Alpha Phi Alpha members decided to go old school with the Harlem Shake during a step show competition.

This approach proved to be very different given the popularity of the “new” Harlem shake dance craze.

The new Harlem Shake dance craze occurred several weeks ago after dance videos were uploaded to the Internet with participants dancing to song producer Baauer’s song “Harlem Shake.”

The song, initially released on May 22, 2012, didn’t pick up steam until early February. The irony of the dance videos being created is the participants are not doing the Harlem Shake.

The new dance cause a bit of controversy amongst fans of the original dance.

Filmmaker Chris McGuire took to the famous 125th street in Harlem to interview residents on their thoughts on the recent “Harlem Shake” videos that have hit the net.

“Interesting because I don’t think it’s culturally related to the original Harlem shake,” a woman on camera said.

“It looked like they smoked some dust,” another interviewee said.

Diddy, who popularized the dance in the early 2000s, took to Twitter to comment on the “Harlem Shake” controversy. The Bad Boy Records founder praised MSNBC’s Melissa Harris-Perry for dedicating a segment of her show on the cultural dance.

“The Harlem Shake controversy is finally cleared up! Thank you MSNBC and @MHarrisPerry for letting the world know!” he wrote.



Perry says Harlem’s heritage was “invaded” by those have little knowledge of the borough’s history.

“Harlem has given birth to some of America’s most distinctive and original art, music and literature,” she said. “And just as surely as Harlem has innovated, it has been invaded by those who come to Harlem with little sense of history or social context and no desire for political or economic solidarity.”

A week ago during an interview with MTV, Diddy weighed in on the reemergence of the “Harlem Shake” dance that initially put Harlem on the map in 2001.

Diddy called the new Harlem Shake a “fun version.”

“Anytime when people are dancing, especially in this day in age when everyone’s trying to be so cool. And people are letting loose. Letting out some steam. I agree with it,” he said.

But Diddy wants everyone to learn the origin of the dance.

“I do want people to get educated on the real Harlem shake,” he wrote. “It’s something that’s an art form. But anything that’s branding Harlem, you know my hometown, I’m all for it. Anything that’s fun and that’s positive, I’m all for it.”

Check out the Alphas perform original Harlem Shake below.



Watch Diddy’s Interview Below

Check out the Original Harlem Shake video below.

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