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Showing posts with label Astrology; African American children's rhymes and cheers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Astrology; African American children's rhymes and cheers. Show all posts

Sunday, January 11, 2026

Astrology (Zodiac Signs) Mentioned In African American Girls' Foot Stomping Cheers (Complete Reprint Of Part IV)

Edited by Azizi Powell

This is a complete reprint of Part IV of a four part series that provides a compilation of all of the words only examples of foot stomping cheers that mention zodiac (astrological) signs that I have come across [as of the latest edition of this post: November 13, 2024]. 

Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2021/11/astrology-zodiac-signs-mentioned-in.html  for Part I  (Numbers- I of this series.

Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2021/11/astrology-zodiac-signs-mentioned-in_19.html for Part II (J - P). of this series.

Click 
https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2021/11/astrology-zodiac-signs-mentioned-in_11.html for Part III (Q - S)

These examples aren't numbered as additional examples may be added if I come across them.

This series is a sub-set of a larger compilation entitled "Foot Stomping Cheers Alphabetical List". Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2016/09/foot-stomping-cheers-alphabetical-list.html for Part I of that series. The links to the other part of that series are included in that post. That post also includes additional notes about the general topic of foot stomping cheers.

Additional information about a specific cheer may be found after that example in its entry in the foot stomping cheer alphabetical list.

Also, click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2013/05/an-overview-of-foot-stomping-cheers.html for the pancocojams post entitled "An Overview Of Foot Stomping Cheers (Part I- Characteristic & Sources)".

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NOTES ABOUT THESE EXAMPLES  
These examples are presented in alphabetical order based on the first number or the first letter of the first letter of the first word. 

The source (i.e. book, direct collection, or website) is given below the example along with demographic information and/or comments.

The numbers that are given below for the versions of a specific cheer in this series may not be the same as the numbers for that cheer in the Pancocojams 
Foot Stomping Cheers Alphabetical List compilation.

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EXAMPLES: T - Z

TELL IT (Version #1)
My name is Mocha (Tell it, tell it)
I'm on the line (Tell it, tell it)
I wanna do it (tell it, tell it)
with Nas' sign (Tell it, tell it)
And you know what? (what?)
My man will rough you up.
Hey!!!


The alternate version said, "and you know what? My man don't do enough".
-Miss Mocha, http://www.greekchat.com/gcforums/showthread.php?t=31403&page=5,03-28-2003
-snip-
"Nas" is the stage name for an American rapper. His Wikipedia page https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nas indicates that he started his recording career in 1991, but his highly regarded album Illmatic wasn't released until 1994. This information suggests that this version of "Tell It" was probably not chanted until 1994. The word "sign" here means "astrological sun sign".

Note: "Nas" isn't the same recording artist as "Lil Nas X" who recorded "Old Town Road".

Btw, my guess is that these "Tell it" girls' rhymes were inspired by the 1966 hit R&B song "Tell It Like It Is" which was recorded by Aaron Neville and then by other vocalists.

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TELL IT (TELL IT LIKE IT IS) (Version #2)
tell it, tell it, tell it like it is

uh oh!

tell it, tell it, tell it like it is

me: my name is Goddess

homegirls: tell it, tell it

me: I'm on the line

homegirls: tell it, tell it

me: and I'm gon' do it

homegirls: tell it, tell it

me: with a Scorpio sign

homegirls: tell it, tell it

me: and you know what?

homegirls: what?

me: and you know what?

homegirls: what?


(alternate replies)

me: my man was rollin on the ocean, he was rollin on the sea, and the best part about it, he was rolling on me (insert fast azz 8 year old sexy move here)

OR

me: I'm just gon' kick yo butt

-GODDESS!, http://www.lipstickalley.com/showthread.php/43158-Hood-Cheers/page2?s=c36b81842e44a5cd4a49678538954ac4

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TELL IT (TELL IT LIKE IT IS (Version #3)
Tell it tell it tell it like it is (uh hun)
tell it tell it tell it like it is
My name Nicole (tell it tell it)
I’m on the line (tell it tell it)
And I can do it (tell it tell it)
To the Capricorn sign (tell it tell it)
And you know what? (what?)
And you know what (what?)
Your man was in my body and he did some karate and he
knocked on my door, but he didn’t get no more.
-Black Girlhood Celebration: Toward a Hip-hop Feminist Pedagogy by Ruth Nicole Brown, published in 2008; Page 43 (Google books)

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TELL IT TELL IT (Version #4)
My name is ______________ (Tell it Tell it)
Zodiac sign my sign (Tell it Tell it)
And if you don't like it (Tell it Tell it)
You can kiss my behind (Tell it Tell it)
You know what? (What?)
You know what? (What?)
My name ________and I can do it like this! (do a dance)
-Honeykiss1974, http://www.greekchat.com/gcforums/archive/index.php/t-31403.html, 03-26-2003
-snip-
The "1974" in her screen name is probably her date of birth which means that this cheer may be from the mid 1980s.


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YOU AINT GOIN NO WHERE
Entire Group: You ain’t goin no where
no where
You ain’t goin no where
You ain’t goin no where
no where
Y
ou ain’t goin no where
Hey, Shadeya
Soloist #1 (Shadeya): Too shy
Group without the soloist: Introduce yourself
Soloist #1 (Shadeya) : I’ll try
My name is Shadeya
I cheer for Garfield*.
My sign is Libra.
And when I’m up
Group without soloist: When she’s up.
Shadeya: I’m hot stuff.
Group: She’s hot stuff.
Shadeya: And when I’m down.
Group: And when she’s down.
Shadeya: Don’t mess around.
Group: Don’t mess around
Shadeya: Don’t make me scream
cause you will be _knocked _out.
 

Repeat the entire cheer from the beginning with the next soloist who says her name or nickname, the name of the sport or community team she cheers for. The girl doesn't have to really be a cheerleader. She is engaging in dramatic play- that is-she's pretending to be a cheerleader.

Continue this pattern until every one in the group has had one turn as the soloist.
-Shadaya, Fort Pitt School; (Garfield), 2002; collected by Azizi Powell; I also collected the exact same cheer in 2008 from Conraya and another girl from the same school.
-snip-
 __  means to pause a beat


*The soloist names her community or school athletic cheerleading team.

"My sign" means the person's astrological sun sign.

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WE ARE THE RIDGEWOOD GIRLS
We are the Ridgewood girls
We are the get-fresh crew
My name's "Sweety" (believe it or not that was the name I had chosen for myself)
My sign's Leo
This is how I show it off: (strike individual pose)
-Yasmin H., visual artist (New York City, New York), 2/25/04 (memories of East Brooklyn, New York, in the late 1980s.)
-snip
This example and several others in this collection are from an email that I received from Yasmin H. Here is an excerpt from her email:

"We would begin each performance session with this piece because every girl had to go through this process and so it became the "introduction" piece. I also want to point out with the above piece that the term "get-fresh crew" was something we had borrowed from the then popular "Get-Fresh crew" which was a hip-hop act consisting of Dough E. Fresh and Slick Rick. The beats in our cheers and even song-tunes usually mimicked popular hip-hop beats of the time."

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This concludes Part IV of this pancocojams series about astrology signs in children's foot stomping cheers.

Thanks for visiting pancocojams.

Visitor comments are welcome

Monday, November 28, 2011

References To Astrology In Children's Foot Stomping Cheers

Edited by Azizi Powell

Latest revision: March 19, 2021: title change; deleted references and links to cocojams foot stomping cheer page and cocojams stepping video page
 
This is the first pancocojams post in an ongoing series of posts on this blog about English language children's playground rhymes & cheers. Most of the examples featured in these posts are from African American playground rhymes and cheers from around 1980s to around  2006.

This post reflects my interest in children's playground rhymes & cheers and my interest in astrology. This is only a very small sample of examples of children's cheers that I've collected which include references to astrology. I've limited this post to a few examples of a sub-set of children's cheers that I refer to as "foot stomping cheers", and I've included some general information about that relatively recent form of children's recreational activity.

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GENERAL OVERVIEW OF FOOT STOMPING CHEERS
"Foot stomping cheers" is my term for a sub-set of children's cheerleader cheers which appears to have originated among African American school girls in the mid 1970s. Briefly put, foot stomping cheers are formulaic compositions which have a modified call & response structure that I refer to as "group/consecutive soloist". What "group/consecutive soloist" means is that the group voice is the first voice that is heard in those cheers. A designated soloist responds to the rest of the group's words and those voices alternate until that rendition ends (usually with the soloist's voice or the soloist & the rest of the group's voice). However, the cheer immediately begins again with the next designated soloist and this pattern continues until every member of the group has had a turn as the soloist.

Foot stomping cheers are chanted while their performers execute choreographed, syncopated, percussive movement routines that are very similar to African American originated Greek lettered fraternity & sorority stepping (steppin). Most foot stomping cheers use this beat pattern: "stomp clap/ stomp stomp/ clap". Another beat pattern is "stomp stomp clap/ stomp stomp clap." Those two standard beat patterns appear to be used for all foot stomping cheers. Moderate tempo 4/4 beats created by those foot stomps alternate with the chanters'(individual) hand claps, body pats (especially thigh pats), and less frequently, finger snaps. Because these 4/4 beats are omnipresent in R&B, Hip-Hop, Rock, Gospel, and other forms of music, foot stomping cheer routines aren't that difficult for many African Americans (and others) to learn.

The well known 1977 record "We Will Rock You" by Queen is an excellent example of a Rock song that has a 4/4 beat and therefore could serve as a backdrop for a foot stomping routine (recognizing, of course, that foot stomping chants aren't meant to be performed to recorded music). 

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WHY THERE ARE REFERENCES TO ASTROLOGY IN CHILDREN'S CHEERS
I've no doubt that the reason for references to sun sign astrology in those children's cheers is that sun sign astrology is mentioned in a number of R&B songs. Some of those songS are the direct source for specific children's cheers. Other R&B songs which mention/ed sun sign astrology just help/ed to familiarize children with that form of astrology. Here's an excerpt from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun_sign_astrology:

Sun sign astrology is the form of astrology most commonly found in many newspaper and magazine columns. It is a simplified system of astrology which considers only the position of the Sun, which is said to be placed within one of the twelve zodiac signs depending on the month of birth. This sign is then called the sun sign or star sign of the person born that month.
Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2011/10/six-african-american-records-that.html to find a post about Astrology In African American Records.

-snip-

Without further prefacing comments, here are five examples of foot stomping cheers that mention astrology. The astrological references are given in italic to highlight them:

SUPER SUPERSTAR
Super Superstar
Hey
Akira is my name
Superstar
Kickball is my game
Winning on my mind
Hey
Scorpio is my number one sign
Super Superstar
Hey
Super Superstar
Hey
Nathalee is my name
Basketball is my game
Winning on my mind
Hey
Leo is my number one sign
Super Superstar
Hey
- Barbara Mitchells & Bettye White, Apples On A Stick, The Folklore of Black Children(New York, Coward -McCann, Inc, 1983, p. 12)

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HOLLYWOOD SWINGING
All: Hollywood goes swinging.
Swinging for the good times.
Swinging for the bad times
Soloist #1: My name is Ebony.
(And) I’m cool and the gang.
You mess with me
and I’ll do my thang.
My sign is Libra
and that’s alright
cause all Libra’s
are out of sight.

All:
Hey you,
check it out!
You! You!
Check it out!
-Tazi M. Powell., (African American female);Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, mid 1980s

Editor: The line "I'm cool and the gang" is rather interesting because Kool & The Gang was the Pop group that recorded the hit song "Hollywood Swinging" in 1973. However, those chanting that line may think that phrase means the slang definition of "cool" (hip, up to date with the latest street culture).

It also should be noted that the tune of foot stomping cheers (and other playground cheers & rhymes) that are based on Pop recordings, R&B recordings, or songs from other genres, are usually similar to the tune of those recordings/songs.

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CHEERLEADER
All: Cheer.
Leader.
Roll.
Call.
Are you ready?
Soloist #1: Shayla.
They call me Rosa.
Soloist #2: Shana.
They call me Poo.
Soloist #3: Shana.
They call me Shay.
Soloist #4: Jamie.
They call me Jay Jay.
Soloist #5: Jackie.
They call me HaJack (HighJack?).
All: Cheer.
Leader.
Zodiac signs.
Soloist #1: Aquarius.
That’s a dog.
Soloist #2: Cancer.
That’s a crab.
Soloist #3: Leo.
That’s a lion.
Soloist #4: Scorpio.
That’s a spider.
Soloist #5: Scorpio.
That’s a spider.

All: Cheer.
Leader.
Phone.
Numbers.
Are you ready?
Soloist #1: 348-5110.
Group: Always busy.
Soloist #2: 348-4554.
Group: Always busy.
Soloist #3 348-3322
Group: Always busy.
Soloist #4: 348-5779
Group: Always busy.
Soloist #5 348-4285
Group: Always busy.
-Shayla, Shana, Shana, Jamie, and Jackie {African American females about 10 years-12 years old}, Braddock, PA; 1985; collected by Azizi Powell, 1985 (transcription of audio tape recording)

Editor: Note that the symbols for Aquarius and Scorpio are incorrect.

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ROCK THE BOAT
Rock the boat,
Rock, rock the boat
repeat
My name is Yasmin (rock the boat)
I know I'm fine (rock the boat)
Just like my sign (rock the boat)
My sign is Leo
I go bang-bang choo choo train
Wind me up and I do my thing
Reeses pieces butter cup
Don't mess with me, cause I'll mess you up,
Rock the boat, rock rock the boat...
-Yasmin H., (Latina; East New York, New York in the late 1980s); from email to Cocojams.com

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REALLY
All: Really ah hah!
Really ah hah!
Soloist #1: Really my name is Lisa.
Really my sign is Aries.
Group except for soloist: Say what?
Soloist #1: Ah Aries.
Group: Say what?
Soloist #1: Cause I’m F-I-N-E fine.
Like a D-I-M-E. dime.
Don’t waste my T-I-M-E. time.
I'll blow your M-I-N-D mind.
Cause I’m a pro.
Group: Say what?
Soloist #1: A P-R-O.
Group: Say what?
Soloist #1: Cause I’m a triple P.
Triple R.
Triple O.
Sexy pro.

(Repeat entire cheer from the beginning with the next soloist. That soloist says her name or nickname, and gives her astrological sign. Continue in this pattern until every member of the informal group has had one turn as the soloist)
-African American girls ages 7-12 years attending Lillian Taylor summer camp, Pittsburgh, PA 1991-1992, collected by T.M.P., camp counselor, 1992

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Update: I just found this segment of an "astrology" children's cheer in http://www.greekchat.com/gcforums/showthread.php?t=4123&page=3 posted by tickledpink 12-30-2000

...what about just standing in the school yard @ recess time saying cheers:
Scorpio, sco scorpio...
My name is _______ "scorpiooo, sco scorpio.."
And I'm a Taurus "scorpio..." (why we called it scorpio, I'll never know...)

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