"Suca-suca" almost certainly has its source in the Spanish word "azucar" [sugar].

There's no doubt {in my mind} that the African American vernacular phrase "ah sookie sookie" can be traced to the Spanish word "azucar".

"Ah sookie sookie" was popularized by King Floyd in his 1971 hit R&B song "Groove Me."

Here's a YouTube sound recording of that song:
Groove Me-King Floyd

And here is a portion of the lyrics to that song:

Uhh! Awww, sookie sookie now!
Hey! Oww, uhh! Come on, baby!
Hey there, Sugar Dumplin',
Let me tell you something
Girl, I've been trying to say, now.
You look so sweet,
And you're so doggone fine.
I just can't get you out of my mind.
You've become a sweet taste in my mouth, now.
And I want you to be my spouse,
So that we can live happily, nah-nah,
In a great big ol' roomy house.
And I know you're gonna groove me, baby.
Ahh, yeah, now...

-snip-


Did the phrase "ah sookie sookie" exists as a term of admiration for a sexy lady {or man} before King Floyd included it in his song? I believe so, but I don't have any proof of that. Perhaps someone else can post that proof. But I can say that "ah sookie sookie" has been used since that song, perhaps in other recordings, but definitely in Black conversations, when the situation or the person {usually female} warrants it.

I should mention that the complete lyrics to "Groove Me" are found here
along with responses to the question "What does 'Ah sookie' mean?"

Both responses to that Yahoo question gave the "azucar/sugar" answer. One of the responses provided a link to utban dictionary - "sookie sookie now"

Here's that response:

"sookie sookie now
an expression of admiration, or satisfaction, especially in regards to the shape and beauty of a female
A beautiful girl with a tight body walks by and you look at her and say "Ahhhhhhhhhh sookie sookie, now!!"
by jojo Oct 24, 2003

-snip-

I was surprised to find out that the same respondent on that Yahoo answers site gave a link to a comment that I wrote on a Mudcat thread about the New Orleans Mardi Gras Indian song Iko Iko .

In that post, I shared two transcriptions that I found online for Zap Mama's version of the song "Iko Iko". One of those versions contains the repeated phrase "with a souca souca mama/Oh, hey , come away/Souca souca na na". In another transcription, "souca souca" is given as "azucar azucar".

It's very possible that the phrase in the Zap Mama version of "Iko Iko" and the similar phrase in King Floyd's "Groove Me" have their origins in the Cuban "Suca-Suca" song and dance. But I'm not sure if we'll ever know that for certain.

**

I'll share more about the use of the azucar/suca/sugar terms in my next post to this thread.