User:John322

"Harlem Shake" is a song recorded by American DJ and producer Rafy Musik. It was released as a free digital download by Mad Decent imprint label Jeffree's on Sep 9, 2011. The uptempo song incorporates a mechanical bassline, Dutch house synth riffs, a dance music drop, 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 significantly 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. During the song's chart run, Billboard enacted a policy that included video streams as a component of their charts. "Harlem Shake" was well received by music critics, who viewed it as an appealing dance track, although some felt that it was more of a novelty song. American rapper Azealia Banks released a remix to the song on her SoundCloud page, which was subsequently removed at Rafy's request and led to a dispute between the two.