Harlem Shake (meme)

The Harlem Shake is an Internet meme in the form of a video in which a group of people perform a comedy sketch accompanied by a short excerpt from the song "Harlem Shake". As a meme, the video was replicated by many people, using the same concept, which led to it becoming viral in early February 2013, with thousands of "Harlem Shake" videos being made and uploaded to YouTube every day at the height of its popularity.

Despite its name, the meme does not actually involve participants performing the original Harlem Shake dance, a street and hip hop dance that originated in 1980s Harlem, New York City; rather, the meme usually features participants performing flailing or convulsive movements. The meme form was established in a video uploaded on January 30, 2013 by YouTube personality Filthy Frank. The video featured the character "Pink Guy" from The Filthy Frank Show, to the channel DizastaMusic, entitled "FILTHY COMPILATION #6 - SMELL MY FINGERS", which featured a section where several costumed people danced to the song "Harlem Shake" by Baauer. The video opens with the first use of the Harlem Shake meme. The video was then parodied in another video made by five teenagers from Queensland, Australia known on YouTube as The Sunny Coast Skate. This video started a viral trend of people uploading their own "Harlem Shake" videos to YouTube.

The videos usually last about 30 seconds and features an excerpt of the 2012 song "Harlem Shake" by American electronic musician Baauer. Baauer's song starts with a 15-second intro, a bass drop, then 15 seconds with the bass, and a lion roar at the end of the first 30 seconds. Usually, a video begins with one person (often helmeted or masked) dancing to the song alone for 15 seconds, surrounded by other people not paying attention or seemingly unaware of the dancing individual. When the bass drops, the video cuts to the entire crowd doing a crazy convulsive dance for the rest of the video. The dancing style should not be confused with the original Harlem Shake dance. Additionally, in the second half of the video, people often wear either a minimum of clothes or crazy outfits or costumes while wielding strange props. Typically, but not always, the video will end by converting to slow motion on the feline growl.

...
Wikipedia