Hadouken Levitate is a 2013 electro house track where the track got popularity when a YouTube promotion video titled “People Are Awesome 2013” included the Levitate track.
The video includes different varies of cool stunts people have preformed through different scenarios such as parachuting off a bridge, back flips, parkour, trick-shot, & more.
‘People Are Awesome 2013’ was the number one most watched video on YouTube around the world, gaining 20 million views in its first week. The video currently has over 100 million views on YouTube, making it more successful than the first ‘People Are Awesome’ viral, which currently sits at 66 million views.
The viral promo became the most watched video on the channel last week, and, as a result, has sent the track rocketing up iTunes charts across the globe, including Top 10’s in the UK, Canada and Australia. Incredibly, thanks to the video’s use of footage of American football, basketball and skateboarding stunts, the track is now Top Five in the US iTunes chart after selling 15,000 copies online in the past 9 days.
About the Band: Hadouken!
Wikipedia article – Hadouken! were a British dance-punk band formed in London in 2006 by singer, songwriter and producer James Smith and synth player Alice Spooner along with guitarist Daniel “Pilau” Rice, bassist Christopher Purcell and drummer Nick Rice. The band took its name from the special attack of the same name from the game Street Fighter. It was in Leeds that Hadouken! began their own record label, Surface Noise Records.
The band had received 2 nominations in the Best Electronic Artist/DJ at the BT Digital Music Awards. One from 2007 and the other on 2008 winning the nomination.
On November 10, 2014, Hadouken had announced their hiatus on Facebook stating,
“We have recently decided to take a break from performing as Hadouken to give ourselves some time to work on other projects,” the band explain.
“The last seven years have been a phenomenal experience for all of us, we’ve released three top 40 albums and played gigs in over 30 countries, so we want to take this opportunity to say thanks to everyone who supported us over the years. We were never a darling of the press or radio and it’s only through the support of an incredible legion of fans that we achieved what we did. From those that bought ‘That Boy That Girl’ on limited edition vinyl in 2006 to those that danced to ‘Levitate’ in front of the main stage at Reading & Leeds last summer. Thanks to you we spent the last seven years doing the thing we love for a living, which is a privilege that we are truly grateful for.”
“Of course you’ll be hearing from us all before too long. James is currently writing & recording in LA and will be releasing new music soon. Nick, Dan & Chris are still recording with their band Cast of Lions. Other projects will be announced in due course.”
“One day we will no doubt limber up for another round of shows & festivals, so keep in touch, but for now, that’s it.”
“Thanks for everything,
James, Nick, Chris, Dan and Alice”
To this day they haven’t came back.
Honorable mention articles
Interview with Hadouken! – The Up Coming
Hadouken! Concert History – Concert Archives
A article about their Australian tour on August 2008 – Handsome Tours
Hadouken! Thank The ‘Internet Phenomenon’ – Gigwise.com
Hadouken! official Tumblr page