I'll watch him and imitate him over a few beers but that's about it.'Īmericans and Europeans thought Gangnam style referred to the style of his neighbourhood, like the Bronx attitude or something. He says, "An American I spoke to told me, 'I won't buy his album or listen to him on the way to work or anything. It has gained the attention of the mainstream audience." Koshy appears a little less confident. However in a post-Gangnam Style world he believes, "Psy's success is different. The Korean ad folk are hopeful this could be a harbinger of K-Pop, a phenomenon with a decidedly Southeast Asian fanbase so far, going global.Ĭhoi says his agency has even considered using the genre following a massively popular K-Pop concert in Paris but decided against it since most of its fans are teenagers who are unlikely to be serious consumers. The video is also funny and that works as a global language."
This song is designed to be sung easily by choosing simple Korean words and repetition of the same phrase. For most people, Korean might be difficult to pronounce. The song was tweeted by American rapper TPain and was quickly shared and reshared by people across the world.Īnalysing just why this caught on when a lot of other K-Pop has a more niche appeal, Choi believes, "People could easily learn the horse riding dance. Its global spread was at least in part orchestrated.Īpart from being extensively shared by Psy's fans across social networking platforms, its popularity was bolstered by competitions around the dance style, and a relaxed attitude from Psy's label towards riffs on the video, even parodies that were not complimentary at all. And yet, the worldwide popularity of Gangnam Style has very little to do with its lyrics. Strangely enough, the severely uncool looking Psy is one of the closest things South Korea has to a rebel pop star - someone who makes the younger generation laugh at Korean society while enraging the elders. Some of his earlier work was banned for objectionable content. It's just the sort of song that Korean music fans have come to expect from Psy who is considered a bit of a loose cannon in the K-pop universe. This phenomenon is quite typical of the Gangnam area because everyone's worried about their image." These women will subsist on cheap street food but buy expensive coffee just to be seen drinking it. The song is about his search for ‘the perfect girlfriend’ who knows when to be refined and when to get wild."Īdds George Koshy, senior creative director at Innocean India who landed in Seoul smack in the middle of Psy-mania, "Among the many sorts who work and live here, is a section of women who are referred to as 'Doenjangnyeo.' June Hong, client services director, Innocean India, adds "It describes 'Gangnam Style' as noble by day and crazy by night.
Through the video, you sense that Psy is describing a person who is trying too hard." This song describes a guy who wants to be considered cool and stylish like a typical Gangnam person, but eventually fails. YK 'Scott' Choi, the head of the Kia Motors business at Innocean Worldwide explains, "Gangnam is the area where rich and fashionable young people get together. It’s a critique of conspicuous consumption in Korea in general and Gangnam in particular. The song is oddly subversive in a genre which sticks to shopworn themes like love, lust and heartbreak. He taught Britney Spears his dance moves on the Ellen Degeneres Show and Gangnam Style has been covered by the likes of Nelly Furtado and Maroon 5.Īll of which pales compared to its reception in its home country where the dance moves - a ridiculous mimicking of horse riding and a sideways shuffle - have become the rage.Ī recent conference in Seoul by Korean advertising agency Innocean which works on Hyundai Motors began with a viewing of Gangnam Style and a discussion on the phenomenon. In an even more delicious irony, Psy's biggest hit which mocks many of the visual clichés of the average pop video has landed him a chance to hang out with America's finest. At the time of going to press, the video for his latest single had registered well over 225 million views on YouTube.
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