HARLEM SHAKE! ANOTHER HIP HOP DIMENSION.THE STORY BEHIND THE TREND.

"con los terroristas", meaning ''with the terrorists'' in Spanish, is the voice of the female you hear on YouTube as people from various parts of the world have been uploading videos of themselves shaking awkwardly to the song of American DJ Baauer titled ''Harlem Shake''. This trend started when a group in Australia known as The Sunny Coast Skate (T.S.C.S) uploaded this video on the web, this has become an Internet trend thanks to YouTube, over forty thousand various videos of the shake has been uploaded and the upload load rate is increasing at a very amazing rate with over 175 million views so far. This is another global trend that has gained its roots from Hip Hop as the song '' Harlem Shake'' is a fusion of  UK Bass, Hip Hop and Trap, Trap own its own originated from the southern Hip Hop called Crunk. It will amaze you to know that the original dance known as the ''Harlem Shake'' is in no way related to the Internet Meme that is trending right now. Now lets take a look at  Harlem Shake from its origin  ''The Dance'' and ''The Song''

HARLEM  SHAKE. THE ORIGINAL DANCE

The original dance known as Harlem Shake  was introduced in 1981 in Harlem,New York by a guy named Al B, the dance was initially called the Albee dance, it was later named the Harlem Shake as it spreads to other urban areas. The Harlem Shake gained mainstream attention in 2001 when it was featured by then Bad Boy Records artist G Deep in his music video ''Lets Get It'' as seen above. This dance also gave birth to a similar dance called 'The Chicken Noodle Soup'' dance. Originated by DJ Webstar from his song with the same title, this dance also originates from Harlem. The funny thing is, alot of us know the Harlem Shake dance quite well but we dint know it by its real name, this dance has been featured in numerous videos and often used my dancers in competitions. Seeing the real Harlem Shake dance, it becomes clear that the ''internet meme'' has nothing in common with the original dance by that name,we can hypothetically conclude that the trend is clearly associated  solely to the Song ''Harlem Shake'' and not the popular dance routine that already goes by that name.This brings us to the song. 

HARLEM SHAKE  THE SONG

 

The song was released in May 2012  by DJ Baauer an American, real name Harry Rodrigues, after almost a year the song finally garnered attention on February 2013 when the TSCS uploaded their video on YouTube. The song like i earlier said is a fusion of Hip Hop,Bass and Trap. DJ Baauer started  producing at the age of 13 and is highly influenced by Hip Hop and Dance Music. The Harlem Shake was shelved by the Record Label as a result of the initial unsatisfactory impact of the song, it was however released on iTunes in January 2013. DJ Baauer and his record label started making money from the song via YouTube via its ''Monetize'' package and on the 26 of February DJ Baauer's Label Mad Decent signed a deal with Warner Bros records for the worldwide distribution of the song. All this happening in less than a month is a tremendous breakthrough for this producer and we can rightly call this an overnight success. I hope the TSCS gets a handsome reward for taking the song to another level with their funny video, little did they know they were going to turn around the life of a young man far away in the United States. Yeah! Such is life.

For the records, let it be stated here that there is also a musical band of five members that go with this same name. Weather its Harlem Shake the song or the Dance or the Internet meme, The name will always be remembered as one of the phenomenons that moved the world and brought a lot of people together for the purpose of fun and excitement, as even protesters in some Arab countries like Tunisia have given the trend a new meaning using it as a method of sending out their message in a peaceful yet humorous way. Lets emphasize here that in all the forms of the Harlem Shakes, dance or song, you cannot take away the influence of Hip Hop from its creation, Hip Hop is growing everyday and it keeps manifesting in different dimensions and sensations, Hip Hop is ruling the world, this is why I LOVE HIP HOP.

K POP MEETS HIP HOP. THAT'S WHATS UP!

Op! Op! Op! Op! Op! Opa Gangnam style! And the world started jumping to the Kangaroo dance, PSY! Hmmm! ''Sighs''  What can i say? We all know what this South Korean did to our spirit everytime we heard the Gagnam Style song blasting, presently rated as one of the most played song in the world, reaching over a billion views on YouTube, this song is obviously the most successful song of 2012. Yeah! Other major Artists around the world did their best no doubt, but none could contend with the ''highly inflammable'' passion behind the Gangnam Style sensation, i personally witnessed a 2 years old child singing this song and trying to bust some Gangnam moves, while i have also seen numerous videos of different races trying to get down Kangaroo style, even the UN Secretary General was trying out the move, i am sure that Uncle Obama has tried this move in front of his mirror or maybe to entertain the first lady and their kids.

But now lets get to the reason why we are here, the most remarkable thing about this song is that it is not Hip Hop, it is not Rock, its not Techno its not Pop and no it is not Electro music, it is however a genre of music that combines all the aforementioned genre to become K  POP!  Yeah  K Pop the musical style that originated from South Korea, K Pop stands for Korean Pop music and subculture, the contemporary K Pop music is noting like the regular Pop music we normally hear, it is far more dimensional in style than the Pop in its naming represents. Traces of this genre dates back to the 60s but it started gaining attention in the 90s when it started embracing some hip hop culture to its style, the popularity kept increasing spreading across Asia until PSY finally took it to another level with the release of Gangnam Style, a lot of people think PSY is an over nite success, but this dude has been kicking it since 1999! if you go on YouTube, you will find old music videos of  PSY doing what he knows how to do best, singing and rapping. there is no doubt that rap music and hip hop in general played the most vital role in the rise of  K POP, evident in the song Gangnam Style where PSY combines rapping and singing to make the song a typical K POP style.

After the success of  Gangnam style, it became more evidently clear that modern day K POP is a major brain child of  Hip Hop when PSY requested to team up with our very own Hip Hop/Rap veteran MC HAMMER! To perform a live remix of the Gangnam Style, fusing it with MC Hammer's 1991 Hip Hop hit ''2 Legit 2 Quit'' at the prestigious 40th American Music Awards in 2012. They say ''When music nice, you play it twice'' Yeah! The performance was so captivating they had to do it again on New Year's Eve at the New York City Thames Square December 31st  2012. The Mashup has since been released on iTunes. Now lets talk about the collaboration of these men, according Hammer, the hook up was arranged by PSY's manager, the question is what inspired this thought ? weather its PSY or his manager that initiated this plan it makes no difference as PSY's manager represents his interest. If  you carefully watch older music videos of PSY, you can easily tell that he is a fan of the Legendary rapper and dancer Hammer, the Choreographed dance techniques in the videos and the secular style he portrays is obviously borrowed from hip hop culture in general and MC Hammer in particular, this goes a long way to show the influence on Hip Hop in the success of the K POP modification, the beats and other sound productions may be attributed to Pop, Techno, Disco, Electro or Rock, but the main ingredients that makes the genre a ''HYPE'' is the influence of Rap music and Hip Hop culture.

In all this, we have to recognize the role that Hip Hop has played in the world of music and the sacrifice the early advents of this culture made to get it here, lets not be quick to forget the resistance faced by men who where blessed with this wonderful art of creating and recreating this distinctive sound and culture that is now a movement to reckon with in the world of music, the early Graffiti guys were arrested for tampering with state properties, the early Hip Hop show promoters were arrested for disturbing the peace, the early rappers were arrested for promoting violence and hate music, but take a  look at the world today and imagine it without Hip Hop, it wouldn't make any sense to me, i don't know about you.

The Greatest Rappers Alive. Vol 6

Proudly the most successful white rapper in the world, this highly controversial man has conjured both love and hate in the eyes of the public, with twenty three years in the game, seven studio albums, six EP albums, five compilation albums, one soundtrack album, five video albums, thirteen Grammy awards, an Oscar award for ''Best Original Song'' and an outstanding one hundred and sixty one other awards, i cannot talk about greatness and not mention this prolific songwriter and record producer, EMINEM!

Mr Eminem gained mainstream attention in 1999 after he was discovered by Dr Dre in 1998, it is said that Dre found Eminem's Demo on the office floor of  Interscope Geffen A&M's chairman Jimmy Lovine, he hooked up with Eminem and together they made a mind blowing team with Dre as his producer, they released his first commercially successful album ''The slim Shady LP'' that went triple platinum before the end the year. This was just a tip of the iceberg as the year 2000 saw the release of ''The Marshall Mathers LP'' and there was another BOOM! in the hip hop scene, this album sold 1.76 million copies the first week, beating Snoop's ''Doggystyle'' record of seven years and beating Britney Spears Album as the fastest selling solo album in the U.S. In spite of Eminem's notoriety for taking verbal shots at some celebrities in his songs, the world could not but love his outstanding lyrical delivery sharpened by years of freestyle battling in rap competitions while trying to find his identity as a rapper in a world where the game is dominated by blacks.
 
Hip hop culture was undeniably re-branded when Slim Shady made his bold entrance into the rap hall of fame, changing the notion that rap is a ''black thing''. We give it to the black rappers for the notable publicity they gave this genre of music but we give it to Em for taking rap to a whole new level, with a a million more white folks embracing the music after Eminem made it clear to them that if they thought Vanilla Ice's success was a fluke, he was the truth, ''White men can jump''. He has virtually murdered every beat his voice was on, weather on his own track or being featured or with his former group D12, Em goes in with his multisyllabic rhyming method, a master of the act of complex rhyme schemes, it is impossible not to recognize or distinguish Eminem's voice on any track. Little wonder he is often declared as the king of hip hop and top on the list among the greatest musicians in history, with over 100 million records sold worldwide. it will only be natural for me to join the popular opinion  to state here that Eminem is respectfully one of the greatest rappers alive. If you dont believe me, ask 50 cent or Dr Dre lol.

TO BE CONTINUED

The Greatest Rappers Alive Vol 5.

Twenty four years in the game, fourteen studio albums, two live albums,six compilation albums, four mix-tapes, one remix album, seventeen Grammy awards, twenty nine other awards, husband to the most celebrated RnB diva in the world Beyonce Carter! father of the youngest female in the world to be featured in a song Blue Ivy Carter!and one of the richest black entertainer in the world, Ladies and gentlemen please raise your hand in salute to this hip hop general,''capo di tutti capi''  H to the Izzo! Hov! Hovi! Jay Hova! Jigga! S dot Carter, Yeah! JAY Z!

The master of flow, considered the greatest MC of all time by MTV, Mr Carter made a historic impression in rap music in 1998 when he released ''Hard Knock Life'' the ghetto anthem that won the hearts of millions of hip hop lovers around the world, with the chorus sampled from the very interesting 1982 musical movie ''Annie'' Jay Z was able to reignite the emotions behind the movie by sampling Annie's voice from the moive, this also won him the attraction of kids as they were naturally drawn to the sweet melody of the song.

On the rap part, Jay finished it! he left nothing, the beat was lyrically murdered as he kept dropping flows and rhyming slowly, and i quote from the song ''droppin some of the hottest verses rap has ever heard'' Yeah! Jigga came in the game not as a player but as a ruler. Over the years he has kept his fans faithful, as much as haters love to hate Jay Z they just cant decode what makes him above hate, the more you beef him the more rich and famous he gets,and he proved it once again in the just concluded Grammy awards when he took home three awards, and when the haters got nothing else to say, they start saying he is in the secret society the ''Illuminati'' LMFAO! ''HATAZ'' wont you rather be ''Illuminati'' and be rich than be ''Noluminati'' and be broke and gossiping successful people? how come no one calls P Diddy Illuminati? or Master P or Russell Simon? All ''Hatinlunatic'' should better recognize greatness and ''bow down to a nigger that is greater''. I don't need to say much about Jay's achievement, his reputation precedes him, but i sure would state here that JAY Z is one of the most successful rappers ever, automatically making him one of the greatest rappers in history.

TO BE CONTINUED

The Greatest Rappers Alive Vol 4

"Nasty, Nas the Esco to Escober,now he is Nastradamus'' Just in-case you notice an extra glorification of this man, dont blame me,i got so much love for this dude! When we talk about the art of rapping not just entertaining people with vocal delivery on beats, i mean "Rhythm And Poetry" (RAP), Nas has  proven to be an eccentric lyricist and a poetic philosopher with paranormal abilities to create images in our minds with his unique voice giving the impression of watching a movie when listening to his songs, i confidently state that Nas is a spontaneous combustion of vocabularies stored in a human body, all he needs to prove this is "One Mic". With twenty three years in the game, thirteen studio albums, three collaborative album, two compilation album, one EP album, three mix-tapes, fifteen Grammy award nominations, like Snoop, Nas is one successful black entertainer underrated by the Grammy "Insiders", confirming my judgement that they credit commercially successful albums rather than critically successful albums.

The Greatest Rappers Alive Vol 3.

SNOOP  D.O. Double G! Yeah! That's the man, i cant go on talking about great rappers without mentioning this charismatic black man who came into the game with a unique style that is still unrivaled, even with the amount of rappers that has emerged in the game trying to shadow his rhyming  technique, Snoop's soft and laid back style of rapping has continued to bless the hearts of hip hop lovers around the world. With a Solid twenty three years in the music business, eleven studio albums, seventeen compilation albums, twenty mix-tapes, one EP album, forty eight various awards and sixteen Grammy nominations! Uncle Snoop is one of the rap artist i personally suspect is intentionally boycotted by the "insiders" of the Grammy's, Over the years i have seen Grammy awards meant for Snoop Dogg given to musicians that cannot match Snoop's creativity nor compete with the overwhelming  respect and adoration he gets from fans, this brings me to the conclusion that the association responsible for selecting the awards  the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS) does not understand rap music and its basics, my guess is that they are a bunch of  "Old School" folks who still cant get the real "vibes" of hip hop, and i would frankly suggest future Grammy award nominations should be conducted on the bases of public opinion rating and not secret ballot system. I would throw more light on my opinions about the Grammy awards in subsequent publications for now let me get back to Big Snoop Dogg or Snoop Lion.*Roars*

After a successful entry into the music industry in 1992 collaborating with Dr Dre on The Chronic Album, Snoop catapulted into super stardom when he released his first solo debut Doggystyle in 1993, selling 802,858 copies the week it was released and over five million copies as at 2012, this album is considered to be one of the most important hip hop masterpiece in history and definitely the most remarkable album of the 90s staying as the fastest selling artist/album for seven years until the release of Eminem's "The Marshall Mathers LP" in 2000.The success of this album influenced rap music in a very tremendous way and it is Snoop's highest selling album ever.

All through the years gone by, Snoop Dogg  has remained relevant in the hip hop scene and also been among the favorite artist featured by many other musicians, what can i say? Everybody loves Snoop! I doubt if there is any rap music lover that was not influenced by his music and his enigmatic personality not to mention his popular "izzle speak" that has been copied by millions of people around the world.Yes!, Snoop is one of the most influential rappers in the world making him one of the greatest rappers alive and that's for "Shizzle my Nizzle ".

TO BE CONTINUED