“Whoomp! There It Is” by Tag Team

As the story goes, the title of this song actually traces its origins back to the strip clubs of the late 20th century Dirty South. In its original usage it alludes to a notion of, as we would say in early 21st century America, encouraging a lady to twerk. And accordingly it does possess an associated sexual element, especially in the third verse as relayed by DC the Brain Supreme.

You can view the lyrics, alternate interprations and sheet music for Tag Team's Whoomp! There It Is at Lyrics.org.

But overall this is very much a party song. Or as the Tag Team boys have explained it, the title points to “anything that one agrees with on a positive level”. And all lyrics considered, it can be agreed that what they want the audience to agree on is something like boogying on the dance floor.

And yes, when you think about it this track does sound like an early prototype of the strip club anthems which have become popular since. But overall, Tag Team did well by giving it more of a general applicability, as well as creating a song which is so effective at hyping people up that they weren’t really interested in what was being said anyway.

Music Video

The music video to this song was directed by one V.J. Beedles. And the track was so popular that over a thousand people showed up in hopes of being featured in it.

“WHOOMP, there it is!”

Release Date of “Whoomp! There It Is”

This was the first single and only true hit by Tag Team, a hip-hop duo consisting of ATL-based musicians Steve Roll’n and DC the Brain Supreme. The song came out on 20 July 1993 as part of their debut album. The said album was also wisely entitled Whoomp! (There It Is). And it is the product of an indie label called Bellmark Records.

Writing and Production

It is Steve Roll’n who produced this hip-hop classic. It samples an older, similarly-entitled track called “Whoot, There It Is” (1993) by 95 South, a small crew from Florida. And it also utilizes a 1980 song by an Italian group called Kano named “I’m Ready”.

Achievements of “Whoomp! (There It Is)”

“Whoomp! (There It Is)” was indeed a massive success, the type any one-hit wonder like Tag Team would be proud of as it still generates considerable income to this day. That’s because, on top of being featured on a plethora of television shows, movies and advertisements it has also proven popular in the sports world. For example, it succeeded in becoming an enduring anthem at sports games hosted by the likes of the MLB, NFL and NBA.

The most-notable usage of this song in movie during the track’s heyday would have actually been a remix entitled “Addams Family (Whoomp!)” for the major motion picture Addams Family Values (1993). This is despite the fact that said remix went on to earn itself a Razzie Award the following year, specifically in the category of Worst Original Song.

In 2003 the original itself made a notable appearance in the Will Farrell film Elf. And its subsequent lasting popularity has contributed to Tag Team staying together throughout the decades.

Chart Success

And as for the original, it topped Billboard’s Hot R&B Singles chart. In addition to that, it rose as high as number 2 on the Hot 100 (and also holding the year-end number 2 position for 1993). It also appeared on the UK Singles Chart and overall charted in about 10 countries.

But as implied above, the success of this track far exceeds its chart showing. In fact it has been recognized as one of the first hip-hop songs to truly transcend cultural and generational barriers. And for the record, this was also the track which ultimately led to Tag Team landing a deal with Bellmark Records.

“Whoomp! (There It Went)”

Another notable remix of this song came in the form of 1994’s “Whoomp! (There It Went)”. This remix features Tag Team dropping lyrics alongside the following Disney characters:

  • Mickey Mouse
  • Minnie Mouse
  • Goofy

“Whoomp! (There It Is)” and “Whoot, There It Is”

You may have noticed that “Whoomp! (There It Is)” by Tag Team and “Whoot, There It Is” by 95 South came out during the same year. The latter was actually released prior to the former. However, the labels behind the two songs have asserted that the similarities were coincidental as the titular phrases were quite common Down South, especially in strip clubs.

However, 95 South, perhaps due to the fact that Tag Team’s There It Is significantly outperformed theirs, weren’t so amicable about the matter. That is to say that they claimed Tag Team blatantly copied their song. But interesting to note, at least according to the US Copyright Office, is that Tag Team’s version was actually created before that of 95 South. What has also been pointed out is that Whoomp! was more embraced than Whoot because the latter is actually a lot less family-friendly (i.e. sexual in nature).  Additionally the lyrics of the Tag Team song are a lot easier to follow.

But eventually there was a long-standing, legal beef over this song. However, the simplest way of describing that tiff is as it being between Bellmark Records and DM Records, the entity who was at least under the impression that they had purchased the rights to “Whoomp! (There It Is)”.

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