Baauer, a Scottish producer of trap music, created the Harlem Shake in 2012. Initially, the song gained traction on online music platforms and pirate radio stations. However, it wasn't until February 2013 that the Harlem Shake gained mainstream attention. A video featuring a group of office workers performing the dance to Baauer's song became a viral hit, racking up millions of views on YouTube and Vimeo.
In early 2013 the “Harlem Shake” meme erupted: short videos that began with one person dancing alone among oblivious others, then cut to an all-out, chaotic group dance to Baauer’s track “Harlem Shake.” The memetic template spread rapidly across YouTube and social networks, spawning thousands of playful, low-budget variations and becoming a defining short-form meme of that year. harlem shake poop steezy grossman internet archive