Harlem Shake" is a song recorded by American DJ and producer Baauer. It was released as a free digital download by Mad Decentimprint label Jeffree's on May 22, 2012. The uptempo song incorporates a mechanical bassline, Dutch house synth riffs, a dance musicdrop, 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 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 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 reached number one on the US Billboard Hot 100. It also charted at number three in the United Kingdom and at number one in both Australia and New Zealand. The success of "Harlem Shake" prompted Billboard to include video streams as a new component of their charts.
"Harlem Shake" was well received by music critics, who viewed it as an appealing dance song, although some felt that it was more of anovelty. American rapper Azealia Banks released a remix to the song on her SoundCloud page, which was subsequently removed at Baauer's request and led to a dispute between the two.
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