Harlem Shake: From Real To Unreal To #1 On The Billboard Hot 100

As is typical of early adopters, many have already claimed the Harlem Shake meme to be dead. But yesterday's news that Billboard's new YouTube plays policy will put the track by Baauer at #1 on the Hot 100 is likely to incite another round of manic videos. Whether the new Harlem Shake is a slur against the original dance, the next Gangnam Style world craze or a St. Vitus zombie party, this polarizing dance music video meme is raising Baauer's profile and making money via YouTube ads, iTunes sales, and media pageviews.

The Harlem Shake: From Multiple Origins To Hot 100 #1

Written for Hypebot.com by Clyde Smith (@fluxresearch).

Storified by Flux Research· Thu, Feb 21 2013 03:49:47

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Billboard Hot 100 counts YouTube plays. Harlem Shake to debut at #1!!! http://goo.gl/QmwaCFlux Research

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Hat tip to Joshua Emmitt of Something Complex for hooking me up with the closing video.

Hypebot Senior Contributor Clyde Smith (Twitter/App.net) also blogs at All World Dance: Videos and maintains Music Biz Blogs. To suggest topics for Hypebot, contact: clyde(at)fluxresearch(dot)com.

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