Examples Of Stomp & Shake Cheerleading Cheers, Part II (I - R)

Edited by Azizi Powell

Latest revision of the preface to this compilation - July 5, 2017

This is Part II of a three part pancocojams series that documents some text examples (words) of stomp & shake cheerleading cheers.

GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT STOMP & SHAKE CHEERLEADING
"Stomp & shake cheerleading" is a referent for a relatively new form of African American originated style of cheerleading for football games or for basketball games. The earliest date that I've found for stomp & shake cheerleading is the early to mid 1970s. (as cited in https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2013/05/overview-of-stomp-shake-cheerleading.html).

Stomp & shake cheerleading is particularly known among African Americans from middle school through university levels in Virginia and North Carolina. University squads perform these cheers on the sidelines of football or basketball games and during half-time of those games. High school and younger squads perform either standing on the sidelines during football games, or while seated or standing in the bleachers during basketball games. Stomp & shake cheers are performed by two squads who face off prior to the competitive games in a "cheer battle". In addition, stomp & shake cheer are performed during cheer competitions and at non-competitive performance events that aren't associated with any athletic games.

Stomp & shake cheerleading focuses on the group performance of choreographed percussive, rhythmic foot stomping, (individual) hand clapping, African American social dance moves and some signature moves such as "upstomps" and "jiggapop" that may have been created or adapted for stomp & shake cheerleading. These body movements are often but not always accompanied by the cheer squad's performance of self-bragging and/or competitor insulting/taunting (mostly) unison chanting. Like mainstream cheerleading, the purpose of the cheer squad is to increase the enthusiasm of event attendees. Fans of these styles of cheerleading get "hyped" by the squads' performance moves and by their often confrontational cheers. Almost all stomp & shake cheers are self-bragging and/or insult/taunting compositions with the squad itself rather than their athletic team being the subject of the brags and the opposing cheerleader squad rather than the opposing athletic team being the target of the insult/taunting. However, some stomp & shake cheers-particularly basketball stomp & shake cheers such as "Shoot For Two" -focus on the actual game itself and not the cheerleaders. One feature of stomp & shake cheerleading is that the cheerleaders deepen their voices to increase the probability that the cheers would be heard in the football stadium or basketball gym. However, it usually is difficult to understand the words for many stomp & shake cheerleading cheer routines that have been posted to YouTube.

Although most stomp & shake cheerleaders are female, YouTube videos document that a few males also are members of some university stomp & shake squads. This may particularly be the case for those university cheerleading squads that perform mainstream ("traditional") cheerleading moves as well as stomp & shake cheerleading. In any event, male stomp & shake cheerleaders don't do the characteristic "Jiggapops" (rhythmical, fast double shake of the hips) move that the female stomp & shake cheerleaders do, or at least it appears to me that they don't do that movement the same way as the females on that squad.

Stomp & Shake cheerleading has vehement supporters who love the creativity, innovation, skill, showmanship, "hardness" and "for realness" (according to Black cultural criteria) of this type of cheerleading. However, stomp & shake cheerleading also has vehement detractors who don't consider it to be "real cheerleading", but a form of fraternity/sorority stepping and/or cheer dancing. Stomp & cheer detractors also routinely negatively label stomp & shake cheerleading and its (almost exclusively) Black female squad members as being "ghetto" (behaving and dressing in ways that are highly inappropriate by middle class standards, particularly to behave and dress in sexually provocative ("slutty) ways, and behaving in loud and overly aggressive confrontational ways.

This post is part of pancocojams' ongoing series on Stomp & Shake cheerleading.

Click the stomp and shake cheerleading tag to find additional pancocojams posts about this type of cheerleading.

*"Upstomps" is a signature movement that is performed by female and male members of some stomp and shake squads where the cheerleaders stomp two times with their left foot and perform a knee lift (raise the right leg bent at the knee). In the videos I've watched of upstomping, the toes are usually pointed to the ground. Also, reflecting the style of some stomp and shake squads, when those equads perform "upstomps" the knee is bent at a slight angle toward the right.

Note: These movements names and descriptions were written on this internet discussion forum* and/or shared with me via online communications with former HBCU stomp & shake cheerleaders UpstompJunkie and Charlottefashionicon.
Click https://thesocietypages.org/socimages/2011/07/21/race-and-the-changing-shape-of-cheerleading/ Race and the Changing Shape of Cheerleading by Guest Blogger Azizi Powell on July 21, 2011 for more comments about these terms.

*https://thesocietypages.org/socimages/2011/07/21/race-and-the-changing-shape-of-cheerleading/ Race and the Changing Shape of Cheerleading by Guest Blogger Azizi Powell on July 21, 2011.

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INFORMATION ABOUT THIS PANCOCOJAMS COMPILATION
Selected YouTube video of certain cheers or hyperlinks to YouTube videos of these cheers are included in this post. This post also includes some brief explanatory comments about vernacular terms that are used in these cheers.

In addition, I've included a comment exchange in this post from the discussion thread of one of the featured videos that highlights the subject of one cheerleading squad using cheers from another squad, and the subject of the original sources for the movements that some cheerleading squads perform.

This post also includes my comments about the debate about cheerleading squads using stomp & shake cheers that are attributed to other cheerleading squads.

Please add to this compilation for folkloric purposes by sharing words to stomp & shake cheers and/or sharing links to stomp & shake YouTube videos videos in the comment section below. Thanks!

Additional cheer examples that are added after this initial publication are indicated by the publishing date in brackets after the cheer's title.

Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2017/06/examples-of-stomp-shake-cheerleading.html for Part I of this series.

Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2017/06/examples-of-stomp-shake-cheerleading_73.html for Part III of this series.

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

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to all those who composed these cheers. Thanks also to all those who are quoted in this post, all those featured in these videos, and the publishers of these videos on YouTube.

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DISCLAIMER:
This post documents a very small number of stomp & shake cheers and isn't meant to be a comprehensive compilation of those types of cheers.

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PERFORMING OTHER SQUADS' STOMP & SHAKE CHEERS
There's considerable disagreement about whether other cheerleading squads should perform stomp & shake cheers unless members of the cheerleading squad that originated those cheers teach them to those cheerleaders (in cheer camps or otherwise) or unless prior permission is given to those squads to perform those cheers. Opponents of the use of another squad's original stomp & shake cheers- and particularly using the same moves as the original composers of those cheers consider such use to be stealing and believe that such use is evidence those squads' lack of creativity.

However, it's a widespread custom-particularly among high school, middle school, and younger cheerleading squads- to perform cheerleader stomp and shake cheerleader cheers from unknown and from unknown sources -just as it's a universal custom for cheerleading squads on those levels to squads to perform any mainstream cheerleader cheer that they like.

Also, for whatever reasons, cheerleading squads that are known to have originated certain cheers (and who are often opposed to these cheers being performed without permission by other squads) did publish YouTube videos of their squads performing those cheers. Doing so certainly makes it easier for other people to "copy" those cheers.

I can see both sides of this debate, but, as a (self-described) community folklorist, I'm glad that these videos and lyrics are available for people in the present and the future to see, hear, read, and study for information and insights about the people who composed them, perform/ed them, and watch/ed them.

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INFORMATION ABOUT THESE EXAMPLES
All the cheer examples that are given in this post were retrieved from YouTube videos. The text (words) of these cheers were either retrieved from a comment in a video's discussion thread, or were transcribed by me from that video.

There are many more stomp & shake cheers that I'd LOVE to add to this compilation, but unfortunately I can't find their words online and I can't understood what is chanted in their videos.

The titles used below for these cheers may not be the only titles that have been used in the past or are now used for these cheers. Also, the words for these cheers may not be the original words or what was considered the definitive words for that cheer or what is now considered the definitive words for that cheer.

When no title for a cheer is given, I�ve chosen a title for that cheer and placed an asterisk next to it to indicate the fact that this title is my guess.

Particularly with regards to high school and younger cheerleading squads, in most cases, readers shouldn't assume that the cheerleading squad who performed these cheers in these video is the original composer of that cheer or even the original choreographer of that cheer's movements.

I've selectively included a video for some of these cheers. In some cases, I've included a video for cheers that (I believe) are widely popular, based on YouTube comments and videos. In other cases, I've selected (usually high school cheerleading squad) cheer performances to document how stomp & shake cheers are performed.

If your squad uses these cheers, when applicable, substitute the names of opposing high school, and/or that school mascot, or substitute your school's name and/or mascot.

Additions and corrections to these cheer examples and the words to these cheers are welcome.

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EXAMPLES OF STOMP & SHAKE CHEERLEADER CHEERS
I, J
I LOVE MY HBCU (Winston-Salem State University version)
"I love my H in front of my B. My B in front of my C. I love my HBCU. They got me singing Ohhhhh Old State U"
-comment posted by RJRDEMONS, 2015 in the discussion thread of the video given below:

2014 WSSU Cheerleaders, I Love My HBCU



Artistry Photography Published on Sep 28, 2014
-snip-
"I love my H.B.C.U. (Historically Black College & University) is an adaptation of several historically Black Greek letter fraternity chants. As such, it technically isn't a stomp & shake cheer. However, it is performed by a cheerleading squad, and the line "Old State U" is an adapted form of the actual line in the HBCU song: "I love my H.B.C.U".

Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2013/01/delta-sigma-theta-sorority-i-love-my.html for the pancoocjams post Delta Sigma Theta Sorority - "I Love My DST" (Text Examples & Videos).

Also, click https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9JKyPZd_Ns&t=1s for a Central State University performance of "I Love My HBCU".

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I SEE YOU WANT TO BE

Beauty By Brooke, 2017
What're the words to the "we see you want to be " cheer??

**
Reply
Jaylyn Strickland, 2017
[commenter who asked this question]:
"I See you want to be an ag-gie we can't be stopped we'll reach the top we'll d-e-f-e-a-t"
-snip-
These comments are found in the discussion thread to this video:
NC A&T Cheerleaders (Aggie Cheer) / Powerhouse National Competition (Stomp and Shake)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZDoZBLuouI
Kevin Crawford, Published on Mar 17, 2017
-snip-
NC A&T, North Carolina Agricultural & Technological University
From http://www.ncat.edu/divisions/academic-affairs/bulletin/2014-2015/gen-info/location.html
"North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University is located in the city of Greensboro, North Carolina. This city is 300 miles south of Washington, D.C. and 349 miles north of Atlanta."...
-snip-
I found that interesting because (since I'm geographically challenged), I didn't realize how close North Carolina and the Washington D.C./Virginia area was. That's significant since it appears from my online research that stomp & shake cheerleading originated in and is still most strongly active in North Carolina and Virginia.

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IT�S CALLED SURVIVAL
it's called survival
only the rams can survive,
survival, in order stay alive,
survival �4, it's called survival
- Winston-Salem State University cheer; posted in the discussion thread for the video given below by Charity Ewing, 2016 [I reformatted this cheer for this post from sentences to line patterns]

Featured video: 2012 WSSU Cheerleaders, It's called Survival



Artistry Photography, Published on Oct 22, 2012

2012 Winston Salem State University Cheerleader performance of survival cheer.

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I WANNA TO KNOW [added July 1, 2017 10:35 PM]
I wanna know who that tryna jam like us
don't they know we can't be touched
_____ we are the best
so _______ don't get no respect
oh you said you want it
but we see you ain't ready
since you can't get with it
then you better forget it
oh there go those miners
oh your hair is sweating
we are number one
and don't you ever forget it?
-Manning High School's 2nd cheer in video given below, posted per request by Shanti' Oliver, 2016, with slight changes by Azizi Powell
-snip-
Pancocojams Editor's note:
I've reformatted these words from sentence form to line form and left out the word "like" which was given two times after the word "jam" and, instead of MSH (the high school's initials), I put a space where the high school squad performing this says their high school's initials.

Also, I substituted the word "hair" for "hear", and changed "our" to "their" since I think "our" might have been a typo and "hair is sweating" is supposed to be an insult. The referent "miners" probably is also supposed to be an insult since miners wear hard hats and their hair sweats underneath the hats. Note: When Black people sweat, if our hair isn't chemically straightened, it reverts back to its tightly curled natural state. Some people refer to that hair as "nappy", and for some Black people "nappy" is still considered a high insult.]

Featured video: Bring it On: Manning High School vs. Timberland High School



anidragraham2009 Published on Oct 8, 2010

MHS cheerleaders going head to head in a cheer-off against THS.
-snip-
According to the video uploader, Manning High School is in Manning South Carolina and Timberland High School is in St. Stephens, South Carolina. In response to a comment that the video didn't show Timberland High School's response to the last Manning High School cheer, the video uploader wrote in 2011
"First and Formost, I wrote Anidra Graham, Posted this video onto youtube. Secondly, I will admit, the recording was paused because we thought it was over. The ony thing THS did was tell Manning we get no respect on our territory! Lastly, people need to understand that cheering like this is supose to be FRIENDLY and the comments some of you are leaving, you are taking it too far out of context. THS you ladies represented well and my MHS Lady Monarchs I am proud of you guys! C u guys b-ball season?"
-snip-
My guess is that Anidra Graham is the captain of the Timberland High School squad.in 2011

Here are a few additional selected comments from that video's discussion thread-The subject for these comments is using other squad's cheers:
TheKierabethune, 2011
Well as the Captain of the Manning Monarch cheerleading squad; I must say...We as a squad represented well and to thee fullest extent. All of this yall putting on here bout THS is thee best cheer squad and that they have never lost a cheer battle....Yall can CUT IT OUT!! For 1-Stealing cheers from off of YOUTUBE doesn't make your squad thee best!! Anybody can get on there and take? cheers && re-enact them. For 2-MHS is ORIGINAL..And thats all it is to it. That was beautiful MHS...Good job THS?

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Careen Hampton, 2013
"WELL IT WOULD BE NICE OF BOTH SQUADS USED THERE OWN CHEERS AND NOT ONES STOLEN FROM OTHER TEAM LIKE JUMP ON IT STOLEN FROM THE SASSY EAGLES AND SIT BACK DOWN BY HOWARD BISON'S IF YOUR GOING TO GO BACK AND FORTH USE YOUR OWN CHEERS THANK YOU?"
-snip-
The words to "Jump On It" are given below. The words to "Sit Back Down" are given in Part III of this pancoocjams series.

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Careen Hampton, 2013
"@natday4u well as a former high school stomp and shake cheerleader and collage all American cheerleader and now a cheer Coach it is not good to do battle cheers and they are stolen how are you going to battle one another using stolen material be original from one Coach to another puffs my point sooo......?"

Reply
ChelseaSworldd, 2013
"All squads pick and take from other squads... And mix it up. When the cheers are good, they're simply good! I enjoyed battles in HS, and Stomp and Shake is SO fun and entertaining... Both squads did good." ?

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Reply
StephyLovee317, 2013
"Alot of ppl dwn there trippin on the fact that its not there cheer ... Its a highschool team using a college teams cheer . Theyre not gonna go against the team they took it from .. Who cares ? If everyone could track down all the cheers everyone stole NOBODY would have any cheers. Pleasee ,"
-snip-
"ppl = people
"down there"
"trippin" = going crazy about; [another way of saying this is "getting bent out of shape about] ?

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JUMP ON IT
"We got it,
you want it,
dont sweat it,
jump on it"
-words posted by kat124, 2012 in the discussion thread for the video given below:
-snip-
reformatted from sentence form for this post

Featured video: SASSY (Jump On It)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h1xn9FA2AaE

woowooworkit, Published on Jan 30, 2007

Prince Edward Varsity Cheerleaders do another cheer (little shaky though, some peeps were in my way)

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K, L
LET'S GO BRONCOS
[Pancocojams Editor's note:
I'm making an exception to my rule of only including cheers in this compilation if all of the words to that cheer are found online (in that video's discussion thread) or elsewhere, or if I think that I'm able to transcribe the entire cheer from the video.

The only words that I'm sure of in this cheer are "Let's go Broncos". However, I'm including this cheer's video because the cheerleader squad's performance style is different from any other squad that I've ever seen. Although I've seen historically Black Greek letter sororities rhythmically alternating individual hand claps with knee pats I don't recall seeing any stomp & shake cheerleaders doing this. That alternating hand clapping/knee patting motion is called "pattin juba". "Hambone" is a form of pattin juba.

Here's that video:

Cheer Phi Smoov's "Let's Go, Broncos"



Christopher Blacksher Published on Oct 4, 2015

Fayetteville State University's own cheerleading squad performs their signature and most poplar cheer during the FSU vs Lincoln University of Pennsylvania football game on October 3, 2015.
-snip-
Fayetteville State University (FSU) is located in Fayetteville, North Carolina. As an aside, most Historically Black Colleges & Universities are in the southern region of the United States. Lincoln University of Pennsylvania is one of two HBCUs in Pennsylvania. The other HBCU in Pennsylvania is Cheyney University of Pennsylvania.
-snip-
[Added July 4, 2017]
Here's another video of Fayetteville State University chanting "Let's Go Broncos".

FSU Cheer Phi Smoov @ JCSU: Let's Go Broncos!



FSU2Smoov, Published on Oct 18, 2009

FSU Cheer Phi Smoov and Mr. Bronco just keeping it hype on the visitor's side during JCSU's Homecoming game: Oct. 17, 2009
-snip-
The words are easier to understand in this video. They are:
"Let's go
Broncos.
Let's go, let's go
Broncos!"
-snip-
Notice that the routine that the cheerleaders do for that video is different from the routine that is done in 2015. That 2009 stomp routine is the same as a stomp pattern that is very common in foot stomping cheers.

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M, N

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O, P

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Q, R
RAMS ARE NUMBER 1 [added July 12, 2017]
Rams are #1
There is no doubt.
if you want to see us Jam
You better check
this
out.
-snip-
Winston-Salem State University's cheerleaders, transcribed from the video below, along with a comment posted to that video's discussion thread by umurs4eva, 2016: ?
-snip-
"Rams" is the name of Winston-Salem State University's athletic teams.

Featured video: 2013 WSSU Cheerleaders, Rams Are # 1. 11-23-13



Artistry Photography, Published on Nov 23, 2013

WSSU Cheerleaders don't play, Work it out team!

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ROLL ALL OVER
Let's get physical,
get down
get funky
get mean,
watch those mighty Eagles,
roll right over you team....
It's time to get physical
it's time to get mean,
watch those mighty Eagles roll right over your team"
- as performed by Sassy- Prince Edward County High School, Virginia,
posted in the video given below by bystarquality90, 2015

That commenter posted these words in response to a request. She wrote "Hi +Karen Midgett , I was a cheerleader on this squad (I'm actually in the video)....We had a lot of fun doing these cheers! Good luck with your cheer squad!!"
-snip-
I reformatted this comment from sentence form to line form.)

Featured video: SASSY (Roll All Over)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGhYOaGfK4M

woowooworkit, Published on Feb 3, 2007

SASSY does a new cheer!

Here's a portion of an exchange in this video's discussion thread (Note that it is generally acknowledged that the Virginia high school cheerleading squad "Sassy" (from Prince George County High School, Virginia) are taught or otherwise have permission to use Virginia State University (VSU)'s Woo Woo cheerleader cheers, and Sassy is said to perform like "young Woo Woos".

MiQuelW, 2007
"That was so VSU. No disrespect to my Woo Woo's, because again, they taught me what I know. But they should REALLY leave the step shows to the Greeks & Step Teams. Like the whole clapping under an upstomp thing... I mean, that's the only reason people don't take them seriously as a squad. :

But the girls did what they did beautifully. I loved the execution, but I hated the cheer.
-snip-
"upstomp" is a characteristic stomp & shake movement that is performed by lifting one leg in time to the beat with the knee bent and the toes pointed.

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blkmaverick03, 2007
"That is their thing though and personally it works for them. Seeing as to how long the woo woos have been around there is no telling if these stepshow tricks came from them or greeks.

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Mrs. Roc Royal Babee, 2011
"@grammerpolise actually the[y] stole it from strikers allstars who stole it from school days who stole it from traditional stepping."
-snip-
"School days" refers to the 1988 Spike Lee movie School Daze which is a "story about fraternity and sorority members clashing with other students at a historically black college during homecoming weekend. It also touches upon issues of colorism and hair texture bias within the African-American community.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/School_Daze

The words "traditional stepping" in that comment refers to historically Black Greek letter fraternity and sorority stepping.

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KORTNI HERNANDEZ, 2012
"@grammerpolise, every team "borrows" a move or two from someone else. Don't get mad because they did it WELL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

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This concludes Part II of this series.

This is a work in progress. Other cheer examples may be added to this post.

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