What is Gangnam Style ? Part 1

"Gangnam Style " is a 2012 K-pop single by the South Korean rapper PSY. "Gangnam Style " is widely praised for its humor, catchy rhythm as well as Psy's unusual dance moves that have introduced many people to K-pop. First released on July 15, 2012, it entered the Gaon Chart singles chart at number one upon release and is the most viewed K-pop song on YouTube.

 Background

"Gangnam Style " is a Korean language colloquialism that refers to a luxurious lifestyle associated with the Gangnam district, an affluent and trendy area of Seoul. Gangnam Style  is since widely associated with the posh lifestyle in Seoul, South Korea's district where people are trendy, hip and exude a certain "swag". In an interview, PSY compares Gangnam to Beverly Hills in the United States.

The music video depicts Psy dancing at various locations in Gangnam. The song is about "the perfect girlfriend who knows when to be refined and when to get wild."

A literal translation of "오빤 강남 스타일 (Oppan Gangnam seutail)" is "(I) Oppa Is Gangnam Style ". The Korean word 오빠 (oppa) means "a female's elder brother" but can be also used as a first-, second- or third-person masculine pronoun to designate a male who is elder or older than a female. Based on more recent cultural norms, the term has typically been used to refer to a boyfriend or male spouse. It is used as a first-person pronoun in this phrase. 오빤 (oppan) is an abbreviation of 오빠는 (oppaneun). 는 is a topic marker, which in this case means the implied subject of the sentence is the singer (오빠). The verb "to be" is omitted, as is often the case in such short Korean sentences. Thus the literal translation of "Oppan Gangnam Style " is "Your big brother [is] Gangnam Style ".

The lyrics are by Psy, music by Psy and Yoo Gun-hyung, and it was arranged by Yoo Gun-hyung, who is a well-known producer in South Korea and also collaborated with Psy in the past.

 Music video

The music video shows PSY dancing a comical horse-riding dance and appearing in unexpected locations around Gangnam such as an outdoor yoga session and a hot tub. The "skewering [of] the Gangnam image" by the "non-Gangnam PSY" is recognizable to Korean viewers, but those less familiar with the cultural context have found the video "fresh" amidst the teen pop idol groups increasingly popular with overseas viewers.

Making appearances in the music video are:

    4minute member Hyuna playing PSY's love interest and appearing in the two final dance sequences

    Comedian/television personality, Korea's Nation emcee Yoo Jae-Suk in a dance duel with PSY

    Comedian/television personality Noh Hong-cheol dancing in an elevator with his trademark pelvis-thrusting with Psy rapping underneath him. It is a particularly well noted scene that has captured the attention of many viewers due to its unusual nature

    BIGBANG members Seungri and Daesung were also in the music video, appearing as two old men playing chess in the background and then getting blown away by an explosion

    Hwang Min-woo, a 5 year old boy who is seen dancing at the beginning of the video. During an interview with CNN, Psy stated that "the night before the music video shoot, I was watching Korea's Got Talent and saw him dance to Michael Jackson. His moves were ridiculous. So we called him up and asked him to be in the music video, which was shooting the very next day, and he came and it all worked out." He has been praised for his eye-catching dance moves that has received a lot of attention from viewers.

About a month after its initial release, on August 17, 2012, Gangnam Style  officially won first-place in the Korean music television programme Music Bank on KBS 2TV, scoring a total of 18,601 points.

Release

When "Gangnam Style " was first released on July 15, 2012, it was known only to fans of K-pop, and in particular those of Psy's record label the South Korean management agency YG Entertainment. However, K-Pop fans started to share it on social networks like Facebook and Twitter and it was not long before internet users outside the K-Pop community began to notice it. Soon, even celebrities in and outside the United States tweeted about "Gangnam Style ", which triggered a snowball effect.

By early August, it became a worldwide hit when the international media began to take notice of it. On 4th of August, The Los Angeles Times wrote that "Gangnam Style " is "unstoppable" and it is "taking over the world". During the last week of August, Billboard Magazine reported that Psy has jumped up by 8 spots on the weekly Billboard Social 50. He had beaten Taylor Swift to take the number one position for 2 weeks. This is a feat that has so far only been achieved by Justin Bieber, Lady Gaga, Adele, Rihanna and The Black Eyed Peas.

 Reception

Although K-Pop has been getting increasingly popular over the past few years due to the Korean Wave, it is still fairly uncommon for K-Pop songs to be featured in foreign broadcasting networks and newspapers. However, "Gangnam Style " has managed to catch the attention of international media outlets such as the CBC and CNN, the latter of which describes it as "very different and comedic." Other broadcasting networks, popular magazines and newspapers which have reported on "Gangnam Style " include The Los Angeles Times, The Huffington Post, The Seattle Times, The Washington Post, The Herald Sun, The Atlantic, The Boston Globe, The Vancouver Observer, The Wall Street Journal, ABC News, USA Today, the Bleacher Report, CNBC, Bloomberg, ESPN, Le Point, Libération Le Nouvel Observateur, BBC, VH1, M6 TV, and the Global Times

According to The Washington Post, "Gangnam Style " has made an extraordinarily "stupid-looking" dance move suddenly cool and Psy is currently having a "pop culture moment". Psy's dances moves are "somewhat bizarre" but the music video is full of "colorful, lively outfits". It also remarked that Psy's "colorful" style is being celebrated in the United States, and around the world.

Matt Miller, a host from the business and financial news broadcaster Bloomberg Television, told the audience to just "Let me show you a clip that I have been wanting to show you for weeks" but because it would be inappropriate to play "Gangnam Style " during a financial news programme, he has been trying to "figure out some connection" between "Gangnam Style " and Wall Street and the economy. Failing to find any, he decides to show the video anyway because "I don't really care and its just a super hot video that has gone astronomically viral." He also tells the audience that he has been dancing to "Gangnam Style " a lot at home and jokes that he (Psy) did say on CNN that he wants to make people laugh even in the midst of all these global economic slowdowns, "so that's the Wall Street tie-in!"

The German weekly news magazine Der Spiegel attributes the growing popularity of "Gangnam Style " to its daring dance moves, and describes how Psy hops and waves wildly with his arms while brandishing an imaginary lasso and riding on an imaginary horse.

Time Magazine notes that while "Gangnam Style " has garnered millions of views on Youtube and many of these views were made by repeat viewers, this is nothing suprising because "it’s hard not to watch again …and again …and again. In fact, here it is one more time. We can’t help ourselves."

CNN reporter Shanon Cook even went as far as to reveal that she has watched it "about 15 times".