For many who don’t understand Korean, or Korean culture, Psy’s fame seems like a fluke in the overall madness of Youtube stardom. I loved the Gangnam song because of the obvious catchiness, as well as the actual message behind the song. Again, he was clever enough to mock the glitzy lifestyle of those living in the Gangnam district – the Beverly Hills of South Korea. But most of the world didn’t care and ‘Gangnam Style’ was just known as the crazy horse dance.
Psy’s Gentleman M/V
Well that was Stupid..
So I listened to the song first, and I was like…”whaa??”. Not impressed, seemed a bit too electronic for me. The lyrics were nothing special, especially if you think about how ‘Gangnam Style’ was filled with satire. They aren’t anything to even think about,
I don’t know if you know why it needs to be smooth
I don’t know if you know why it needs to be sexy
I don’t know if you know darling, hurry and come be crazy
I don’t know if you know, it’s crazy, crazy, hurry up
Well that was Smart…
But soon as I watched the music video, I thought “Genius”. And here is why:
- He continues to take his fame lightly, which means I think, he understands that his fame was a Youtube glitch. He can’t come off as too serious, or else we would just scoff at him trying to actually be serious about it. (Even though he deserves it, he’s been in the industry for years, and when you watch documentaries on him, you see how serious he is about his music).
- You can’t go wrong with the “Billy Madison” style humor. So many people appreciate it, and again, it helps with the transition into continuing to be liked world-wide. His music is suppose to be fun. He is serious about entertaining people.
- He is a genius in all of this (or at least his management team) because he is playing on K-Pop’s feeling and bringing back an oldie but goodie dance. Psy teased about his new dance, “I can’t tell you about the dance but all Koreans know this dance.” [source]. So Ga-In from Brown Eyed Girls made an appearance in the vid and most importantly the new dance is a comeback of the dance in Brown Eyed Girl’s Abracadabra video. It’s simple, everyone can do it and most of all it doesn’t label Psy as being just cheesy.
- He is promoting and expanding the knowledge of K-Pop. Hyuna, the girl in ‘Gangnam Style’, is actually a pretty well-known star in her own right. But now, the world knows her as that pretty girl in Psy’s video, and those who are interested enough can actuall find her music and become a fan. (She’s Matt’s favorite actually – check out his favorite vid here which is her duet and then her other song called BubblePop). So in this video, it introduc es the world to Brown Eyed Girls. Check it:
The dance in Psy’s Gentleman vid is a copy of Brown Eyed Girl’s Abracadabra
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