What do you know? Psy, the Gangnam Style phenomenon from South Korea is out of the hit lists. While that is only to be expected, the law of aver- ages says that what goes up must come down, there is a very interesting twist to this story. Psy has not only gone down the charts. He has in a way been replaced. And the new big seller that has already received 175 million views on the Net is The Harlem Shake by Baauer. America has reclaimed the charts.
I thought all along that Harlem Shake was some old tune that somebody dressed up with a new mix and a video.
It was indeed but it developed a big difference. Young American DJ Harry (Baauer) Rodriguez, he is only 23 years old, has taken some beats and a sample of Miller Time by the rapper Plastic Lit- tle. Then one lazy afternoon, he worked on it in his Brooklyn home. He added a melody, some sounds like the lion growls and that Con los teroristas shout and then uploaded it into the Net.
That is pretty much standard op- erating procedure for new producers nowadays. But something interesting happened to Harlem Shake. Amateur comedian Filthy Frank made a video using the song. The plot is very simple. A group of people is going about their business, while a masked terorista does a frenetic dance. Then when the music gets to the line do the Harlem Shake, ev- erybody in the video explodes in movement. It is pretty much a do your own thing bit, wild and unchoreographed, just kids having fun with the music. And then it suddenly stops. This video was also uploaded into the Net and that was how Harlem Shake began to be a sensation.
Somebody saw that video and decided they can do it better. And so they did and uploaded their version. So did another. And another. And an- other. Soon there were army battalions, classrooms, office workers, swimming teams, models, families, even dogs, etc. who are all doing the Harlem Shake. I do not know how true it is but it is being bruited about that there are now 40,000 Harlem Shake videos moving around in the web and more are being made as
I write this. The process is so easy. You can do it with a phone. No sense in being left behind when one can also do a rousing Harlem Shake.
With viral suc- cess that huge, can the music labels be far behind? Not
on your life. Baauer, an unknown two weeks ago, is now the hottest selling art ist in the US and that is despite Harlem Shake’s being available on the Net for half a year. This just goes to show that when people want something enough, they are willing to pay for it. The song made No. 1 in the US charts on its
first week of release. Then held on for another week and will most likely be on top for several more.
Take note, Psy reached only No. 2 in the charts. He never made it to No. 1. Maroon 5 kept him away from that. Take note, too, that it is only at this time that non-netizens are hearing about this tune. More buyers on tap. And if you do not use the web, then you get your sounds on CDs. And that is why Harlem Shake is selling.
Here, from the latest issue of Bill- board Magazine, are the Top 20 tunes from the Hot 100 hit list. Leader is, of course, Harlem Shake by Baauer; Thrift Shop by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis featuring Wanz; Stay by Rihanna feat. Mikky Ekko; Scream & Shout by will.i.am & Britney Spears; I Knew You Were Trouble by Taylor Swift; Ho Hey by The Lumineers; Locked Out Of Heaven by Bruno Mars; When I Was Your Man also by Bruno Mars; Suit & Tie by Justin Timberlake; Started From The Bottom by Drake.
Don’t You Worry Child by the Swedish House Mafia feat. John Martin; I Will Wait by Mumford & Sons; Daylight by Maroon 5; Girl On Fire by Alicia Keys feat. Nicki Minaj; F**kin Problems by A$AP Rocky feat. Drake, 2 Chainz & Kendrick Lamar; Beauty & A Beat by Jus- tin Bieber feat. also Nicki Minaj; Sweet Nothing by Calvin Harris feat. Florence Welch; Try by Pink; Love Me by Lil Wayne feat. Drake & Future; and Carry On by fun.