From Surf Wiki (app.surf) — the open knowledge base

Harlem Shake (song)

Field	Value
name	Harlem Shake
cover	HarlemShake.jpg
type	single
artist	Baauer
released
recorded	2012
studio	Brooklyn, New York
genre	* Bass
length
label	* Jeffree's
language
writer	* Harry Rodriques
* Kurt Hunte<ref>{{cite web	url	https://www.ascap.com/repertory#/ace/search/workID/885457493	title=ASCAP Repertory entry for this song	work=ASCAP	access-date=June 4, 2021 }}
producer	Baauer
next_title	Dum Dum
next_year	2012
misc	{{External music video
type	single
header	Audio video
1	}}

the song

hip-hop
EDM trap
Mad Decent
Héctor Delgado
Jayson Musson
Kurt Hunte "Harlem Shake" is a song recorded by American DJ and producer Baauer. It was released as his debut single on May 22, 2012, by Mad Decent imprint label Jeffree's. The uptempo song—variously described as trap, hip-hop or bass music—incorporates a mechanical bassline, Dutch house synth riffs, a dance music drop, and samples of growling-lion sounds. It also samples Plastic Little's 2001 song "Miller Time", specifically the vocal "then do the Harlem shake", which is an allusion to the dance of the same name. Baauer added a variety of peculiar sounds to the song so that it would stand out.

The single did not begin to sell significantly until February 2013, when a YouTube video set to its music developed into an Internet meme of the same name. The media response to the meme helped increase the single's sales, as it charted at number one for five consecutive weeks on the US Billboard Hot 100. It also reached number three in the United Kingdom and number one in both Australia and New Zealand. During the song's chart run, Billboard enacted a policy that included video streams as a component of their charts.

"Harlem Shake" was well received by music critics, who viewed it as an appealing dance track, although some felt that it was more of a novelty song. After the song became a hit, Mad Decent label head Diplo reached an agreement with the artists of the song's samples, which had not been contractually cleared before its release. However, according to Baauer, he has not received any of the money the song made because of the legal issues from not having properly cleared the samples. American rapper Azealia Banks released a remix to "Harlem Shake" on her SoundCloud page, which was subsequently removed at Baauer's request and led to a dispute between the two.

Background

In 2011, Baauer rededicated himself to music after studying at City College and began to practice making beats. He recorded "Harlem Shake" in 2012 in his bedroom studio in Brooklyn, New York. With the song, he wanted to record a high-pitched, Dutch house synthesizer over a hip hop track and make it stand out by adding a variety of peculiar sounds. He later referred to it as "a goofy, fun song". Baauer posted "Harlem Shake", along with several of his other recordings, on his SoundCloud page, and in April, Scottish DJ Rustie featured the song in his Essential Mix for BBC Radio 1. Record producer and Mad Decent label head Diplo heard the song, and released it on May 22 as a free digital download through Mad Decent's imprint label Jeffree's. It was Baauer's debut single.

Music and lyrics

"Harlem Shake" features harsh snares, a mechanical bassline, samples of growling lions, and Dutch house synth riffs. It has a high tempo characteristic of hip hop and a dance music drop. According to Andrew Ryce from Resident Advisor, "Harlem Shake" is a hip hop and bass song, while both David Wagner of The Atlantic and Khal from Complex described it as trap, a musical subgenre with stylistic origins in EDM and Southern hip hop, featuring Roland TR-808 beats and drops. Ryce felt the song's music "represents the hip-hop contingent of" bass music, which is typified by rolling snares and jerky basslines, finding it "particularly symptomatic of a growing strain of music obsessed with 'trap. By contrast, Jon Caramanica from The New York Times argued that it "isn't a hip-hop song, but it is hip-hop-influenced."

"Harlem Shake" begins with a sample of a voice shouting "con los terroristas", a Spanish phrase which translates to "with the terrorists" in English. Although listeners assumed it was a female voice, the sample was taken from a remix of the 2006 reggaeton single "Maldades" by Héctor El Father from his album The Bad Boy, who often used the line as a refrain on his other songs, such as the intro of the 2007 reggaeton album "Los Capo", which featured artists such as Jowell & Randy. In 2010, the recorded phrase was used by Philadelphia DJs Skinny Friedman and DJ Apt One, on a remix of Gregor Salto's dance track "Con Alegría". Baauer said he found the vocal sample from an unidentified source on the Internet. The sampled voice is followed by building synths and snares, and a syncopated sub-bass sound before another voice commands listeners to "do the Harlem shake". The line was sampled from Plastic Little's 2001 hip hop song "Miller Time", which Baauer sampled after having a friend play it for him and "[getting it] stuck in my head for a while". Plastic Little member Jayson Musson said his line was inspired by a fist-fight that he ended by performing the harlem shake dance move: "This was my first fight and I didn’t know how to properly 'end' a fight, so I just smiled at him and did the Harlem shake, blood gushing from glass cuts on my face. The other kid, I guess not wanting to fight anymore, or maybe not wanting to fight someone who just danced at him, got on his skateboard and took off without his shoes."

Commercial performance

"Harlem Shake" was released commercially in June 2012. Mad Decent commissioned a music video for the single at the time, but were not satisfied with the result and shelved it. It gradually received listens online, and was re-released as a single on January 8, 2013. However, it did not begin to sell significantly until February, when a YouTube video, uploaded by Filthy Frank and featuring the song, developed into an Internet meme of the same name. The 30-second video showed people dancing to the song and was parodied more than 3,000 times in other user-submitted videos. Billboard magazine cited "Harlem Shake" as "the biggest viral sensation since PSY's 'Gangnam Style'". Baauer and Mad Decent generated income from both the user-submitted videos and Baauer's original audio post on YouTube because of the site's Content ID service, which allows artists, labels, and publishers to monetize songs. According to MSN Money, they earned $6 for every 1,000 views of the video.

The late-week media response to the meme helped the single sell 12,000 units on iTunes in the week ending February 10, according to Nielsen SoundScan. It consequently entered the US Dance/Electronic Digital Songs at number nine and the Dance/Electronic Songs at number twelve. Mad Decent's manager Jasper Goggins said that "Harlem Shake" was the "biggest thing" they have released, "and it's happened within six days." In the United Kingdom, "Harlem Shake" reached number twenty-two on the UK Singles Chart during the week of the meme's phenomena. By the end of the chart week, the single had climbed nineteen spots to number three. Martin Talbot, the Official Charts Company's managing director, said that the single's climb on the chart "underlines just how quickly this track has turned into a bone fide phenomenon. At the start of the week, it wasn't even selling enough to make the Top 20—but it is now one of the UK's most popular tracks."

The following week, "Harlem Shake" debuted at number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 and climbed to number one on the Dance/Electronic Songs, while selling 262,000 units. It was the first instrumental track to top the Hot 100 since Jan Hammer's 1985 Miami Vice theme. It was also the twenty-first song in the Hot 100's history to debut at number one and was aided by 103 million weekly video streams, which was announced that week by Billboard and Nielsen SoundScan as a new component of their charts. According to Billboards editorial director Bill Werde, "Harlem Shake"'s success prompted them to enact the chart policy after two years of discussions with YouTube. However, Silvio Pietroluongo, the magazine's director of charts, said in an interview for The A.V. Club that their timing was coincidental and came after a period of negotiating the chart policy and its logistics. However, because it lacked major label promotional support, the single registered low in airplay. It also debuted at number one on the ARIA Singles Chart and became 1000th number-one song since Australia began compiling charts in 1940.

"Harlem Shake" remained at number one on the Hot 100 in its second week, when it sold 297,000 digital units. It also received more airplay after being promoted to radio by Warner Bros. Records, who had agreed to a deal with Mad Decent on February 26 to distribute the song worldwide. "Harlem Shake" topped the Hot 100 for a third week and sold 228,000 units, despite a decline in YouTube streams. By March 10, it had reached sales of one million digital units. On March 12, Sean Michaels of The Guardian reported that the song had earned more than £50,000 from YouTube. "Harlem Shake" remained at number one for five consecutive weeks on the Hot 100.

Copyright infringement

Neither vocal sample used on "Harlem Shake" was contractually cleared with Héctor Delgado or Jayson Musson, who were both shocked to hear the song after it became a hit. In February, Delgado was told by his former manager Javier Gómez that he heard his voice on the song and wanted to take legal action. According to Gómez, Diplo subsequently called Delgado and told him that he was unaware "Harlem Shake" sampled his voice when it was released as a single. Gómez called "Harlem Shake" "a clear breaking of intellectual property rights" and said that since Diplo's call, lawyers for Machete Music have been negotiating with Mad Decent over compensation for the sample.

Musson received an enthusiastic call in late February from a past member of Plastic Little telling him that his voice was sampled on "Harlem Shake". Musson did not have a problem with Baauer using the sample without his permission and found the song's production "phenomenal". He subsequently called Baauer to thank him for "doing something useful with our annoying music". However, he felt that the allusion to the dance was "peculiar" and outdated: "I was like, Who the fuck is rapping about the Harlem Shake in 2012?" Musson said in an interview in March that he and Mad Decent were in negotiations regarding compensation, and that the label had been "more than cooperative during this".

In April, Diplo told The Huffington Post that he had reached an agreement to clear the samples. However, in an August interview with Pitchfork, Baauer said that he has not made any money from the song, despite Diplo's reported agreement: "I'm meeting with my lawyer ... so I'm gonna find that out. I think it's mostly because of all the legal shit. I didn't clear the samples because I was in my fucking bedroom on Grand Street. I wasn't going to think to call up [Delgado], I didn't even know who it was who did that [sample]; I knew the Jayson Musson [sample]. So I found myself in that fucking pickle. Legal letters and shit. Ugh. Lawyers. So exposure-wise it was fantastic, but everything else..."

Critical reception

Pitchfork journalist Larry Fitzmaurice labelled the song "Best New Track" upon its release in May 2012 and called it a "disorienting banger" with an "irresistible appeal" that "owes almost everything" to its "menacing, world-smashing bassline". Fitzmaurice wrote in conclusion, "Along with this purely visceral pleasure, it's hard not to marvel at how awesome those growling-lion samples sound." Randall Roberts of the Los Angeles Times said that he liked the song and viewed it as a "syrupy instrumental" that foreshadows "the convergence of hip-hop, dance and rock".

Andrew Ryce of Resident Advisor gave "Harlem Shake" a rating of three-and-a-half out of five and found its musical climax "admittedly satisfying—that is, until it resumes flailing like a novelty track", writing that "it's not hard to see why the track is well-liked, but its snowballing ubiquity is a bit of a head-scratcher, simply because it's not all that interesting." Similarly, Jon Caramanica of The New York Times said that, after hearing a minute of it being played during Power 105.1 FM's mixshow, the song "felt more like a novelty than like part of a strategy." Caramanica felt that its success, along with that of Macklemore's 2012 song "Thrift Shop", reflects a "centerless future" for hip hop and stated, "Depending on your lens, this reflects a tremendous cultural victory for hip-hop or the moment when hip-hop, as a construct, begins to lose meaning."

Remixes

[[Azealia Banks]] (2012), one of several rappers who remixed the song

On February 14, 2013, American rapper Azealia Banks released a remix to "Harlem Shake" on SoundCloud, which was then removed at Baauer's request. Banks disparaged Baauer on Twitter in response and claimed to have e-mails sent from him giving her permission to use the song. She then said that Diplo had sent her an e-mail telling her that the remix was removed because they would rather have rapper Juicy J on it. On February 16, Banks shared a music video for her remix on Vimeo, and revealed a purported e-mail from Baauer saying he liked the remix. Baauer responded in an interview for The Daily Beast, saying that they had planned to release a version of the song with Banks, but felt that her verse did not meet their expectations:

Jon Caramanica of The New York Times cited Banks' remix as one of her best songs, while Chris Martins of Spin wrote that she delivers "fire-hot verse after fire-hot verse" and facetiously remarked that "Banks raps all over your dumb 'Harlem Shake' meme".

Pitbull and Jim Jones also recorded freestyle raps over the song. After releasing his version, Jones claimed in an interview that "Harlem Shake" was a song he originally recorded one year ago for an album by Pauly D, but that they ultimately scrapped it: "When I started to hear the 'Harlem Shake' and heard the beat, I was like damn, I had the record for a year. So I just put the record out."

Track listing

Digital download

"Harlem Shake" – 3:16
"Yaow!" – 2:11

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (2013)	Peak
position	Australia	1	artist=Baauer	song=Harlem Shake	access-date=February 2013}}	Austria	9	artist=Baauer	song=Harlem Shake	access-date=February 29, 2013}}	Flanders	2	artist=Baauer	song=Harlem Shake	access-date=February 22, 2013}}	Wallonia	2	artist=Baauer	song=Harlem Shake	access-date=February 22, 2013}}	Brazil (Brasil Hot 100)	Canada (Canadian Hot 100)	Denmark	4	artist=Baauer	song=Harlem Shake	access-date=February 23, 2013}}	Billboardeurodigital	3	artist=Baauer}}	Finland	19	artist=Baauer	song=Harlem Shake	access-date=March 24, 2013}}	France	4	artist=Baauer	song=Harlem Shake	access-date=March 14, 2013}}	Germany	10	artist=Baauer	song=Harlem Shake	songid=1039111	access-date=March 6, 2020}}	Greece Digital Songs (Billboard)	Ireland	5	year=2013	week=08	access-date=February 16, 2013}}	Italy	9	artist=Baauer	song=Harlem Shake	access-date=June 9, 2013}}	Luxembourg Digital Songs (Billboard)	Dutch40	4	artist=Baauer	song=Harlem Shake	week=10	year=2013	access-date=April 7, 2013}}	Dutch100	4	artist=Baauer	song=Harlem Shake	access-date=November 15, 2019}}	New Zealand	1	artist=Baauer	song=Harlem Shake	access-date=February 18, 2013}}	Norway	9	artist=Baauer	song=Harlem Shake	access-date=March 3, 2013}}	Polishdance	21	chartid=936	access-date=April 11, 2013}}	Portugal (Billboard)	Scotland	3	artist=Baauer	song=Harlem Shake	date=2013-03-02	access-date=February 18, 2013}}	South Korean International Singles (GAON)	Spain	24	artist=Baauer	song=Harlem Shake	access-date=March 2, 2013}}	Sweden	17	artist=Baauer	song=Harlem Shake	access-date=February 23, 2013}}	Switzerland	5	artist=Baauer	song=Harlem Shake	access-date=February 26, 2013}}	UK	3	artist=Baauer	song=Harlem Shake	date=2013-03-02	access-date=February 18, 2013}}	UKdance	1	artist=Baauer	song=Harlem Shake	date=2013-03-02	access-date=February 24, 2013}}	UKindependent	2	artist=Baauer	song=Harlem Shake	date=2013-03-09	access-date=March 31, 2013}}	US Billboard Hot 100	US Dance/Electronic Songs (Billboard)	US Hot Dance Club Songs (Billboard)	US Mainstream Top 40 (Billboard)
1
6
1
1
3
2
1
1
28
38

Year-end charts

Chart (2013)	Position	Australia (ARIA)	Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)	Belgium (Ultratop Flanders Dance)	Belgium (Ultratop 50 Wallonia)	Belgium (Ultratop Wallonia Dance)	Canada (Canadian Hot 100)	Italy (FIMI)	Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)	Netherlands (Single Top 100)	New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)	UK Singles (Official Charts Company)	US Billboard Hot 100	US Hot Dance/Electronic Songs (Billboard)
61
49
36
31
66
93
85
76
84
50
72
4
1

Decade-end charts

Chart (2010–2019)	Position	US Hot Dance/Electronic Songs (Billboard)
47

Certifications

Release history

Date	Format	Label	Catalog	May 22, 2012	January 8, 2013
Free digital download	Jeffree's	JEFF016
iTunes download	Mad Decent	—

References

"ASCAP Repertory entry for this song". ASCAP.
Stern, Marlow. (February 18, 2013). "Meet Baauer, the Man Behind the "Harlem Shake"". [[The Newsweek Daily Beast Company]].
Mason, Kerri. (February 22, 2013). "Baauer's 'Harlem Shake': Billboard Cover Story".
Fitzmaurice, Larry. (May 22, 2012). "Baauer: "Harlem Shake"". [[Pitchfork (website).
Benzona. (February 7, 2013). "Baauer – Harlem Shake The Youtube Sensation". [[Mad Decent]].
Ryce, Andrew. (August 3, 2012). "RA Reviews: Baauer – Harlem Shake (Single)". [[Resident Advisor]].
Wagner, David. (February 13, 2013). "The Harlem Shake Meme Is Dead". The Atlantic Monthly Group.
Khal, [http://complex.com/music/2012/12/the-10-best-trap-tracks-of-2012-2/3-baauer-harlem-shake The 10 Best Trap Tracks of 2012], ''[[Complex (magazine). Complex]]'', December 22, 2012
Caramanica, Jon. (February 20, 2013). "A Hip-Hop Moment, But Is It Authentic?". [[The New York Times]].
Alvarez, Alex. (February 20, 2013). "Meet Hector el Father – The Uncredited "Voice" of the "Harlem Shake" Meme". [[ABC News (United States).
McKinley Jr., James C.. (March 11, 2013). "Surprise Hit Was a Shock For Artists Heard on It". The New York Times.
Sisario, Ben. (February 21, 2013). "What's Billboard's No. 1? Now YouTube Has a Say". The New York Times.
Trust, Gary. (February 20, 2013). "Baauer's 'Harlem Shake' Debuts Atop Revamped Hot 100".
Knopper, Steve. (February 22, 2013). "How Baauer Took 'Harlem Shake' to Number One".
Roberts, Randall. (February 13, 2013). "Dance meme alert: The Harlem Shake blows up, and so does Baauer". [[Los Angeles Times]].
McCarthy, Zel. (February 28, 2013). "Baauer's 'Harlem Shake': The Global Hit That Started With a One-Off Single Deal".
(February 21, 2013). "Where Does The Harlem Shake Actually Come From?". [[NPR]].
Notte, Jason. (April 1, 2013). "'Harlem Shake' was one big Google commercial". [[MSN Money]].
Hampp, Andrew. (February 15, 2013). "'Harlem Shake': The Making and Monetizing of Baauer's Viral Hit".
Kreisler, Lauren. (February 17, 2013). "Harlem Shake fires into Top 3". [[Official Charts Company]].
Weiner, Jonah. (March 28, 2013). "On YouTube, Video Makes the Radio Star". [[Bloomberg Businessweek]].
Michaels, Sean. (February 22, 2013). "Harlem Shake's YouTube bump sends it to No 1 in US". [[guardian.co.uk]].
Eakin, Marah. (March 8, 2013). "Billboard's director of charts explains how a track like "Harlem Shake" can shoot to No. 1". [[The A.V. Club]].
Ryan, Gavin. (February 25, 2013). "YouTube delivers ARIA chart's 1,000th No.1 song". [[The Sydney Morning Herald]].
Trust, Gary. (February 27, 2013). "Baauer's 'Harlem Shake' Tops Hot 100 for Second Week".
Staff. (February 26, 2013). "Baauer's 'Harlem Shake': Warner Bros. Strikes Deal With Mad Decent for Distribution, Services".
Trust, Gary. (March 6, 2013). "Baauer's 'Harlem Shake' Still Atop Hot 100, Although Lead Shrinks".
Grein, Paul. (March 13, 2013). "Week Ending March 10, 2013. Songs: The Record-Setter That Isn't #1". [[Yahoo! Music]]. [[Yahoo!]].
Michaels, Sean. (March 12, 2013). "Harlem Shake creator could lose royalties over uncleared samples". guardian.co.uk.
Trust, Gary. "Baauer Tops Hot 100 For Fifth Week, Despite Continued Streaming Slide".
Zeichner, Naomi. (February 15, 2013). "FADER Explains: Harlem Shake". [[The Fader]].
Cubarrubia, RJ. (April 26, 2013). "Diplo Clears 'Harlem Shake' Samples".
Goble, Corban. (August 19, 2013). "Baauer". Pitchfork.
Roberts, Randall. (April 13, 2013). "Coachella 2013: Baauer works a crowd awaiting 'Harlem Shake'". Los Angeles Times.
Zoladz, Lindsay. (February 15, 2013). "Baauer Gets Azealia Banks' "Harlem Shake" Taken Down, Feels Her Twitter Wrath". Pitchfork.
Battan, Carrie. (February 18, 2013). "Baauer Explains Azealia Banks "Harlem Shake" Squabble, Working With AlunaGeorge on New EP". Pitchfork.
Minsker, Evan. (February 16, 2013). "Azealia Banks Shares Her "Harlem Shake" Video, Claims She Got Baauer's Permission to Use Track". Pitchfork.
Martins, Chris. (February 14, 2013). "Azealia Banks Raps All Over Your Dumb 'Harlem Shake' Meme". [[Spin (magazine).
(February 27, 2013). "Jim Jones – Harlem Shake Freestyle". HipHop DX.
Horowitz, Steven J.. (March 7, 2013). "Jim Jones Says Baauer's "Harlem Shake" Was Originally His Record". HipHopDX.
(October 6, 2001). "Brazil". ABPD.
"Billboard Canadian Hot 100 : Mar 09, 2013". [[Prometheus Global Media]].
"Greece Digital Songs : Mar 23, 2013".
(March 9, 2013). "Luxembourg Digital Songs".
"Portugal Digital Songs – Peak".
"South Korea Gaon International Chart (Gaon Chart)". [[Gaon Chart]].
"Baauer – Chart history: Dance/Club Play Songs". Prometheus Global Media.
Trust, Gary. (March 4, 2013). "Chart Highlights: Demi Lovato 'Attack's Pop Songs".
"ARIA Top 100 Singles 2013". ARIA.
[http://www.ultratop.be/nl/annual.asp?year=2013 JAAROVERZICHTEN 2013] (in Dutch). ultratop.be/nl. Retrieved January 19, 2014.
[http://www.ultratop.be/fr/annual.asp?year=2013 RAPPORTS ANNUELS 2013] (in French). ultratop.be/fr. Retrieved January 19, 2014.
(January 2, 2013). "Best of 2013: Canadian Hot 100". Prometheus Global Media.
(January 9, 2014). "CLASSIFICHE ANNUALI 2013 TOP OF THE MUSIC BY FIMI GfK". FIMI.
"Top 100-Jaaroverzicht van 2013". Dutch Top 40.
[https://dutchcharts.nl/jaaroverzichten.asp?year=2013&cat=s "Jaaroverzichten – Single 2013"] (in Dutch). MegaCharts. Retrieved August 24, 2018.
"Top Selling Singles of 2013". Recorded Music NZ.
"End-of-Year 2013". [[UKChartsPlus]].
(January 2, 2013). "Best of 2013 – Hot 100 Songs". Billboard.com.
(January 21, 2013). "Best of 2013 – Dance/Electronic Songs". Billboard.com.
(October 31, 2019). "Decade-End Charts: Hot Dance/Electronic Songs (2013-ON)".
(May 22, 2012). "Harlem Shake – Single". [[iTunes Store.

Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

2012-songs 2012-debut-singles baauer-songs mad-decent-singles american-novelty-songs internet-memes-introduced-in-2013 2010s-fads-and-trends billboard-hot-100-number-one-singles brasil-hot-100-airplay-number-one-singles number-one-singles-in-australia number-one-singles-in-greece number-one-singles-in-new-zealand edm-trap-music-songs sampling-(music)-controversies songs-about-new-york-city songs-about-the-united-states

Want to explore this topic further?

Ask Mako anything about Harlem Shake (song) — get instant answers, deeper analysis, and related topics.

Research with Mako

Free with your Surf account

Content sourced from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

This content may have been generated or modified by AI. CloudSurf Software LLC is not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of AI-generated content. Always verify important information from primary sources.

Report