7/31/1993: Tag Team hit #2 with “Whoomp! There It Is”

Whoomp! There It Is Tag Team

Writer(s): Stephen Gibson, Cecil Glenn (see lyrics here) Released: May 7, 1993 First Charted: May 22, 1993 Peak: 2 US, 2 CB, 30 GR, 20 RR, 11 RB, 34 UK, 19 AU, 2 DF (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): 4.04 US Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 39.3 video, 38.26 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: Tag Team formed in Atlanta in 1990. The rap duo is comprised of Cecil Glenn (DC the Brain Supreme) and Steve Gibson (Steve Rollin). While they released four albums from 1993 to 2015, only the first one, 1993’s Whoomp! (There It Is) reached the Billboard album chart, peaking at #39 and going gold. The album produced the duo’s only Billboard Hot 100 hit. The title cut was released in May 1993 and by the end of July got to #2, where it sat for five weeks behind UB40’s cover of “Can’t Help Falling in Love” before slipping to #3 for a couple of weeks and then returning to the runner up position for two more weeks behind Mariah Carey’s “Dreamlover.” “Whoomp!” broke records at the time for most consecutive weeks (21) in the top 10. Even after it slipped out, it found its way back to the top 10 for three more weeks, not leaving the upper eschelon for good until January 1994. It ranked as Billboard’s #2 song of 1993, behind Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You.” WK The phrase “Whoomp! There It Is” was coined by strippers in Atlanta, according to Glenn, SF who was a DJ at an Atlanta strip club. It referred to a woman’s butt, but Tag Team repurposed the phrase to mean “look at that!” and “anything that one agrees with on a positive level.” WK The song “was part of the club-driven, hip-hop-wise style of bass that was springing out of both Atlanta and Miami, and manages perfectly to encapsulate the frenetic energy of the genre.” TB Atlanta magazine called it “da bomb party song” of the 1990s. WK Tag Team recorded the song in August 1992 and Glenn, who was working as a DJ in Atlanta, introduced the song at the club Magic City. It became requested so often in the following months, that it was clear the song had hit potential. However, it was rejected by multiple record labels because executives weren’t sure if southern bass could fin an audience nationwide. With $2500 from his parents, Glenn pressed eight hundred copies of the record, which sold out quickly. WK The one-hit wonder has become “a pop culture staple” WK being regularly featured in movies, television, advertisements, and sporting events. Regarding the latter, it is especially popular at baseball games when the home team gets a key hit. The song was featured on the first Jock Jams compilation in 1995. SF Resources: DMDB encyclopedia entry for Tag Team SF Songfacts TB Thunder Bay Press (2006). Singles: Six Decades of Hot Hits & Classic Cuts. Outline Press Ltd.: San Diego, CA. Pages 260-1. WK Wikipedia First posted 3/16/2023; last updated 3/26/2023.