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“Harlem Shake” compensation is being sought after two acts said their voices were used without permission. The “Harlem Shake” is a type of dance craze that has been plastered across YouTube in recent months.
Tunisian students perform the Internet video craze, the 'Harlem Shake', in front of the education ministry headquarters on March 1, 2013. It was reported Monday that two artists are seeking compensation from DJ Bauer, who created the "Harlem Shake." (Fethi Belaid/AFP/Getty Images)
Two artists are seeking compensation from DJ Bauer, the creator of the “Harlem Shake” dance craze that has flooded YouTube over the past several weeks.
Songs from Hector Delgado, a former reggaeton performer, and Philadelphia rapper Jayson Musson were sampled in the “Harlem Shake,” a No. 1 hit single, reported The New York Times. The two allege that their vocals were not used with their permission when Bauer created the track.
Musson’s voice can be heard on the track saying, “Do the Harlem Shake!” which was taken from the Plastic Little song “Miller Time” in 2011. The track also contains samples from Delgado’s “Maldades.”
“It’s almost like they came on my land and built a house,” Delgado told the Times.
Both men are now seeking compensation from Mad Decent Records, the label that put out the “Harlem Shake” in 2012.
Musson told the Times that he was in talks with Mad Decent over compensation. No decision has been agreed upon, but he said that the discussion was on friendly terms. “Mad Decent have been more than cooperative during this,” he said.
In early 2013, the single was used as the background music for tens of thousands of videos of people, including athletes and celebrities, doing the “Harlem Shake.” As many as 4,000 videos of the dance craze are being uploaded each day on YouTube, according to a YouTube trend-watching website.
But the videos have not been without controversy.
Last week, as many as 15 miners were fired from working at an Australian mine after a video posted on YouTube showed them doing the “Harlem Shake.”
In late February, a 17-year-old Queens student was arrested for trying to organize a mass “Harlem Shake” event at his school.
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