It turns out the nostalgia period for the “Harlem Shake” was a short-lived one.
A new era of goodwill was extended to the recently deceased trend that was the “Harlem Shake” what with the emergence of a tragically hip version by Les Miles and the LSU football team. Apparently, the Backstreet Boys felt that they would be offered immunity under this “goodwill” clause — they were not.
While over 400 thousand people have tuned in to watch the Backstreet Boys offer the same lame video that thousands of more anonymous YouTube users have uploaded, let me remind you that roughly three times that number of people tuned in to see a video entitled, “Farting Dog.” So spare me your claims that this video is somehow socially relevant.
In a way, the Backstreet Boys and the “Harlem Shake” were made for each other — both were kitschy and offered a limited appeal back before the social collective “knew any better.” But unlike other pop culture footnotes that trod this same path before them, only the Backstreet Boys were arrogant enough to believe that their submission warranted a bizarre extended version complete with their syncopated dance moves.
Sure, they’ve still “got it,” but damnit, if you’re going to continue to be an “act” please don’t rub it in everyone’s face. We’ve got plenty of other “musicians” we’ve still got to forget about.
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