Though it started in 1981, the Harlem shake became mainstream in 2001 when G. Dep featured the dance in his music video "Let's Get It".[1][6] The outro to Missy Elliott's 2002 hit "Work It" states "Yo, it's okay though, you know if you wanna be hard and ice-grilled, and Harlem Shake at the same time, whatever, let's just have fun.