Cameo, Word Up | Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶

In the 47^th edition of Throwback Vibez (2024), we recollect and reflect on “Word Up” by Grammy-nominated R&B/funk band, Cameo. 

The vibes, the vibes, those Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶! Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶 is a column that celebrates awesome songs from the past.  The records that grace this column are older, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re ancient – no fossils 🦴! All genres of music are welcome. In the 47^th edition of Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶 (2024), we recollect and reflect on “Word Up”, performed by Cameo. 

“Do your dance, do your dance / Do your dance quick, mama / Come on baby, tell me, what’s the word? / WORD UP!” Cameo delivered a surefire bop in the 1980s with the infectious, funk song, “Word Up”.  “Word Up” served as one of two top-10 hits by the collective led by Larry Blackmon. Specifically, “Word Up” peaked at no. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100, marking the highest charting single attributed solely to the band. Notably, Cameo would reach no. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 with their feature on the Mariah Carey hit, “Loverboy” in 2001. “Word Up” was nominated for their sole Grammy at the 29^th Annual GRAMMY Awards for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal, though ultimately lost to Prince & The Revolution for “Kiss”.

“Word Up” was written by Larry Blackmon and Thomas Michael Jenkins. Additionally, Blackmon produced the track. The sound encompasses signature, box, 1980s drums and bright, colorful synths.  Blackmon delivers funky, playful lead vocals. The lyrics are highly entertaining. “‘Cause we’re about to throw down / And you’ll know just what to do / Wave your hands in the air / Like you don’t care,” he sings in the first verse. In the second, he sings, “Give us music, we can use it / We need to dance / We don’t have the time / For psychological romance.” Word… UP! Of course, the most epic section of “Word Up” is the chorus:

“Oh, word up!

Everybody say when you hear their call

You’ve got to get it underway

Word up! It’s the code word

No matter where you say it

You’ll know that you’ll be heard”

And for good measure, the outro is a blast too, to the tune of “W-O-R-D- up, W-O-R-D up.” “Word Up” is the stuff! FYI, Korn memorably covered it on their Greatest Hits Vol. 1 compilation 🤘.

Cameo // Word Up // PolyGram Records Inc. / UMG Recordings, Inc. // 1986

Cameo, Word Up: Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶 No. 47 (2024) [📷: Brent Faulkner / The Musical Hype; PolyGram Records Inc. / UMG Recordings, Inc.; OpenClipart-Vectors, Speedy McVroom via Pixabay]