Subscribe
The Daily Grind Video
CLOSE

What in the name of Sean P. Diddy Combs is the world doing to the famous Harlem Shake?

I’ve seen the Egyptian video of the protest in front of President Morisi’s palace. There is the scene of the guy in the Mickey Mouse-like head dancing and then a crowd of what looks like Egyptian B Boys breaks out into a flash mob and starts dancing. Don’t get me wrong, some of those dudes were definitely shaking, but that was not Harlem, more like the heroin shakes. So who said the dance they were doing in protest was the Harlem Shake? Do we really think the Egyptian protesters sat around and thought to themselves ‘you know how we’re gonna get to Morisi?…let’s do the Harlem Shake!’ Hey for what it’s worth, the guy in front with the gray top and red hat definitely was breaking it down.

This is NOT the Harlem Shake: 

But c’mon people! Now this thing has gone viral all over the world with people breaking into so called Harlem Shake flash mobs in all aspects of life. There’s millions of people on YouTube doing what they think is the Harlem Shake, when really they look like chickens with a breast problem. It was at nauseating levels already, but then you see news organizations like NBC’s Today doing it and it’s sickening. I mean watching Matt Lauer, Al Roker and the NBC morning crew do what they thought was Harlem Shake made me want to throw up in my mouth.

This is even creepier: 

The dance gained its popularity on the ball courts of Rucker Park in Harlem back in the ’80s. The park was already legendary even back then, but over the years and with commercialization and exploitation of streetball, the scenery at Rucker Park became just as infamous as the court. The Harlem Shake was a popular dance because of its complexity. Your body has to move in double time but still be on the beat. One has to be extremely coordinated to really do it right. If you’ve ever rode the train in NYC and seen the kids dancing while holding their balance as the train shifts and turns, that’s the Harlem Shake. And since when did the Harlem Shake ever include a mascot head, helmet or a mask? 

This is the Harlem Shake: 

P. Diddy and his artist G Dep first commercialized the dance in Dep’s 2001 song “Let’s Get It.” DJ Webstar and Young B really took the Harlem Shake to the masses with his youthful hit record “Chicken Noodle Soup” back in 2006. If the Egyptians in the video were playing either one of these songs while they danced in protest then maybe we could say ‘Oh wow…they’re really trying to Harlem Shake.’ 

An original example of the Harlem Shake first brought to the masses by Diddy: 

The Today show’s Savannah Guthrie dedicated an entire news segment to try and explain the Harlem Shake phenomenon to the mainstream American morning audience. So why didn’t she just invite the king of swag, the mayor of Harlem, Diddy up to NBC to properly explain this dance, its great history and its significance to Harlem? Why not have the real Harlem Shakers come through, educate and demonstrate? Maybe on the next the United States of America basketball diplomacy mission they can send the Harlem Globetrotters and DJ Webstar to Egypt so we can help them out. I’m just saying…

In Memory of Harlem StreetBall Legend Tyrone Alimoe Evans R.I.P.

Brandon ‘TNT’ West

Music Exec / Industry Insider/ The Andy Rooney of Hip Hop Culture

Holla at him @tnt718