90s Hip Hop Star Reinvents "Whoomp (there it is)" for Geico Ad and Hits Gold - Again!
Five minutes into my interview with DC (the Brain Supreme) Glenn - a.k.a. Cecil Glenn, one-half of the hip hop duo, Tag Team - it's crystal clear that he has no regrets and is living his life to the fullest.
After the duo's 1993 hit, Whoomp! (There It Is), reached number 28 on the U.S. R&B charts and was certified gold, DC and his partner, Steve "Rolln" Gibson, struggled to recapture that kind of music magic again.
Nevertheless, Whoomp! became an instant classic and would live on to be played indefinitely at sporting events, on TV shows, and be featured in major motion pictures such as Elf, Shark Tale, Beverly Hills Chihuahua, and D2: The Mighty Ducks.
DC laments that watching the long-lasting success of Whoomp! has been bittersweet. The money earned for those high-profile samplings of his song didn't always make it into his and Gibson's pockets. A 24-year-long dispute with their record label (that has since gone bankrupt) regarding the song's ownership rights was finally settled in court. Only after that, would Tag Team retain 100-percent of the writer's share and receive a portion of the publisher's income derived from any future sale of the rights to Whoomp! They were also granted the right to recover performance royalties from third parties.
Though they never formally ended their partnership and intended to take only a brief hiatus in the mid-90s, Glenn and Gibson stopped recording and performing as Tag Team for nearly a decade. During this time, DC was determined to reinvent himself and use his past fame and experience by becoming an actor and voice-over artist. He also became an expert in contract law, public relations, and marketing. "Now, I don't just have a tool box, I have a tool shed," he says
When I mentioned to him that he turned lemons into lemonade, he added, "I didn't just turn lemons into lemonade, I built a lemonade stand, turned that lemonade stand into a corporation, and then franchised those lemonade stands!" he said.
As mentioned before, Whoomp! and Tag Team began to see a resurgence in the early 2000s when the song was featured in the classic Christmas movie, Elf. Over the next couple of years, it turned up in other movies and TV shows, as well.
As a result, Glenn and Gibson were invited to a number of corporate and sporting events to perform their signature hit. The duo also performed at the San Francisco 49ers Halftime Show, Super Bowl Live by Verizon Wireless, and the 2019 Hammer House Party Tour.
Despite the renewed interest in their music, DC says he and Gibson have no plans to go back to recording and performing on tour. When he's asked if there are any current hip hop groups he likes, he says, "I don't even listen to music anymore, except for some gospel and older stuff." He explains further, but you'll have to listen to the podcast for that. ;)
Around the end of 2020, Tag Team appeared in a GEICO commercial parodying Whoomp! with an ice cream scenario and the substituted lyric "Scoop!". DC believes the GEICO commercial is the most lucrative deal Tag Team has ever made.
Listen to everything DC has to say in the May 17 episode of Out of Whack!
Comments