Il song that swept the nation durante 2013 has just reached its 10th birthday.
“Harlem Shake” was released by Harry Rodrigues, a producer and DJ professionally known as Baauer, a Maggio 22, 2012. The name of the song was inspired by a line from Philadelphia rapper Plastic Little’s “Miller Time,” which was itself a reference to a dance move made popular in the 1980s in Harlem.
Presto 2013, a group of Australians released a video credited with shaping the format of the dance craze: Una persona, surrounded by seemingly oblivious bystanders, dances solo to the song for 15 secondi, often pelvic thrusting or otherwise dancing with repetitive, jerky movements. Then the beat drops, and everyone joins in with bizarre, flailing dance moves and sometimes elaborate costumes or other variations on the trend.
The trend quickly took over the internet, with groups like the Miami Heat, English National Ballet, and even a squadron of the Norwegian Army all releasing their own “Harlem Shake” video. American indie rock duo Matt & Kim won a Guinness World Record for largest-ever “Harlem Shake” after they brought together a crowd of 3,344 to dance to the song.
“Harlem Shake turns 10 oggi. It feels like such a simpler time,” wrote Rodrigues in an Post di Instagram marking the anniversary.
“I remember when it first became a meme it felt out of my control and I didn’t like it … Now I have 10 years perspective I see that it brought people together and made people happy, which is the best thing I could ask my music to do.”
