: John utilized DMCA takedown notices to remove the video from YouTube and other social media platforms.
As a final, bizarre touch, the video ends with the website's logo and an inscription reading "thanks for sharing :)". Despite the graphic and unhygienic nature of the content, Grossman also included a visual "black bar" to censor his friend’s genitals, an oddly puritanical detail in an otherwise shocking video.
Before becoming a toddler-favorite icon, Stevin John operated under the pseudonym . During the 2013 peak of the "Harlem Shake" viral meme—originally popularized by George Miller (Filthy Frank)—John released his own rendition on the now-defunct website HarlemShakePoop.com .
The video was quickly flagged and removed from YouTube for violating community guidelines regarding "nudity and sexual content" or "harmful/dangerous content." This swift deletion turned the video into a "holy grail" for collectors of internet weirdness and shock media. The Role of the Internet Archive harlem shake poop steezy grossman internet archive
How the changed video editing trends.
When the "Harlem Shake" met the "Poop" aesthetic, the result was pure digital anarchy. Instead of funny costumes and office workers dancing, a YTP version of the Harlem Shake transformed the trend into a terrifying, flashing nightmare of distorted audio, surrealist imagery, and grotesque visual loops. It took a viral pop-culture moment and melted it down into a disturbing, hyper-edited piece of counter-culture media. Preserving the Avant-Garde on the Internet Archive
In internet slang, "steezy" (a portmanteau of "style" and "ease") denotes doing something with effortless style. In the context of early YouTube and video platforms, variations of "Steez," "Steezy," or "Steezy Video" were frequently used as handles by editors, skateboarders, dancers, or content creators who specialized in stylized, rhythm-heavy video edits. : John utilized DMCA takedown notices to remove
Years before millions of toddlers were singing along to "The Excavator Song," the man behind the blue-and-orange beanie was producing highly controversial, gross-out content under the alias . At the epicenter of this internet rabbit hole sits a notorious clip permanently etched into the digital ether: the "Harlem Shake Poop" video. The Rise of the "Harlem Shake" Meme
"Not toilet humor," Devon said. "An accidental manifesto. Society's little refuse becoming the centerpiece. We dress it up—make it art."
Today, while the video is still a topic of fascination on forums like The Role of the Internet Archive How the
In the original video, the solo dancer was credited as "Steezy Grossman." A few days later, a secondary upload of the video appeared on YouTube titled simply:
The juxtaposition of the upbeat, bass-heavy track with the grotesque, almost Dadaist visuals of "Harlem Shake Poop" was the perfect cocktail for virality. People shared it out of sheer confusion.