"Gangnam Style" is a single released by South Korean singer Psy on July 15, 2012. It achieved widespread international recognition and became the most viewed YouTube video, becoming the first video to gain a billion views on December 21, 2012. [1] "Gangnam Style"'s unprecedented worldwide popularity was acknowledged by YouTube, who called it a "massive" hit at a global level "unlike anything we've ever seen before" while Billboard noted that "Gangnam Style" was nothing short of a pop culture phenomenon. [2] As a result, it has influenced worldwide popular culture in many aspects.
The earliest "Gangnam Style" flash mobs were held in Pasadena, California, [36] and Sydney, Australia. [37] On September 12, Times Square in Manhattan was filled with a flash mob dancing to the music of "Gangnam Style" during ABC's Good Morning America . [38] Five days later, Psy appeared in a flash mob organized by the American entertainment TV show Extra in Los Angeles. The dress code was either "something comfortable" or "Psy-inspired clothing." [39] A "Gangnam Style" flash mob in front of the Obelisco de Buenos Aires national monument in Argentina was shown on the national news programme Antes del Mediodía. [40] In the Indian film Rangrezz, the song is an official parody of "Gangnam Style" featuring Jakky Bhagnani as Psy. All the scenes are from "Gangnam Style" video converted into Mumbai. In Thailand, officials from the Dan Sai municipality in Loei Province shot a video of people wearing masks and performing "Gangnam Style" during the Phi Ta Khon "ghost" festival. According to the Thai newspaper The Nation , villagers and spiritual leaders from Loei province have felt "uneasy" and also "greatly offended" about this "Gangnam Style" performance which tarnishes the image of a 400-year-old tradition. [41]
"Gangnam Style" has also made its way into various sporting events:
In Geneva, Switzerland, about 300 people gathered at the International Monument to the Reformation for a parody of "Gangnam Style" organized by a local radio station. [103] According to The Christian Post , "Gangnam Style" was parodied by Inri Cristo, a self-proclaimed reincarnation of Jesus Christ, to attract the public's attention. [104] Another noteworthy parody is "Jerusalem Syndrome Gangnam Style", which is shot at the Old City of Jerusalem and includes important heritage sites such as Mahane Yehuda Market, Western Wall, Zion Square, and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. It also includes a special cameo appearance by the Mayor of Jerusalem Nir Barkat. The Times of Israel described the parody as "a unique Jerusalem twist to the song". [105] The Argentine TV series Graduados made another parody, danced by the Argentine-Korean actor Chang Kim Sung. [106] Obama Gangnam Style! [107] is a parody by Barack Obama impersonator Reggie Brown. [108] The musical television series Glee covers the song in their season 4 episode "Thanksgiving" with Jenna Ushkowitz on lead vocals. [109] The rapidly growing popularity and international recognition of "Gangnam Style" has spawned many user generated videos, some of them have received international media recognition, such as:
Through his song Gangnam Style, PSY has become an
international sensation, with his satirical song’s video clip
- and its horse-riding-like dance moves – viewed more than
half a billion times since its release in July.
—The United Nations, [206] October 24, 2012
On October 3, 2012, "Gangnam Style" was mentioned during a U.S. State Department briefing when a reporter asked spokeswoman Victoria Nuland if she had heard about the song, to which Nuland replied: "No, but I bet you my daughter does. She loves Korean pop." She also told the international media that she planned to "dial it up" and watch the video. [207]
A few weeks later Nuland described "Gangnam Style" as "fantastic" and added that both her daughter and her husband Robert Kagan "all love the Gangnam Style" and that she had mastered its dance moves by watching the video clip "for weeks and weeks." [208]
On October 9, Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London, held a speech at the 2012 Conservative Party Conference, where he admitted that "Gangnam Style is very good". [209] He talked about the vast variety of exports that originate from London, including television aerials which the Koreans use to watch "Gangnam Style". He also told the audience that he and the British Prime Minister David Cameron have danced "Gangnam Style". [210]
On October 17, "Gangnam Style" was performed by George Christensen, a member of the Australian House of Representatives. [211] During an interview with the French news agency AFP, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon revealed that he has watched "Gangnam Style" several times. He hailed the song as a "force for world peace" and added that "there are no languages required in the musical world. That is the power of music, that is the power of the heart. Through this promotion of arts we can better understand the culture and civilisations of other people. In this era of instability and intolerance we need to promote better understanding through the power of music." [212]
In 2012, Congressman John Lewis from the U.S. House of Representatives danced "Gangnam Style" to promote voting. [213]
"Gangnam Style" has been used by presidential candidates during elections. Ju-min Park of Reuters mentioned that a few of South Korea's normally staid presidential candidates are imitating Psy's moves in an appeal to voters. [214]
In Chile, the dance was also used by students during massive protests across the country [215] and the Chinese dissident Ai Weiwei, who was detained by Chinese authorities in 2011 for his political activism, danced "Gangnam Style" with a pair of handcuffs as a symbol of his arrest and uploaded a video titled "Grass Mud Horse Style" onto YouTube and other Chinese websites. According to the Associated Press, government authorities had removed the video from most websites the next day. [142] [143]
The Colorado Democratic Party celebrated U.S. President Barack Obama's victory at the 2012 U.S. presidential election by dancing "Gangnam Style" during the Denver Democratic watch party. [216]
During his speech in front of the Parliament of Malaysia, the politician Bung Mokhtar Radin drew comparisons between the youth of his country and "Gangnam Style". He remarked "They should be like PSY and Gangnam Style. He, his styles and his group is very popular. Millions of people are watching his video clip, not like our youths…destroying our image of our country and our people." [217]
In Bali, Indonesia, The Committee for Environmental Advocacy staged a protest against the building of a suspended highway connecting Ngurah Rai International Airport with the city by dancing "Gangnam Style". [218] [219] In the Philippines, students commemorating the 40th anniversary of the declaration of Martial law in the country danced "Gangnam Style" at Chino Roces Bridge during a protest against the former President Ferdinand Marcos' use of the military during his 14-year dictatorial rule. [220]
The following political leaders have mentioned "Gangnam Style" on social media platforms or through speeches:
Politician | Position | Quote |
---|---|---|
Jim Yong Kim | President of the World Bank | I love Gangnam Style, my three-year-old son dances around doing Gangnam Style all the time [221] [222] |
Song Sang-Hyun | President of the International Criminal Court | Let me apologize in advance if I slightly overstep the conventional time limit allocated to speakers. I am afraid I could not stay within say, 10 minutes even if I were to speak in Gangnam Style" [223] [224] |
Barack Obama | President of the United States | I just saw that video for the first time. I think I can do that move. But I'm not sure that the inauguration ball is the appropriate time to break that out. Maybe do it privately for Michelle. [225] |
Tara Sonenshine | Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs | Of course, we all know about Gangnam Style. Well, the man behind it – Psy – went to Boston University and the Berklee College of Music [226] |
Lee Hsien Loong | Prime Minister of Singapore | Enjoyed this Singaporean parody of "Gangnam Style", produced for Children's Day. [227] |
Najib Razak | Prime Minister of Malaysia | Been hearing about Gangnam Style all of last week, even in the news. What's your view that makes it so popular? [228] |
The following political leaders, Congressmen and Members of Parliament have performed the dance moves of "Gangnam Style" at various locations:
Politician | Position | Location of "Gangnam Style" performance |
---|---|---|
Ban Ki-moon | Secretary-General of the United Nations | United Nations Headquarters [229] |
David Cameron | Prime Minister of the United Kingdom | Chequers Court, Buckinghamshire [230] |
Boris Johnson | Mayor of London | |
Rob McKenna | State attorney general of Washington | International District, Seattle [231] |
John Lewis | Representative for Georgia's 5th congressional district | YouTube video [232] |
Mike Honda | Representative for California's 15th congressional district | YouTube video [233] |
George Christensen | Representative for the seat of Dawson (Australia) | Mackay, Queensland [211] |
Lim Swee Say | Minister in Prime Minister's Office (Singapore) | Promontory @ Marina Bay, Singapore [234] |
On August 16, 2012, Nelly Furtado performed the song at her concert in the Smart Araneta Coliseum in Manila, Philippines. [235] One of the main factors that has led to "Gangnam Style" receiving worldwide media attention is its popularity among notable celebrities. According to The Wall Street Journal , T-Pain was among the first to have "sent [the video] to the stratosphere" when he tweeted about it on July 29. [112] It was then picked up by Neetzan Zimmerman from the social blog Gawker, who asked "Did this underground Hip Hop artist from South Korea just release the Best Music Video of the Year?" [236] on July 30.
The English actor Peter Serafinowicz called it "one of the best music videos ever made". [237] while the German model Heidi Klum, who performed "Gangnam Style" at the 2012 MTV Europe Music Awards, revealed that her children have been obsessed with the song and that she has been holding "Gangnam dance parties" with them. [238] <
Name | Quote | Source | Retweets | Significance |
---|---|---|---|---|
Robbie Williams | P.S. Try watching this and not smiling I dare you.... (Not even a lip curl) [239] [240] | Personal blog | N/A | Earliest celebrity comment in late July. According to Emma Harrison from The Oxford Times , "Psy told the Oxford Union that it was Robbie Williams who uploaded it to his blog – which triggered a tweeting frenzy and the craze that took over the UK." |
Justin Bieber | Heyyyy sexy laaady [241] | Twitter account | 151,850 | Mentioned by Allkpop , [242] Soompi [243] and Mnet Media [244] |
T-Pain | Words cannot even describe how amazing this video is. [111] [245] | Twitter account | 2446 | This tweet by T-Pain had "sent [the video] to the stratosphere" [112] |
Josh Groban | It's a Gangnam Style world, we're just living in it. Amazing video. [246] [247] | Twitter account | 1102 | Mentioned by The Korea Herald , [248] Seoul's official website, [249] a blog post published by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, [250] and Billboard [251] |
Katy Perry | Help, I'm in a Gangnam Style K-hole [252] [253] | Twitter account | 12,822 | Katy Perry's tweet further increased the song's popularity in the United States [254] |
Vanessa Hudgens | I am so amazingly obsessed. GANGNAM STYLE! Yeahhhha [255] [256] | Personal blog | N/A | |
Britney Spears | I am LOVING this video – so fun! Thinking that I should possibly learn the choreography. Anybody wanna teach me? [257] [258] | Twitter account | 4,573 | Led to Psy's first appearance on The Ellen Degeneres Show [259] |
Tom Cruise | Think @psy_oppa (Psy) would make a good future co-star Gangnam Style? [260] [261] | Twitter account | 1,940 | Possible future collaboration [262] |
LMFAO | Check out #PartyRock .... Gangnam Style! [263] [264] | Twitter account | 1,842 | Mentioned by Hankook Ilbo [265] |
Scooter Braun | How did I not sign this guy!? [266] [267] | Twitter account | 1,175 | On September 4, 2012, it was confirmed that Psy was signed to Braun's Schoolboy Records. [268] According to Jasmine Gardner from the London Evening Standard , this tweet also played a role in spreading the song's popularity among Western celebrities. [269] |
James Corden | I am so into Gangnam Style its insane! [270] | Twitter account | 1,717 | |
Darren Criss | Could not be more proud of the human race that PSY's Gangnam Style is one of the biggest things in the world right now. [271] | Twitter account | 2,337 | |
Hilary Duff | You guys... Gangnam style? I just..... I can't .... [272] | Twitter account | 2,924 | |
Ashley Benson | A lil late to the party but, better late than ever right?! I'm obsessed with this guy. I die. PSY -Gangnam Style [273] | Personal blog | N/A |
In Thailand, two local gangs provoked each other by dancing "Gangnam Style", eventually leading to a gun fight with more than 50 rounds fired. [274]
During a presentation of the beauty pageant Miss Earth 2012, some of the contestants including Miss Philippines, Miss Czech Republic, Miss Brazil and Miss Panama danced "Gangnam Style". [275] The controversial Dutch artist Tinkebell danced "Gangnam Style" to promote a newly released nude calendar. [276]
In 2018, BBC News wrote that K-pop such as Gangnam Style had caused an increase in the number of people choosing to learn Korean.
Gangnam District is one of the 25 districts of Seoul, South Korea. The term Gangnam translates to "South of the [Han] River". Gangnam District is the third largest district in Seoul, with an area of 39.5 km2 (15.3 sq mi). As of the 2024 census, Gangnam District had a population of 556,570. There is a high concentration of wealth in the district, with prices for an apartment as of 2024 more than double those in the rest of Seoul. Gangnam District is part of Gangnam School District Eight, along with the Seocho District. This district shares half of Gangnam-daero Gangnam Station area with Seocho District, which is one of the most crowded places in South Korea.
Kim Hyun-ah, known professionally as Hyuna, is a South Korean singer-songwriter, rapper and model. She debuted as a member of the girl group Wonder Girls in February 2007. Upon leaving the ensemble shortly after, Hyuna subsequently left JYP Entertainment and joined the girl group 4Minute. The group debuted in June 2009 under Cube Entertainment. In 2010, Hyuna began a solo career with a style she described as "performance-oriented music". Her solo debut single "Change" charted at number-two on South Korea's Gaon Digital Chart.
Park Jae-sang, better known by his stage name Psy, is a South Korean rapper and singer-songwriter. Known domestically for his humorous music videos and performances and internationally for his hit single "Gangnam Style", he has received numerous accolades, including an American Music Award, ten MAMA Awards, and a World Music Award.
"Gangnam Style" is a K-pop song by South Korean singer and rapper Psy, released on July 15, 2012, by YG Entertainment as the lead single of his sixth studio album, Psy 6, Part 1. The term "Gangnam Style" is a neologism that refers to the nouveau riche lifestyles associated with the Gangnam region of Seoul.
"Fantastic Baby" is a song recorded by South Korean boy band Big Bang. It was released as a single for digital download and streaming by YG Entertainment on February 29, 2012, in conjunction with the release of the band's fourth extended play (EP), Alive (2012). The song was written by members T.O.P, G-Dragon and long-time group collaborator Teddy Park, whilst production and composition was handled by the latter two contributors. A boisterous, sonic and dynamic EDM track, "Fantastic Baby" incorporates a multitude of hooks and catchphrases—most notably "Wow, fantastic baby" and "boom shakalaka".
This is the discography of the South Korean singer Psy. He is well known for his humorous videos and stage performances, and for his hit single "Gangnam Style", a song about where he came from and which talks about the life of the people of Gangnam, which is a neighborhood in Seoul, South Korea. and his follow-up single "Gentleman".
"Ice Cream" is a song recorded by South Korean singer Hyuna, and it was taken from her second extended play, Melting.
Gangnam for Freedom is a 2012 video clip produced by the British sculptor Anish Kapoor. It is a parody of the international K-pop hit single "Gangnam Style", and it was created to advocate the freedom of expression as well as to support the Chinese dissident Ai Weiwei, whose parody of "Gangnam Style" was blocked by Chinese authorities immediately after it was uploaded. The video features appearances by the staff of numerous contemporary art museums as well as human rights activists from Liberty, Index on Censorship, The Helen Bamber Foundation, and Amnesty International.
Hwang Min-woo is a South Korean teenaged actor, singer and dancer. He is best known for his appearance in the music video for the 2012 international hit single "Gangnam Style".
3 Mai is the third studio album by South Korean singer Psy, released on September 19, 2002 by Pan Entertainment. It contains 15 songs, including the two singles "Champion" and "Paradise". By February 2003, the album sold over 135,000 copies in South Korea.
Davin Tong, better known by his alias Peter Chao, is a Canadian actor, comedic vlogger, and YouTube personality known for his unconventional portrayals of Asian stereotypes, which alongside other comedic videos have amassed a following of over 1.2M followers on TikTok and almost 800,000 subscribers on YouTube. Born and raised in New Brunswick, Canada, Tong is the second son of "Chinese immigrants", while his character Chao was born and raised in Hong Kong. Tong is bilingual, speaking both fluent English and Cantonese.
"Gentleman" is a K-pop song by South Korean singer Psy released on April 12, 2013 (KST), serving as his 19th single. The song serves as the follow-up to his international hit single "Gangnam Style", which at the time of "Gentleman"'s release had been viewed on YouTube over 1.5 billion times. The first public performance of the song, with its associated dance, was unveiled at 6:30 pm on April 13 at Seoul World Cup Stadium in Seoul. A poster and Twitter message was released containing the main line of the song "I'm a mother f••••• gentleman", The obscured word was later revealed to be "father". In 2013, Psy stated that he had no plans to release an album including the song or a sequel to it.
"The Fox " is an electronic dance novelty song and viral video by Norwegian comedy duo Ylvis. The top trending video of 2013 on YouTube, "The Fox" was posted on the platform on 3 September 2013, and has received over 1.1 billion views as of October 2024. "The Fox" peaked at the top of the Norwegian Singles Chart and was successful in the United States, where it peaked at number six on the Billboard Hot 100 for three consecutive weeks, and was, before the U.S. release of "Am I Wrong" by Nico & Vinz, the highest-ranked song by a Norwegian artist on the chart since A-ha's number-one song "Take On Me" in 1985.
"Daddy" is a song by South Korean singer Psy featuring CL of 2NE1. It was originally slated for release in 2014; however, the release of the song was pushed back to November 30, 2015, in order to make further improvements. It was made available to digital outlets through YG Entertainment as the lead single of his sixth studio album Chiljip Psy-da (2015). It samples hooks derived from will.i.am's 2007 song "I Got It from My Mama". An accompanying music video for "Daddy" was posted to his YouTube channel in conjunction with the single's release, and became his third music video to surpass 500 million views on the platform in June 2020.
"Gangnam Style" is the music video by South Korean singer Psy premiered on July 15, 2012, on the video-sharing website YouTube and was later made available to download digitally on October 19. It was directed by Cho Soo-hyun and was filmed in Seoul in July 2012 over the course of 48 hours. In the video, Psy "pokes fun at the style of Seoul's Gangnam District, a flashy district known for its affluence, high rents, high expectations and a focus on the high-status lifestyle". The video is currently the tenth most-viewed video and the eleventh most-liked video on YouTube, as well as the 19th most-disliked. On December 21, 2012, the music video set a record for the first video to surpass 1 billion views on the platform. It subsequently surpassed 2 billion, 3 billion, 4 billion, and 5 billion views in June 2014, November 2017 and March 2021, and December 2023, respectively.
"Bar Bar Bar" is the second single album, and fourth single overall by Crayon Pop. It was released digitally on June 20, 2013 by Chrome Entertainment and distributed by CJ E&M Music. "Bar Bar Bar" became a viral hit in late July, eventually reaching number one on Billboard's K-Pop Hot 100 chart and number three on the Gaon Digital Chart.
The following is a list of notable events and releases that happened in 2012 in music in South Korea.
Jun Sung Ahn or Ahn Jun-sung, better known by his stage name Jun Curry Ahn, is a South Korean musician, YouTube video producer and member of BgA. He is a classically trained violinist who is known for his 2012 violin and dance cover performance of Psy's Gangnam Style on his YouTube channel and other K-pop and pop music covers.
An obligatory appearance by "Gangnam Style" as well as a memorably bizarre contribution from the Backstreet Boys figure into the lively soundtrack.
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