Most people until two weeks ago have never known of New York producer Baauer’s “Harlem Shake,” a frenetic dance thumper loaded with trancy synths which was released in early January. Since then the track has gone viral thanks to its world wide meme-status, it’s gained legitimate traction on the chart.
Yesterday, Baauer climbed all the way to the top of iTunes’ all-genre “Top Songs” list, and despite the fact that “Harlem Shake” has been temporarily displaced by One Direction’s “One Way or Another (Teenage Kicks),” it’s still ahead of powerhouse sellers like Macklemore and Ryan Lewis’ “Thrift Shop” and Rihanna’s “Stay.” Plus, once the Directioners have all bought their fave boy band’s song, which should take approximately an hour, “Harlem Shake” will likely return to No. 1.
It’s unclear whether sales for “Harlem Shake” are driven by buyers who want to use the song to make their own 30-second-long videos or if they’re true fans of the song.
Last week, YouTube reported that over 4,000 “Harlem Shake” videos were being uploaded every day
