The origins of the ring shout are usually assumed to be derived from African dance, and scholars usually point out the presence of melodic elements such as call-and-response singing and heterophony, as well as rhythmic elements such as tresillo and "hamboned" rhythm, and aesthetic elements such as counter-clockwise dancing and ecstasy, which makes ring shouts similar to ceremonies among people like the Igbos, Yorubas, Ibibios, Efiks, Bahumono and Bakongo.

Even though traditional methods of ritual, prayer and dance were often forbidden, the ancestors persevered and found a way to include the fundamental parts of ritual. Air, Earth, Fire, Water, N S E and W are represented through specific movements. As descendants of the continent it is imperative that we give reverence and honor the sacred traditions of our ancestors and explore expansive ways of continuing their implementation in the present.