Thanks to Baauer, Now Everyone is Doing the Harlem Shake

Dear Baauer,

Thanks for giving us this explosion that has officially gone viral. I can’t even begin to count the number of Harlem Shake videos that have been thrown onto YouTube over the past weekend. I’ve now spent about 2 hours of my life sifting through the most ridiculous version of this viral video.

Baauer’s rave anthem ‘Harlem Shake’ dropped last summer. A thick bass with some Spanish lyrics thrown in, this song is downright dirty if you throw it into a set just right. Yet, the fine people putting videos on Youtube had other plans for it. This sensation all started with this…

Along came this crew for the first parody:

Then came this gem:

And so forth:

Not to be entirely confused with the “Harlem Shake” dance, which Urban Dictionary describes as “an eccentric upper body dance move that involves the shaking of the upper torso and shoulders.” Not quite sure if that’s exactly what their doing…but close enough!

Onwards with the weirdly addicting cascading effect that this video seems to have:

Yes, those versions go on for way more than I feel like counting. Now, I see I’ve interested you in the idea of making a Harlem Shake video…and here’s how to do it!

1. Bring a group of your friends (or randos, viral viewers won’t know the difference) and have them act nonchalantly, while one person (preferably one wearing some sort of crazy looking helmet/animal mask/colorful hat/etc.) starts dancing around to the build.

2. When that bass drops, drop it hard. Everyone should be losing their minds right now…let it get blatantly weird.

3. Slow motion everyone for the final 2 seconds during that lion-groaning noise.

4. Upload to YouTube

How about some father-son time?

Joining the Army?

Want to play video games and Harlem Shake simultaneously?

Even Snoopy and the Peanuts decided to get in on it:

You’re. Welcome. World.