Legendary hip hop duo unrecognisable 30 years after hit Whoomp There It Is, Elf movie fame and bitter court battle
THAT hip hop duo behind Tag Team look very different 30 years after their world-famous hit.
Cecil Glenn and Steve Gibson took the music industry by storm in 1993 with their track Whoomp! (There It Is) which featured in films, tv shows and adverts.
The band was passionate about breaking stereotypes around hip-hop in the nineties, showing that the genre didn’t have to rely on risky lyrics.
Whoomp! (There It Is) was featured in Elf, where Will Farrell danced to it in one of the film’s most iconic scenes.
Will, who played Buddy the Elf, danced to the track on the table in the ‘mailroom’ at his dad’s work.
As well as Elf, the song was also used on Shark Tale, Beverly Hills Chihuahua and D2: The Mighty Ducks.
When the pair recorded the track, Cecil was working at a gentlemen’s club in Atlanta called Magic City, which soon became one of the biggest hubs for hip-hop and rap music.
Within months, the song reached the top spot on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip Hop chart and the Hot 100 Single Sales chart. It Held the number 2 spot on the Billboard Hot 100 for seven weeks and reached platinum status.
Speaking about how the song came about, Cecil said: “Oh man, we need to do a song called, ‘Whoomp, there it is”.
And Steve was on board immediately, asking how to spell it.
They said that the phrase is about “anything that one agrees with on a positive level”.
However, Tag Team found themselves dragged into a court battle after Kano (Italo Disco Act) claimed they sampled “I’m Ready” without permission.
The song’s ownership rights and related copyright infringement damages were settled in a bankruptcy court.
However, in 1997, Tag Team’s record label, Bellmark Records, filed for bankruptcy after paying out.
The lawsuit rocked the group and even though they never formally ended their partnership, they stopped recording and performing as Tag Team for nearly a decade.
But thankfully, Tag Team’s hiatus didn’t last and they have been performing together recently.
They last did a set at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Atlantic City.
Cecil carved out a solo career under the name DC The Brain Supreme and regularly gets behind the microphone at events.
He was also contacted by an advertising company who was making a commercial for an insurance company.
Tag Team were filmed helping a family make dinner with the punchline being: “Soup, there it is”.
They also launched their own flavour of icecream with American brand Geico called “Scoop! There It Is!”.
The flavour was French vanilla, rocky road, chocolate, peanut butter, cookie dough”.