At this point, it’s difficult to be surprised by the next internet meme. We put fucking bread on cats’ faces. Anything’s plausible at this point.
So when an avalanche of “Harlem Shake” videos popped up yesterday, it wasn’t surprising. It certainly was intriguing, though.
Here’s how every video seems to play out:
– Random person does some thrusting dance moves among a still group of people as the beat builds
– Beat drops
– EVERYONE FLAILS AND/OR HUMPS
– Dabs of slow-mo are optional
– Fin.
On average, this whole procedure takes about 30 seconds. It’s so damn stupid, yet so fascinating.
For the record, this is the actual Harlem Shake. From the videos I watched, no one has executed this dance correctly. It is highly doubtful that accurately doing the Harlem Shake is the objective. Point being, don’t forget about the real Harlem Shake, which is cool as hell.
Every video features Baauer’s “Harlem Shake,” a great song in its own right and evidently the origin of the meme’s name. The patient zero of the Harlem Shake craze seems to be this clip below, coming from a longer video on a channel called “DizastaMusic.” So, nice work, you.
Here are a couple more Harlem Shake videos for your amusement, before this meme inevitably (and unfortunately) runs out of steam in two weeks when the gals on The View create their own Harlem Shake video. You can also visit the Harlem Shake, a succinctly titled Blogspot site collecting as many Harlem Shake videos as it can find.
SAMER IMA LET YOU FINISH BUT THIS HARLEM SHAKE VIDEO IS THE BEST HARLEM SHAKE VIDEO OF ALL TIME – ed. Marina
Oh, shit. Buzzfeed just did this. Our turn? But no, “blizzard.”
