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lyrics

INTRO
let me tell jazz story from back in the day
about a great band leader named cab Calloway
a time when, sad to say, black and white children couldn’t play
and from certain parts of town, they were told to stay away
and people would wonder why black people act a certain way
but Cab loved black music and words black people say
cab toured the USA, and was all over the airwaves
He made changes in the culture that still stand today
scooba dooba dooby day
CHORUS
let me tell jazz story from back in the day
about a great band leader named Cab Calloway
he loved black music and words black people say
Scooba dooba dooby day
VERSE 1
Christmas day, 1907, the first time anyone heard
the famous voice of Cabell Calloway the III
Way back in America’s segregated past
In the world where black people created jazz
his father was a lawyer, his mother was a teacher
and he grew to be a singer and a jazz band leader
he would direct the band while he sang his song
like Fats Waller, Count Bassie, and Louis Armstrong
wherever black people were that’s where it was at
and he taught the whole world how to do the scat
“The scat? what’s that?” it’s when you make up words
they don’t have to be nouns, adjectives, or verbs
just sounds you make that go to the song
as the band plays you can scat along
CHORUS
VERSE 2
Born in Rochester NY, moved to Druid Hill
A black neighborhood in Baltimore where people had skills
Went to college in the south side of Chicago
his sister Blanch led a band Cab decided to follow
then he got a chance to make the music he loved
in Harlem NY playing at The Cotton Club
every city he was in was always segregated
blacks and whites were separated, culture highly concentrated
and musicians for sure can be cultural ambassador
when it comes to black culture Cab wasn’t an amateur
he proved that jazz music could be for everybody
first black recording artists to sell a million copies
loved the dance, the dress, the music, and vocabulary
he spread it to the world he even wrote a hepster dictionary
on recordings, in books and on stage live
cab Calloway made sure you were hip to the jive
CHORUS

credits

from Baba Bomani's BeatBox Basement, released August 6, 2022

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Baba Bomani Washington, D.C.

Baba Bomani, aka the Watermelon man has been using hip-hop, poetry and multi-media disciplines to teach fun and informative workshops with all ages from kindergarteners to graduate students for well over 15 years Bomani . Here you can find his hip-hop music for kids as well as teaching materials showing students the writing process through hip-hop! ... more

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