"Shake It Off" — Taylor Swift in a TS-logo cheerleader outfit holding pom-poms with backup cheerleaders in a still from the Shake It Off music video

"Shake It Off"

2014viral music videoclassic

Published November 9, 2026

"Shake It Off" is Taylor Swift's 2014 lead single from her fifth album 1989, released on August 18 alongside a music video of her fumbling ballet, modern and hip hop routines1. Within 48 hours the video hit 3 million views and drew same-day accusations of cultural appropriation from rapper Earl Sweatshirt and the blog Jezebel4. YouTubers from Miranda Sings to Bart Baker spun the clip into parodies through September that gathered tens of millions of combined views5.

music video memes parody song memes celebrity backlash memes mashup video memes early 2010s memes

Overview

Swift's music video cycles through dance auditions she fails on purpose, ballet to modern to hip hop, while trained specialists perform polished routines around her1. TaylorSwiftVEVO released a three-part outtakes reel on September 11, with the top video drawing 3 million views by October8.

YouTube creators then used the "Shake It Off" video itself as raw material. Miranda Sings digitally spliced herself into the original footage to perform alongside Swift5; lisbug replaced the lyrics with hostile comments she had received on her own channel6; Bart Baker set the same song over a scene-for-scene Swift roast7. What stuck across the response was the shot-for-shot video edit, not an image macro or catchphrase.

Origin & Background

Platform
YouTube (TaylorSwiftVEVO)
Creator
Taylor Swift
Date
2014

On August 18, 2014, TaylorSwiftVEVO uploaded "Shake It Off" as the lead single and visual from Swift's forthcoming fifth album 19891. Swift cycles through several dance styles across the video including ballet, modern and hip hop, performing awkwardly alongside trained specialists. Backlash hit within hours: Odd Future rapper Earl Sweatshirt tweeted that the clip was "inherently offensive and ultimately harmful" for "perpetuating black stereotypes," though he admitted he had not watched it4. The blog Jezebel called the whole video a "cringeworthy mess" the same day, and Tumblr user Orhgasm answered with a defense post that drew over 1,500 notes in its first day4.

How It Spread

Charts moved fast. USA Today named the single its song of the week on August 192, and Forbes reported that the song debuted at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 on August 273. TaylorSwiftVEVO uploaded three outtakes videos on September 11, and the top one hit 3 million views by October1.

A YouTube parody cycle ran in parallel. Miranda Sings posted an edit that digitally inserted her into the original footage on August 21 and it reached 6.1 million views by October5. On September 19, lisbug released an angry-comment version that gathered 3.8 million views6. Bart Baker's Swift roast posted on September 28 and hit 6.8 million views by October7.

Timeline

2014-08-18

TaylorSwiftVEVO uploads the "Shake It Off" music video; Earl Sweatshirt and Jezebel criticize it the same day.

2014-08-19

USA Today names the single its song of the week.

2014-08-21

Miranda Sings uploads a parody that digitally inserts her into the music video.

2014-08-27

Forbes reports the song debuts at number one on the Billboard Hot 100.

2014-09-11

TaylorSwiftVEVO uploads three outtakes videos from the music video.

2014-09-19

Lisbug uploads a parody that replaces the lyrics with hostile YouTube comments.

2014-09-28

Bart Baker uploads a parody roasting Taylor Swift set to the same song.

How to Use This Meme

Reuse here is video-first. Creators typically take the original music video and alter one layer, inserting themselves into Swift's scenes, overdubbing new lyrics about procrastination or YouTube comments, or filming a shot-for-shot parody with new choreography. The song itself is often kept intact as the backing track so the edit reads as a response to the specific clip.

Frequently Asked Questions