Baauer, Coachella 2013 artist and the man behind the beats of the “Harlem Shake.” (Contributed Image)
Not since “Gangnam Syle” has a dance craze invaded YouTube as much as the “Harlem Shake” has. (With the viral nature of today, it makes me wonder if the “Macarena” would have had as long of a life as it did, but that’s a discussion that says something about America and its shifting culture and bad wedding music that’s for another day.)
Back to the “Harlem Shake,” Baauer, an artist who is based in Brooklyn, not Harlem, is having a huge hit with it. He released it last year, but in the last two weeks it seems to have exploded on a “Call Me Maybe” level.
Baauer is playing the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival this spring. Be honest–who is already planning their own live “Harlem Shake” at the Sahara Tent?
One of the many re-makes, with UC Riverside students:
And from Temecula:
UPDATE: Thanks to Eric Redbeef Focht for pointing out that the other videos were more Bernie-ing than Harlem Shake. Here’s an instructional video he passed along.
FYI, for those of you still wishing The Rolling Stones were playing Coachella, the “Harlem Shake” is way different than the “Harlem Shuffle.”
Speaking of Coachella, if you haven’t seen it yet, check out the interactive Coachella artist map I made. Click the photo to go to the map.
Interactive map of 2013 Coachella artists.
(Vanessa Franko/Digital Illustration)