2022
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Given the words for this cheer, my guess is that it is probably performed at or near the beginning of a battle cheer (or at the beginning of the competitive athlete game) in place of [?} a hello cheer.
The cheerleaders performing this cheer are proclaiming that their athletic team is the best. There fore, if that rival athletic team (and their cheer squad) don't believe that, they better "say it with their chest" (meaning, they better be the boldest and the most aggressive that they've ever been. (They'd better not be weak since they're going to need to "give it their best shot", and "be prepared for an all out battle").
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In every example of this cheer that I've come across online, the cheerleaders thump their chest when they say the words "Say it with your chest."
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