Inside the Blippi Harlem Shake Video: How Stevin John Tried to Erase His Gross-out Past
By Alexander Ross
The turning point arrived during the winter of 2013, when the Harlem Shake meme swept the web. Thousands of groups filmed 30-second clips featuring a solitary masked dancer during the intro, followed by an abrupt jump cut to wild, chaotic revelry when the bass dropped. John filmed his own variation inside an apartment bathroom.
In the clip, John stood wearing nothing but an unbuttoned shirt and sunglasses. When the beat dropped, the video cut to John bending over a friend who was lying naked across a porcelain toilet. John proceeded to violently defecate directly onto the other man. Set to Baauer's bass-heavy audio, the clip spread across shock-humor message boards and shock sites like WorldStarHipHop and LiveLeak.
The stunt was designed as visceral internet shock value. It generated immediate disgust across niche forums, but John quickly realized that shock comedy offered limited career longevity. Within months, he shelved the Stevie Grossman channel.
Alexander Ross has covered the video game industry for a decade, writing deep dives on game design, esports tournaments, VR developments, and gaming culture.
