No one could have expected the “Harlem Shake” to blow up to the prodigious scale it did — from YouTube virility to the top of the charts. The success of Baauer’s ubiquitous single not only spawned a thousand internet spinoffs, it also incurred a lawsuit for copyrighted samples against Mad Decent. Both Hector Delgado and Jayson Musson pressed the label for compensation over the track’s use of unlicensed samples. Diplo, as the head of Mad Decent, has come to aid of the label’s blossoming trap star, settling the legal dispute with Delgado and Musson and clearing the “Harlem Shake” samples.
Baauer’s ”Harlem Shake” has not quite run its course — anyone who went to Coachella and saw Baauer or Major Lazer can confirm this, judging by the track’s seismic response. In light of its undeniable appeal, Cazzette have released their sprawling dubstep bootleg to the ubiquitous trap anthem, layering massive, maniacal synths over the original sample. Cazzette’s penchant for the proliferating genre has become increasingly more evident with this heavy rendition of the “Harlem Shake” out today and their trap remix to Avicii’s “Alcoholic” dropping in two days.
We’re sure you’re all tired of seeing the latest and greatest “Harlem Shake” videos by now, but we couldn’t resist sharing this one. Our friends at Ultra decided to get in on the action with their own version of the viral dance. The video is pretty true to form: 30ish seconds, spastic dance moves, and appearances from people in nonsensical costumes. There are ballerinas, donkeys, clowns, and zombies but unlike the other versions this one has a very special dance music guest, Carl Cox. Press play and watch him wave a towel around in pure bliss.
Dropping four Harlem Shakes on a mobbed Webster Hall, Baauer was crowned king of the moment in the city that never sleeps on a meme.
Rewind three weeks. The Brooklyn native was toiling in relative trap obscurity, completely unaware that a YouTube user named Filthy Frank was poised to make him the site’s latest poster child for viral video stardom. Don’t get me wrong, Baauer has been one of his subgenre’s brightest talents for some time and his success is well-deserved. But until four men donned strange latex suits and even stranger dance moves to a clip from his year-old single, trap had not quite arrived on the mainstream radar. One thing led to another… tens of thousands of times. Nearly two hundred million views and thousands of truly bizarre 31-second snippets later, Baauer seemed at home with his newfound fame last Friday.
Earlier this week Billboard announced upgrades to its ranking methodology — a change that has shot Baauer‘s “Harlem Shake” to the number one spot. The Hot 100 is now set to include YouTube steaming data along with Nielsen’s digital download track sales, physical single sales, radio airplay, on-demand audio streaming, and online radio streaming. The changes will affect many Billboard charts, but most importantly the magazine’s Hot 100 singles chart. The announcement was followed by major changes in the Hot 100 rankings, landing some unexpected tracks in the top 10. Click below the break to find out who follows Baauer’s lead to the top through his viral video anthem “Harlem Shake.”
It can go without saying that no genre took the dance music world by storm in 2012 like trap music. Combining the swagger of hip-hop with the sub-bass of dubstep while sprinkling in tings of booty bounce and breakbeat, trap easily exploded onto the dance music scene with help from TNGHT, Baauer and Flosstradamus. A new sound in electronic music, trap is no new feat for the hip-hop world — with its strong history in southern styles such as Houston hip-hop and Dirty South. Aided by rising producers, the bridge between hip-hop and electronic music crumbled in 2012, creating a new bass genre for dance music and a new life for rap — proving “hip-hop is not dead.”AEI Media took note of trap’s new power and created the All Trap Music compilation featuring some of the biggest trap productions from 2012.
Baauer‘s “Harlem Shake” is receiving a serious revival after a group of boys took to YouTube to post a “Gangnam Style-esque” dance video. The track was released back in May and made waves within the dance music community, but it seems the “Harlem Shake” may be the next Internet meme as well. The “Harlem Shake v2 Version” was uploaded days go and quickly gained traffic (about 2 million views currently) that was followed by an influx of imitations. Today there are similar videos stacking up too many views to count, making it clear Baauer’s infectious 2012 summer anthem may sticking around for a little bit longer.
With renditions from entire offices to firefighters in their trucks and now even Peanuts editions, it seems the world can’t get enough of the short-lived dance outbreak the “Harlem Shake” ensues. The latest version raking up views is from last night’s Late Night With Jimmy Fallon show, meaning celebrities are already hopping on the bandwagon too. Ready to get your office involved? Check out the “Harlem Shake – BuzzFeed Version” and see if your office can be the next video on the Mad Decent ‘Harlem Shake’ Tumblr page.
