Jump Around

Updated on Jan 16, 2024

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Format Vinyl, CD single Genre Hip hop Label Tommy Boy		Recorded 1992 Length 3:37

Released May 5, 1992 (1992-05-05)

"Jump Around" is a hit song by American hip hop group House of Pain, produced by DJ Muggs of Cypress Hill, who has also covered the song. It became a hit in 1992, reaching number 3 in the group's native United States. A 1993 re-release of the song in the United Kingdom, where the initial release had been a minor hit, peaked at number 8. On VH1's 100 Greatest Songs of the 90s, "Jump Around" was featured at position 24. It was number 66 on VH1's 100 Greatest Songs of Hip Hop. The song is popular among dance hall DJs and is widely regarded in the United Kingdom as a club classic. Blender's 500 Greatest Songs Since You Were Born listed it at number 325.

The song features a distinctive horn fanfare intro, sampled from Bob & Earl's 1963 track "Harlem Shuffle". The song also samples "Popeye (The Hitchhiker)" by Chubby Checker, but it is best known for a high-pitched squealing tenor saxophone sound that appears at the beginning of almost every bar—66 times in the course of the recording—sampled from the opening of the Junior Walker & the All Stars track "Shoot Your Shot".

Music video

The music video for "Jump Around" was filmed during the 1992 New York City Saint Patrick's Day parade. Portions of the video were filmed during the parade route as well as Central Park and Old Town Bar and Restaurant. New York Yankees super fan and Yankee Stadium regular Freddy Schuman can be seen in the parade crowd, ringing his signature shamrock pan near the end of the video.

The video ends with a dedication to the memory of Matt Champy, a friend of the band who died in 1992.

Track listings

"Jump Around (Master Mix)" – 3:37
"Jump Around (DJ Bizznizz Remix)" – 4:06
"Jump Around (Pete Rock Remix)" – 3:56
"House of Pain Anthem (Master Mix)" – 2:35

In television and film

The song has been featured in films like Mrs. Doubtfire, The Rookie, Rush Hour, Happy Gilmore, Kiss of Death, Detention, Ready to Rumble, Black Hawk Down, Jack Reacher, Turbo, Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, War Dogs, Central Intelligence, and Bridget Jones's Baby, as well as the television series My Name Is Earl, the TBS talk show Lopez Tonight and the BBC Radio Scotland series Off the Ball. It was also featured in a Pringles commercial in the late 1990s. It also features as darts player Gary Anderson's walk-on music. The song also appears in the second season of the television series New Girl when Jess, Nick, and Schmidt are celebrating the return of hot water to their loft. "Jump Around" was covered by Kids Incorporated in 1993 in the Season 9 episode "Face Your Fears".

University of Wisconsin–Madison

At home football games at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, students "Jump Around" to the song between the third and fourth quarters. The tradition grew out of the men's varsity swim team members playing it over a portable CD player and broadcasting via a smuggled-in megaphone to sections O and P during the games to rile up those sections. This began in 1992, well before the official start. In March 1997, at a Fraternity party at Delta Tau Delta at midnight the song was played with the football team and members of the future stadium employees and it became the midnight anthem for every party until the end of that year. The "official" start was on Saturday, October 10, 1998, at the Badgers Homecoming game against the Purdue Boilermakers. After no offensive points were scored in the third quarter, and en route to their second 6–0 start of the modern football era, one of the Badgers' marketing agents, who was in charge of sound, piped the song through the loudspeakers. It stirred up fans and players and eventually became a tradition.

However, on September 6, 2003 (the Badgers' first home game of the season), with construction of skyboxes surrounding Camp Randall Stadium, UW officials decided to cancel the "Jump Around" due to worries about structural integrity. Stadium security and the local police department had been informed of this decision but no notification had been given to the fans. When news surfaced on Monday, September 8, that this event was not a technical or human malfunction, but rather a decision by campus officials, the students launched a protest. Petitions circulated and students pushed back against administration. Structural engineers confirmed that the stadium would suffer no structural damage caused by the vibrations created by jumping. Two days later, Chancellor John D. Wiley announced that the "Jump Around" tradition would resume. The song's title is displayed on unofficial Wisconsin Badgers clothing and apparel, along with the credit/debit cards of the university's employee/student/alumni credit union.

University of North Carolina

In 2004, the North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball team began using the song as it was a favorite tune among Rashad McCants and others on the team. The song has played at the beginning of every home game at the Dean Smith Center since that year. Just like Madison, during the song the entire student section jumps up and down. Occasionally, the players are seen dancing to the song as well. It is well known that the Tar Heels stole this tradition from the Wisconsin Badgers. When the Tar Heels won their most recent national title in 2009, the song was played over the Smith Center loudspeakers after the final buzzer.

When the Tar Heels moved a 2010 game against Texas to the Greensboro Coliseum, Jump Around was played before the opening tip of that game as well.

Starting with the 2012 season, the UNC football team started playing the song before home games at Kenan Memorial Stadium.

San Francisco Giants

This song was played at AT&T Park during San Francisco Giants baseball games when closing pitcher Brian Wilson entered the game and warmed up.

New York Mets

The song was played during 2011–2012 season in Citi Field when New York Mets Third-Baseman captain David Wright went up to bat.

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim

This song is played at Angels Stadium during Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim baseball games in the late innings. It is typically preceded by a video of the "Rally Monkey" shown on the scoreboard video screen, which usually features a clip from a classic movie with the Rally Monkey interposed into the movie scene. The Rally Monkey then holds up a "Rally Time" sign and the chorus of "Jump Around" is played to fire up the fans to cheer for the Angels to rally and catch up in the game while the Rally Monkey is shown jumping up and down.

New England Patriots

The song was played during the 2015 post-season in Gillette Stadium when the New England Patriots scored the final touchdown against the Baltimore Ravens. It is the unofficial Patriots victory song at the end of games.

Gary Anderson

Scottish darts world champion Gary Anderson uses the song as his walk-on music.

Donald Trump 2016 presidential candidate

In 2016, presidential candidate Donald Trump used the song at some of his rallies. In response, on April 4, lead vocalist Everlast posted scathing messages to Trump via Twitter, saying: "Hey @realDonaldTrump stop using my song jump around at your rallies you piece of shit. Cease and desist is coming you scumbag." He later told Billboard magazine: "This guy is supposedly this really good businessman, which is the biggest load of shit ever," he told Billboard. "The smartest businessman in the world should know that you have to license this music if it makes an appearance on TV with you, and they're making appearances on TV -- so you're a moron. And the reason he doesn't ask anybody -- a lot of people have asked him to cease and desist -- [is] because every f---ing person would say, 'No, f--- you,' except for whatever right-wing country artist wants to give him the song, and I don't even think there's many of them."