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Crab Rave

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"Crab Rave"
Single by Noisestorm
from the album Monstercat Instinct Vol. 1
Released1 April 2018 (2018-04-01)
Genre
[1]
Length2:41
LabelMonstercat
Songwriter(s)Eoin O'Broin[2]
Producer(s)Eoin O'Broin
Noisestorm singles chronology
"Escape"
(2017) 		"Crab Rave"
(2018) 		"Breakout"
(2018)
Music video
"Crab Rave" on YouTube

"Crab Rave" is a song by Irish DJ and music producer Noisestorm. Canadian record label Monstercat released it on 1 April 2018.

The song was originally released as part of the compilation album Monstercat Instinct Vol. 1, released 15 June 2018. It was later featured as part of Monstercat's Best of 2018 compilation album, released on 14 December 2018. It peaked at No. 14 on Billboard's Dance/Electronic Songs chart.

Background and release

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On 1 April 2018, the song was released as a digital download on international digital stores through Canadian record label Monstercat, as well as being released through various music streaming services.[3] "Crab Rave" was featured on the compilation album titled Monstercat Instinct Vol. 1 released on 15 June 2018.[4] The song was later featured on the yearly best-of compilation album titled Monstercat – Best Of 2018 released on 14 December 2018.[5]

In 2015, Epic Games launched Unreal Dev Grants, a $5 million development fund aiming to provide grants to creative projects using Unreal Engine 4. In November 2018, Epic announced that it would award a further $800,000 to more than 30 individuals and teams, including O'Broin for his efforts in creating the music video for "Crab Rave", featuring thousands of computer-generated dancing crabs.[6]

On 1 April 2019, Czech-based indie studio Beat Games announced that "Crab Rave" was to be released onto their virtual reality rhythm game Beat Saber.[7] The song was intentionally released on April Fools' Day to celebrate the first anniversary of the song's original release.[8]

Reception

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The song marked the first appearance of O'Broin in the Billboard charts, with the song debuting at number 36 on the "Hot Dance/Electronic Songs" category. The song gained 1 million (U.S) online streams, in the week ending 22 November. The song has since become the second most popular video across both of Monstercat's YouTube channels, surpassing Monstercat: Instinct's second most popular video by 13 times.[3] As of August 2022, the music video has gained over 200 million views on the "Monstercat: Instinct" YouTube channel.[9]

Internet meme

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An animated GIF of the music video, depicting a large number of dancing crabs

"Crab Rave" was initially released as a small April Fool's Day joke,[10] although it soon gained popularity after becoming an Internet meme due to the music video's uplifting theme and dancing crabs.

In an interview with Suzana Palyan of Billboard, O'Broin expressed his appreciation for its growing popularity, writing "It's incredibly cool to see people enjoying it for the humour and video, as well as for the music itself. I really didn't anticipate the wave of new listeners and the plethora of memes based on the original; it's very fun to see the new creative variations being made every day." The music video was developed by O'Broin using the program Unreal Engine.[11][10]

O'Broin has further expressed his gratitude with the song's popularity, stating that he never expected the song to become so popular and for it to become an Internet meme, writing "Honestly, I had no idea. It just happened – and the cool thing is it happened completely by itself. I just put it out as a funny video and whoever made the 'Obama is Gone' meme kind of kicked everything off. It's fun to go around and read the latest comments because people are always making new versions of the meme and progressing it. I definitely didn't expect it."[12]

In 2018, various remixes and edits of the song were uploaded online. In July, a version of the song overlaid with the text 'Obama is Gone' gained popularity. Originally a shitpost, this use referencing a powerful (or widely disliked) persons passing or removal from power would become a prominent use of the meme.[13] The meme was again used during the announcement that President Trump had COVID, following his loss in the 2020 United States presidential election, and again after his suspension from Twitter following January 6th.[13][14]

Following the death of Elizabeth II in September 2022, Crab Rave was shared across Twitter, Tumblr, and Reddit.[13] The death of Henry Kissinger was celebrated online using the crab emoji.[15]

In other media

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"Crab Rave" was referenced in the first-person shooter Battlefield V in the multiplayer map Wake Island, based on its real-life counterpart.[16] A tribute easter egg dedicated to fans of the Battlefield franchise featured a remix of the Battlefield theme in the style of "Crab Rave".[17] To unlock the easter egg, players must find several crabs across the island which scurry off if the player approaches. If the player approaches enough crabs, they can access a pair of headphones which play a message in morse code from a radio station. Decoding the message reveals a set of coordinates around Wake Island where vinyl records can be found. The records play the themes from previous Battlefield games. If the player collects enough of the records, an in-game crab rave will take place, set to a remix of the Battlefield theme.[18]

Continuing the tradition of April Fools' Day events, virtual reality rhythm game Beat Saber added the song as free playable DLC in 2019.[19] The map was noted for its difficulty, and later in 2019, a new map of the song was added to the game, this time in 360 Degrees.[20]

In July 2019, a leak for the free-to-play game Fortnite Battle Royale revealed a dance emote titled "Crabby" was being added to the game. It was noted by a Dot Esports editor that it was likely inspired by "Crab Rave" and was added to the game because of the song's increasingly popular music video.[21]

In April 2021, Titan Forge Games announced a collaboration with Monstercat to add content to Smite based on multiple Monstercat artists, including Noisestorm. The character Khepri, the Ancient Egyptian scarab god, was given a "Crab Rave"-inspired skin.[22][23]

During the 2023 Desert Bus for Hope fundraiser livestream, the song became a running gag among the organizers. Whenever someone mentioned a crab on camera, the song would play briefly as the entertainers danced by swaying and making pinching motions with their hands.[24]

In January 2024, Teamfight Tactics added a gameplay variant named after Crab Rave featuring the game's crab-like characters dancing, replacing the usual non-player enemies players faced.[25] The variant quickly gained notoriety among the playerbase for how common it was for players to lose to the crabs in later rounds where defeating the enemies was usually trivial.[26] In March, the track was licensed and added to the game as the background music for the variant.[27]

Charts

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Certifications

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Region Certification Certified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[30] Silver 200,000‡
United States (RIAA)[31] Platinum 1,000,000‡

‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Release history

[edit]
Region Date Format Version Label Ref.
Worldwide 1 April 2018 Digital download "Crab Rave" Monstercat [3]
15 June 2018 Monstercat Instinct Vol. 1 [4]
14 December 2018 Monstercat – Best Of 2018 [5]

References

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  1. ^ Meadow, Matthew (22 January 2019). "EDM Reddit Reveals Best of 2018 Voting Results At Long Last". Your EDM. Archived from the original on 3 April 2019. Retrieved 3 April 2019.
  2. ^ "ASCAP Repertory entry for this song". ASCAP. Archived from the original on 6 March 2013. Retrieved 14 May 2021.
  3. ^ a b c Meadow, Matthew (29 November 2018). "This EDM April Fools Joke Is Actually Charting On Billboard". Your EDM. Archived from the original on 30 November 2018. Retrieved 9 June 2019.
  4. ^ a b Callison, Bradley (27 June 2018). "Monstercat Drops 'Instinct Vol. 1' Compilation". Noiseporn. Archived from the original on 18 February 2020. Retrieved 9 June 2019.
  5. ^ a b "Monstercat's unveils "Best Of 2018" album featuring this year's best releases!". T.H.E - Music Essentials. 15 December 2018. Archived from the original on 21 March 2019. Retrieved 8 June 2019.
  6. ^ "Epic Games Awards $800,000 in Unreal Dev Grants". GameDev.net. Archived from the original on 12 December 2018. Retrieved 30 November 2018.
  7. ^ "Beat Saber Adds Crab Rave For Free In New Update". UploadVR. 2 April 2019. Archived from the original on 3 April 2019. Retrieved 3 April 2019.
  8. ^ "Crab Rave is the Latest Free Beat Saber Song, Available Now". PlayStation LifeStyle. 1 April 2019. Archived from the original on 3 April 2019. Retrieved 3 April 2019.
  9. ^ Monstercat: Instinct (April 2018), Noisestorm - Crab Rave [Monstercat Release], archived from the original on 9 November 2018, retrieved 12 December 2018
  10. ^ a b Stevo (4 December 2018). "This EDM April Fool's Meme Has Just Entered Into Billboard's Hot Dance/Electronic Songs Chart". EDM Sauce. Archived from the original on 12 December 2018. Retrieved 12 December 2018.
  11. ^ "Billboard Dance Chart Upstarts: Nora En Pure, Noisestorm and CamelPhat x Cristoph". Billboard. Archived from the original on 30 November 2018. Retrieved 30 November 2018.
  12. ^ "October Feature: Noisestorm". Monstercat. Archived from the original on 12 December 2018. Retrieved 12 December 2018.
  13. ^ a b c Silva, Christiana (9 September 2022). "The real meaning behind the crab emoji is darker than you think". Mashable.com. Archived from the original on 21 September 2022. Retrieved 21 September 2022.
  14. ^ "Trump is Gone 2020 election crab rave | 2020 United States Presidential Election". Know Your Meme. Archived from the original on 8 December 2023. Retrieved 8 December 2023.
  15. ^ "Henry Kissinger Dies At 100, Internet Reactions Range From '🦀🦀🦀' To 'RIPBOZO'". Know Your Meme. 30 November 2023. Archived from the original on 8 December 2023. Retrieved 8 December 2023.
  16. ^ Zdanowicz, Mateusz (19 December 2019). "Battlefield 5 z easter-eggiem nawiązującym do mema - tańczące kraby na Wake Island". Eurogamer (in Polish). Archived from the original on 31 December 2019. Retrieved 31 December 2019.
  17. ^ Sheridan 2019-12-18T15:59:35Z, Connor (18 December 2019). "Battlefield 5 Wake Island Easter egg thanks longtime fans with a crab dance party". GamesRadar+. Archived from the original on 31 December 2019. Retrieved 31 December 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  18. ^ "Battlefield V Easter Egg Summons Raucous Crab Rave". Kotaku. 19 December 2019. Archived from the original on 31 December 2019. Retrieved 31 December 2019.
  19. ^ "Beat Saber adds Crab Rave for free in new Update". UploadVR. 2 April 2019. Archived from the original on 3 April 2019. Retrieved 28 May 2020.
  20. ^ "Beat Saber adds Green Day Music Pack and 360 Levels". Variety. 12 December 2019. Archived from the original on 4 January 2020. Retrieved 28 May 2020.
  21. ^ Walker, Ben (1 July 2019). "Fortnite accidentally leaks Crab Rave-inspired emote on social media". Dot Esports. Archived from the original on 16 August 2022. Retrieved 23 September 2020.
  22. ^ QuintLyn (26 April 2021). "Smite Gains Gilgamesh And Monstercat Battlepass, Loses Servers In Southeast Asia And Latin America". MMO Bomb. Archived from the original on 27 April 2021. Retrieved 27 April 2021.
  23. ^ Scilippa, Phil (26 April 2021). "Monstercat Partners with Multiplayer Battle Arena Game SMITE for Special Edition Battle Pass". EDM.com. Archived from the original on 26 April 2021. Retrieved 27 April 2021.
  24. ^ "Local livestream of 'most boring video game' surpasses $10M for charity". CHEK. 18 November 2023. Archived from the original on 19 November 2023. Retrieved 19 November 2023.
  25. ^ "Teamfight Tactics patch 14.1 notes". teamfighttactics.leagueoflegends.com. 9 January 2024. Retrieved 28 October 2024.
  26. ^ "Battling the Tide: TFT Players Weigh in on Crab Rave Challenge". www.zleague.gg. 2 February 2024. Retrieved 28 October 2024.
  27. ^ Yopko, Nick (7 March 2024). "Riot Games, Monstercat and Noisestorm Reveal What Went Into Bringing "Crab Rave" to Teamfight Tactics". EDM.com - The Latest Electronic Dance Music News, Reviews & Artists. Retrieved 28 October 2024.
  28. ^ "Noisestorm Chart History (Hot Dance/Electronic Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved 26 December 2020.
  29. ^ "Hot Dance/Electronic Songs – Year-End 2019". Billboard. Archived from the original on 6 December 2019. Retrieved 6 December 2019.
  30. ^ "British single certifications – Noisestorm – Crab Rave". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 22 March 2024.
  31. ^ "American single certifications – Noisestorm – Crab Rave". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved 26 October 2021.
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