What is the Harlem Shake, and why should you care?

For those of you unfamiliar with what has become the newest Internet sensation, the concept of the Harlem Shake is simple: a thirty-second clip from Baauer's trap hit "Harlem Shake" makes up the audio for the video. For the first fifteen seconds of the video, a few people stand around doing nothing of particular interest (talking, using the computer, playing videogames, etc.) while one person in a mask of some sort does a ridiculous dance. For the last fifteen seconds, everyone who was in the first fifteen seconds of the video joins the person in the mask and does some sort of dancing for the camera. The original Harlem Shake is embedded below, and if it tickles your fancy here is a video of some shirtless kids doing it, here is a video of CollegeHumor employees doing it, and here is a clip of Peanuts characters doing it.

Artist Of The Day: Baauer

In today's EDM world, trap has taken hold of the hearts of millions. The big-bassed sound, the sluggish hip-hop beats, and the heavily distorted upper end make any club go crazy at the mere hint of anything trap. Artists who create this big-bodied sound seemingly make their careers overnight, and both huge bro producers (Dillon Francis) and serious "dark side" DJs (Hudson Mohawke & Lunice, a.k.a. TNGHT) have taken a stab at the genre. That being said, a name to look out for on the dance side of things is Baauer. The 23-year-old has already had releases with Diplo's Mad Decent label after gaining a huge following on his own merit on Soundcloud, and although he's only released a few songs so far he's seen huge support come his way already. A good example of the talent he displays on a consistent basis is his remix of "Rollup" by Flosstradamus. A rap sample and very short vocal clip fall on top of extremely heavy kicks and typical hip-hop claps, and it's clear that it's a song made for one purpose: to destroy dance floors. All of Baauer's songs have accomplished that feat, and it's clear that he'll be going places in the near future.

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