Drake's "Hotline Bling" music video was an almost immediate viral hit. The music video, which features the Canadian rappers dancing in a thick wool sweater, has been recreated and parodied by a number of high-profile figures. The video is infectious, and not only because of the Internet's penchant for turning the Toronto rapper into a meme. Drake unlocked something in his viewers through his movement and gesticulation, and gave his track an entirely different life. Now, it appears the "Hotline Bling" video is the subject of a study on musical movement and audience's reaction to choreography.
The study, conducted by NPR, interviewed a number of experts regarding our brain's reactions to the visually stimulating video and dancing. "Listening to music doesn't just activate the auditory regions of the brain," says David Poeppel, an NYU psychology professor. "Rhythmic input also automatically activates your motor cortex too. Call it 'predancing.'" Essentially, the rhythm of Drake's track has audiences moving along without necessarily being conscious of their participation.
"Our brains can lay down beats anywhere on a continuously moving visual stimulus," Dr. Devin McAuley of Michigan State explains, alluding to the many mash-ups and remixes associated with the track.
The study remarks, "Recent research hints at how the human brain is uniquely able to recognize and enjoy music - how we render simple ripples of vibrating air into visceral, emotional experiences. It turns out, the answer has a lot to do with timing. The work also reveals why your musician friends are sometimes more tolerant of really boring music." Thus, it's no wonder "Hotline Bling" was such a hit, and people cannot stop dancing to it's inexorably catchy beat.
The study continues, "Music brings with it a subconscious physicality. Dancing, foot-tapping and head-bobbing or headbanging are often inseparable from the rhythm and beat of song itself."
