Who Are The Rappers In The Geico Dessert Commercial

Geico changed the game when it came to what an insurance company could pull off with its commercials.

Things started off simple enough in the 90s, with a talking gecko trying to sell insurance policies, and it only took off from there. Soon you had Sleeping Beauty and cavemen getting into the mix, with the latter characters becoming popular enough to warrant their own television series. The show flopped hard, but it's still impressive that it even got to that stage.

Other insurance agencies followed suit, with Allstate giving us Mayhem to illustrate how property damage can occur at a moment's notice. Meanwhile, Progressive has seen great success with its Dr. Rick commercials, depicting why it isn't always a good thing when you start turning into your parents – though you should still have a good insurance policy.

Still, Geico remains the king of silly insurance commercials. Their latest ad spot finds a woman in her kitchen learning that she can save hundreds of dollars by switching to Geico. Seems pretty straightforward, right? Well, things only get stranger from there, with the introduction of a legendary hip hop duo who show the woman how to make a delicious dessert.

While the name of the duo may not be familiar to you, their most popular song is recognizable to pretty much every single person on the planet.

After the requisite "Geico can save you money" ad copy, things quickly turn hilarious when the announcer asks:

"So what are you waiting for? Hip hop group Tag Team to help you plan dessert?"

As you could then surmise, DC the Brain Supreme and Steve Rolln of the 1990s duo Tag Team pop up on cue to perform an ice cream-themed parody of their hit song, "Whoomp! (There It Is)" affectionately retitled "Scoop (There It Is)" in the commercial.

It seems no birthday, wedding, or bar mitzvah is complete without "Whoomp! (There It Is)" making an appearance on the playlist. It's the kind of song that perfectly encapsulates the kind of family-friendly hip hop that went mainstream in the early '90s, and it continues to be beloved by new generations to this day, in part thanks to appearances in movies like D2: The Mighty Ducks and Elf.

The song was one-hit wonder Tag Team’s only big hit, but they're probably not beating themselves up too much. A report in Smithsonian Magazine reveals that the rappers make up to $70,000 a year each in royalties from this tune alone, and when it gets used in something like a Geico ad, the cash register noise in their heads only gets louder.

Following the release of their debut album, the pair had one more record in them with 1995's Audio Entertainment, but the LP didn't have the same kind of hit single they enjoyed the first time around. However, when you knock it out of the park the first time around, you don't need a sequel.

By the looks of this Geico dessert commercial, Tag Team's still having fun with their famous hit. But where did this weird little catch phrase come from?

As chronicled by People Magazine in 1993, the song has its roots in a catchphrase that gained popularity in Atlanta dance clubs before spreading to Chicago Bulls games and eventually catching on with the nation at large. The saying was so popular, in fact, that there was some disagreement over which version was proper – some said "whoomp," while others pronounced it "whoot." Hip hop group 95 South even released their own hit single titled "Whoot, There It Is" — one month before Tag Team dropped "Whoomp!"

The dueling groups remained good-natured in their rivalry, which came to a head when talk show host Arsenio Hall invited 95 South and Tag Team to face off live on his stage. Viewers called in via a paid phone line to vote for their preferred jam, with proceeds going to flood relief. The surprising part, looking back, is that 95 South and their "Whoot" song actually won the contest. But nearly three decades later, with this Geico ad fresh in our minds, we have a feeling we know exactly which group is actually whoomping all the way to the bank.

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