Does this mean that Baauer is going to be the next PSY?

Trap producer Baauer has quickly ascended to the upper echelon of tastemaker approved beatmakers. It’s difficult to quantify a ranking like that, but here it goes. On one hand Baauer, real name Harry Rodrigues, is doing high-profile residencies at Las Vegas nightclubs and making tracks with legendary hip-hop producer Just Blaze. On the other hand, he doesn’t have any songs in rotation on Top 40 or hip-hop radio. Yet.

In short, he’s making money, but he’s still got the underground shine.

Or he did. Thanks to a series of goofy YouTube dance videos featuring his absolute banger of a track “Harlem Shake”, Baauer is on the cusp of going viral. 

It all started about a week ago. YouTube personality Filthy Frank, a creator of comedy videos, put out FILTHY COMPILATION #6 – SMELL MY FINGERS, a compendium of a few skits featuring himself and some collaborators. The video kicked off with Frank and a few others gyrating wildly to “Harlem Shake” for about 30 seconds. This opening portion proved to be so popular with some of Frank’s fans that he eventually  put up the dance as a standalone video.

From there other YouTube users took a crack at the “Harlem Shake” dance. The formula for the “Harlem Shake” videos (and their “v2”, “v2.5”, “v3”, etc… iterations) that have followed has been refined to the methodology below.

1. The clip begins with the focus on a familiar, conventional scene. Typically a group of friends hanging out.
2. Immediately, “Harlem Shake” comes on. Often, the source of the sound is unclear and only one person will respond to the music, if anyone. That person is, without fail, wearing a face obscuring helmet.
3. Around thirteen seconds of buildup.
4. And with the refrain of “Do the Harlem Shake”, smash cut to everyone in the group losing their shit.

Observe.

Even College Humor has gotten around to doing their own version.

Odds are, if you work in an office, that someone will have the bright idea to make a company wide “Harlem Shake” clip in about five weeks.

Check out the full “Harlem Shake” below. It’s more than just the 30 second intro.

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Dayton O'Connor

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